RISD 2153 WOOD STRUCTURES

Topic 8: Wood Connections

From Light (ie furniture) to Heavy (ie structural timber)
Erik Anders Nelson, PE, SE
RISD 2153
Spring 2017
PART 1 - Light Wood Joints (Furniture)
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Spring 2017
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Homework 4
Design a wood Picture Frame – any size you want
Try to use a wood joint with an Exposed Connection
Hand in Copy of Design Next Week
Homework 5
The following week build it.
RISD 2153
Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints
Most joints are permanently fastened together with glue and
sometimes screws or nails – light connections
The following are common methods of strengthening joints.
– Dowels
– Splines and Biscuits
– Key
– Glue Blocks
– Corner Blocks
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End Grain Nails – Very Weak
Butt
For simple boxes, cases, cheap
drawers, frames and chairs.
Very weak joint.
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Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints - Dowels
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 Light Wood Joints - Wood Joints - Biscuits
Biscuits
Using thin wood wafers called biscuits can strengthen wood
joints by providing more glue bonding area. Biscuit will
expand 2X.
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Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints - Biscuit Joiner
Adjustable
Biscuit swells and joint locks up (do not want plywood biscuits)
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Light Wood Joints - Spline
Spline to add strength to a
joint, its grain must run
across the joint, not
parallel to it.
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Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints
Glue Block-small triangular or square blocks
Corner Blocks-larger than a glue block
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 Light Wood Joints - Rabbet
Rabbet
• A cut or groove along or near the edge
of a piece of wood that allows another
piece to fit into it to form a joint. L-
shaped groove cut across the edge or
end of one piece.
• For simple boxes, cases, cheap
drawers, frames and chairs
RISD 2153
Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints
Lap joints are really a large group of
joints in which one side laps
over the other.
A cross-lap joint joins two pieces with
flush faces.
Used for legs of furniture, doors,
furniture frames and braces.
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 Light Wood Joints - Dado
Dado- is a groove cut across the
grain.
• Used in making book shelves,
drawers, steps, and book cases.
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Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints - Finger Joints
It is ideal for box constructions and
is suitable for use with natural
woods such as pine and
mahogany or even manmade
boards such as plywood and MDF.
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 Light Wood Joints - Miters
Miter- the joining pieces are cut at
a 45-degree angle and joined
to form a right angle.
They are very weak if not
reinforced with dowels, spline,
or mechanical fasteners.
RISD 2153
Spring 2017
Light Wood Joints - Dovetails
The DOVETAIL JOINT is very strong because of the way the
tails and pins are shaped. This makes it difficult to pull the
joint apart and virtually impossible when glue is added.
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Mortise and Tenon
A large range of mortise and tenon joints
exist and the most simple of these is
shown.
The tenon is the part that fits into the
mortise.
A glue is applied before the joint is pushed
together.
Clamps are used to hold the joint firmly
together, usually for twenty-four hours.
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Spring 2017
Mortise and Tenon
In this example, a piece of dowel rod
is drilled through the mortise and
the tenon.
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Difficulty / Strength
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Spring 2017
Difficulty / Strength
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Tage Frid
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Spring 2017
Homework
Design a Picture Frame – any size you want
Try to use a wood joint with an Exposed Connection
Hand in Copy of Design Next Week
The following week build it.
RISD 2153
Spring 2017
11