Joining Wood

Joint Families

The choice of woodwork joint depends upon:

* the function of the work (how strong it needs to be)
* the type and size or thickness of the material
* the required appearance (does it matter what the joint looks like)
* the required quality of work (is it to be good quality work or a quick cheap
job)

a final consideration needs to be how good you are at making woodwork joints.

The strength of a woodwork joint comes from the quality of fit of the wooden parts
and the amount of surface area created in the joint for gluing.

Butt Joints

The drawings show three examples of the most basic of woodwork joint

Rebate and Butt Joint

(the block may be added for
strength)

Plain Butt joint

Cogged Butt
joint
The appearance of the butt joint can be improved by
shaping or moulding the end of one of the pieces of
wood before assembly. Examples are shown below

The butt joint can also be created using power tools with dowels or biscuits as
reinforcing instead of nails or screws.
Halving Joints

Halving joints are used for making frameworks. As the name suggests, half of the
wood is usually cut from each part of the joint. This depth of cut is not always
necessary, but each of the drawings shown illustrate the joint like this.

The halving joints are not always very strong, particularly the corner halvings, as they
can be easily pulled apart. They are not very attractive joints as most of the joint is
visible when finished.
The notches for the halving joints are marked out and cut using the same tools and
stages as for the housing joints shown later.

Housing Joints

A housing joint is made by cutting a groove across the grain of one piece of wood. A
second piece fits into the groove. This joint is used when fixing shelves or partitions.
There are three types of housing joint shown below.
The through housing is the most basic. The stopped housing is used when the joint is
to be hidden from one side. The dovetail housing is the strongest type as the shelf /
partition cannot be pulled straight out in use.

Manufacture of Housings and Halving Joints

1. Mark out the position and depth of the housing /

halving with a try square and marking gauge.
Exact sizes are important.

2. Use a saw to cut each side of the housing down

to the gauge mark. Saw on the waste side of the
line.

3. Use a hand chisel slightly narrower than the

housing to remove some of the wood from one
side.

4. Chisel from the other side as for 3 above. This

gives two good, clean sides.

5. Chisel the bottom of the housing flat and if

necessary finish with a hand router. Take care not
to dig down in the centre.

6. Carefully fit the joint.

The stopped housing is manufactured in the same

way as the through housing.
To cut and remove the area shown in 2, a chisel is
used to chop out the wood. (See below)
Stage 3 shows the saw cut and 4 the waste wood
removed by chisel.

5, 6 and 7 show the portion to be removed on the

partition or shelf to match the housing.

Break up the waste wood

and remove to depth

Bridle Joints
Bridle joints are strong and easily made joints for frames. They are stronger than
halving joints because the wood is supported on both sides.
These joints are made in the same way as mortise and tenon joints. Examples of
common bridle joints are shown below.

Mortise and Tenon Joints

This is the strongest type of joint for frames, and more particularly, for leg and rail
construction in tables, chairs etc. A simple mortise and tenon joint is shown below.

Mortise Tenons
In a through mortise and tenon the end of the tenon can be seen on the other side of
the leg and can be unattractive. A stopped mortise and tenon is hidden inside the joint.

Haunched Mortise and Tenon

These joints are used at the

end of rails.
The tenon is reduced in width
so that it does not come out of
the end of the rail (If it did the
joint would become a bridle
joint)

There are two types:

Secret or sloping haunched
mortise and tenon (top)
Square haunched mortise
and tenon (bottom)

Special Mortise and Tenon Joints

Twin mortise and tenon

Double mortise and tenon

The double mortise and tenon is used for wide rails so that the upright is not
weakened by one long hole cut in it.

The twin mortise and tenon is used for thick rails, again so that the upright is not
weakened by a large hole.
 Stub tenon

Tusk tenon

The stub tenon is used to fix legs to

stool or table tops or legs to wide bases.

The tusk tenon was used in medieval times when glues were not always available and
joints had to be fixed using wedges. It is still used today for some reproduction
furniture.

Typical stool or table corner construction.

In this construction a
haunched motise and tenon is
selected for the rails as it is at
the end of the leg.
o
The tenons are cut at 45 as
they meet inside the leg to
form a corner.
Dovetail joints

For box constructions, particularly those that will be subject to pulling or pushing
such as drawers, the strongest and best type of joint is the dovetail joint.

Because of the shape of the parts of the joint, it can only be separated in one direction
and will not come apart when pulled.
Two types are shown above. In the through dovetail joint the ends of the joint can be
seen on both sides of the construction. The lapped dovetail joint shows the
construction only on one side.

Lapped dovetails

Through dovetails

Widening Joints

Sometimes, to create a suitably wide board, it is necessary to join boards edge to

edge. To carry this out successfully it is important to remember two things:- reverse
the grain direction on alternate boards to prevent warping and strengthen the joint
in some manner. A number of strengthening methods are shown below.

The rub joint is the odd one out in that it is only held by the glue and can be weak.
Wood Glues

The glues used in woodwork have to be chosen according to three factors:-

 The required strength
 The environment that they will be used in,
 The materials to be glued together.

P.V.A. (Polyvinyl acetate)

This is the most commonly used glue. It is provided ready to use and can be stored
indefinitely. It is strong and will fill medium sized gaps. It is white in colour, does not
stain and is easily cleaned off with water before setting. It is strong but is not
waterproof and cannot be used outdoors. It sets in approximately 1 hour but takes 24
hours to reach full hardness.

Urea Formaldehyde

This is two part glue. It is supplied as a powder that needs to be made into a syrup by
mixing with water and a liquid hardener. The syrup is spread on one part of the joint
and the hardener on the other. The glue hardens when the two chemicals come in
contact with each other. This glue produces a very hard joint. The chemical involved
can cause staining on some woods. It is waterproof and will stand up to external
weather conditions. This glue sets and hardens quickly, sometimes within 15 minuts.

Impact Adhesive

This is a rubber-based glue. It is spread thinly and evenly on the two surfaces to be
joined and then left until dry to touch. The two parts are then pressed firmly together
and the surfaces adhere to each other. This adhesive is not very strong and should not
be used for construction work such as stools or tables. It takes careful use as you only
get one chance to align the joint properly. It is very useful for gluing different
materials together such as wood to plastic laminates, or wood to foam/material. It
cannot be used outdoors.