5 Popular Wood Joints

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Whether you are looking at wooden furniture or discussing your needs with a qualified joiner, it is useful to have some idea of the basics of wood joinery. Wood joinery is probably the most basic concept in woodworking. If there was no simple way to join two pieces of wood together in a secure way, the only option would be to carve it from a solid piece of wood; both expensive and very time consuming.

But the skilled joiner has a wide range of joint types available, each with a specific purpose and dependent on the job in hand.

Simplest of all is the butt joint. This is simply one piece of wood butted into another, normally at a right angle, or square to the other board. It is fastened using mechanical fasteners. This type of joint is often used in wall framing on construction sites or other simple bits of joinery. As with any wood joint, an accurate cut when preparing the two pieces is critical. The joint itself is secured by strong wood glue and, especially with hardwoods, by woodscrews.

A slightly more sophisticated version of this joint is the mitered butt, often seen in skirting boards. Here the two boards are joined at an angle, giving the advantage of no end-grain on view once the joint is made, but it is less strong than the simpler butt joint.

Another simple, but very useful, joint is the half-lap. Each piece of the join, normally of the same thickness, has half of the wood removed. Using this style, the two boards can be fastened together with adding any thickness to the piece. Most joiners will use this technique for right-angled joints, particularly in furniture such as desks and cupboards, where the extra strength is required.

The mortise and tenon joint has been popular for centuries with professional joiners requiring a right-angled join. It is both strong and simple, comprising one piece of wood, the tenon, inserted into the other, the mortise, and fastened, normally using glue. On old pieces of furniture, it is common to see the tenon protruding from the joint and fixed by a wooden pin. Some modern joiners still use this method to give an aged effect.

Finally, the through dovetailed joint, which is seen by all joinery craftsmen as the king of joints. Dovetail joints can be very difficult to create, even for the experienced joiner, but dovetailing jigs have made this much easier in recent times. This is, without doubt the most sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing join.

The through dovetail is the most common dovetail joint used in drawer construction. Check inside any wooden dresser or chest of drawers and you will see one variation or another of the dovetail. Half-blind dovetails, where the sides of the tails are visible but not the ends, are used when the sides of the drawer must connect directly with the face. Dovetails on drawers should only be visible when the drawer is opened, but hidden when is closed.

An experienced joiner will be able to help to decide which of these, and the many other ways of joining wood, is most appropriate for your job.