Joints , Joinery & Carpentry

Basic Woodworking Joints

butt joint carpentry

1. The butt joint is the simplest of all joints in carpentry. It may be made straight or right angled, and needs nails, glue or screws to hold it together.

dowelled joint

2. The dowelled joint is basically a butt joint reinforced with dowels-lengths of wooden rod. Both halves of the joint are drilled at once to make the holes line up.

secret dowelled joint

3. The secret dowelled joint is better-looking, because the ends of the dowels do not show. The two rows of holes are drilled separately, so great accuracy is essential.

mitred joints

4. The mitred joint has a very neat appearance, because no end grain is visible. Unfortunately, it is a very weak type of joint unless it is reinforced in some way.

halving joint

5. The halving joint is used at the corners of a rectangular frame. It is simple to make, has a reasonably neat appearance, and is quite strong if glued together.

T halving joint

6. The T halving joint is a variant of the usual L-shaped halving. It is used in conjunction with the previous type of halving in the construction of simple frameworks.

x halving joint

7. The X halving joint is the third member of this versatile family. It is used where two pieces of timber have to cross without increasing the thickness of the frame.

dovetail halving joint

8. The dovetail halving joint is an extra strong halving. Its angled sides make it impossible to pull apart in a straight line, though it still needs glue to hold it rigid.

through housing joint

9. The through housing joint is used for supporting the ends of shelves, because it resists a downward pull very well. It, too, must be reinforced with glue or screws.

stopped housing joint

10. The stopped housing joint has a neater appearance, but is harder to make because of the difficulty of cutting out the bottom of the rectangular slot neatly.

Tongued-and-grooved joints

11. Tongued-and-grooved joints are most commonly found along the edge of ready made boarding. But a right-angled version is also found, for example at corners of boxes.

lapped joint

12. The lapped joint has a rebate cut in one side to hide most of the end grain. It is often found in cheap cabinet work, because it is easy to make with power tools.

mortise-and-tenon

13. The mortise-and-tenon joint is a very strong joint used to form T shapes in frames. The mortise is the slot on the left; the tenon is the tongue on the right.

through mortise-and-tenon joint

14. The through mortise-and-tenon joint is stronger than the simple type. It is generally locked with small hardwood wedges driven in beside, or into saw cuts in, the tenon.

haunched mortise-and-tenon

15. The haunched mortise-and-tenon is used at the top of a frame. The top of the tenon is cut away so that the mortise can be closed at both ends, and so retain its strength. Four more kinds of mortise-and-tenon joint:

bare-faced tenon

16. The bare-faced tenon is offset, with a ‘shoulder’ on one side only. It is used for joining pieces of different thicknesses.

Twin tenons

17.Twin tenons are used in very thick timber. They give the joint extra rigidity and do not weaken the wood as much as usual.

Forked tenons

18. Forked tenons add rigidity to a deep, narrow joint. The angled edge of the tenon is sometimes found in a haunched m-&-t joint.

Stub tenons

19. Stub tenons are used on even deeper joints, but are weaker and less rigid than the forked tenons shown above.

bridle joint

20. The bridle joint is used where a long horizontal piece has to be fitted into the tops of several vertical pieces.

bridle joint single dovetail

21. The box joint is quite strong and has a decorative appearance. It is used for the corners of wide frames and boxes.
22. The single dovetail, like all dovetails, is extremely strong and hard to pull apart. It is used at the corners of heavy frames.

23. The through dovetail is used at the corners of boxes where great strength and a good appearance are required.
24. The lapped dovetail is nearly as strong, but also has one plain face. It is used in very high-quality cabinet work.
25. The mitred secret dovetail is also used in very high-quality work. It looks like a mitred joint, but grips like a dovetail.
26. The lapped secret dovetail looks like a lapped joint. It is slightly easier to make than a mitred secret dovetail.

27. The cogged joint is like a dovetail with the tails subdivided into smaller tails. It is extremely strong and rigid.
28.The scarfed joint is used for joining frame members end-to-end where only moderate strength is required.