How can wood be joined

Here's another easy method to fasten butt joints in a hurry. To install pocket-hole screws, use a pocket-hole jig to drill an angled hole through one workpiece and into another. A screw inserted into the hole pulls the pieces together, as shown below.

Learn more about making pocket-hole joinery. Splines create a face-to-face glue surface that resists flexing. Use through splines for an easy-to-make connection with visible splines. Orient the top faces of each piece against your rip fence for consistent groove positions between pieces. To keep extra-long pieces steady, add an auxiliary fence. Using a backer block to stop tear-out, cut kerfs on the ends to form a groove as wide as one-third the thickness of your stock.

Next, plane and saw the spline blank stock to match the width and combined depth of the grooves. You can make splines from plywood or solid stock. If you choose solid stock, as shown below , orient the spline grain parallel with the workpiece grain. Insert the spline; then glue and clamp the pieces. For not much more work, create a concealed spline, like the one shown below , that disappears after you assemble the joint. Set the bit height to just more than half the width of your splines.

Then adjust your router table fence to center the bit on the thickness of the workpiece ends. Next, build a simple jig to guide your workpieces. From scrap slightly thicker than your workpieces, cut two stopblocks.

Space them a distance apart that's twice the width of your workpiece minus mortise insets from both edges. Clamp the connected stopblocks of the finished jig to the router table fence so they're equal distances from the bit, as shown below.

To keep minor fence adjustment errors from creating an uneven joint, mark the top faces of your workpieces and have them facing you while routing the slots. Using a pushpad, press the workpiece against the router fence and down the edge of the right stop block to the router table.

Slide the workpiece to the left stop block, as shown below , and raise it clear of the bit. A dowel joint, shown below provides another invisible connection. Butt the pieces to be joined and mark dowel positions on both faces. On one piece, spread glue within the holes, insert the dowels, and clamp it to a flat surface.

On the other piece, glue the end grain and holes, force the pieces together, and clamp until dry. By cutting ends at an angle before joining them, you expose more long grain for a better bond. The sharper the angle, the larger and better the gluing surface. To match the angles, cut one end on one side of the saw blade and the mating end on the opposite side, as shown below. Tip: Always cut the mortise first. It is easier to trim the tenon to fit the mortise than it is to approach the task the other way around.

With a half-lap joint, the ends of the two adjoining pieces of wood are reduced to half their thickness at the point where they overlap.

There are stronger joints, but a half-lap has an aesthetic appeal over butt joints because they maintain a uniform thickness with the rest of the structure. Half-lap joints are commonly used in framing and also in furniture construction, due to their great advantage: the frame remains uniform in thickness while other joints often result in a greater an inconsistent thickness as compared to the rest of the structure.

Thin pieces of wood can be weakened significantly when they lose half of their thickness, so half-lap joints are best suited to thicker pieces of wood. The dado joint gets its name from the Italian word for a die or plinth.

It resembles a groove—a trench cut into one piece of wood parallel to the grain that another piece of wood slides into. But unlike a groove, a dado runs perpendicular to the grain. Dado joints are most commonly used in shelving systems like cabinets and bookshelves. It often matches a corresponding cut in the piece it is paired with to create a double rabbet joint. Because of its larger surface area, a double rabbet is the better choice if you need a more rigid joint.

Pocket-hole joints rely on fasteners, namely pocket-hole screws. They are effectively a butt joint with a small pocket-hole drilled into one of the pieces of wood.

The two pieces are then attached with a self-tapping pocket-hole screw. Pocket-hole joints are strong and easy to make. Their downside is that they are less visually appealing than other joints making them better for temporary uses, or places where the joint will not be visible.

Raising the boards will keep your work surface clean. Apply an even bead of glue along the edge of a board. To spread an even bead of woodworking glue, hold the bottle with one hand and the nozzle with the other. Move the nozzle across the edge quickly and steadily. Too much glue will just cause more of a mess. Press the edges together and secure them with clamps. Wipe away excess glue after 20 minutes. To make cleanup easier, you can wipe excess glue off the top surface with a damp cloth immediately.

After 20 minutes, remove the clamps so you can carefully flip over the boards and clean the bottom side. Use a putty knife to scrape excess glue from this side. Allow the glue to cure overnight.

Let it dry overnight before you do any further work on the boards. Method 2. Plan your work before you drill. Use a pencil to mark the places where you want to drill pocket holes. The end grain is the rougher, more porous side of a board.

They look like a neatly arranged set of several curved lines. A good quality pocket hole jig has a graduated alignment guide. A pocket hole drill bit has a collar that you use to control the hole's depth.

Use an Allen wrench which should be included with your bit to loosen the collar from the bit. Place the collar over the top end of the bit so it sits flush on the jig, then tighten the collar. Clamp your board into the jig.

Drill the pilot holes at high speed. Lock the bit into your power drill and set the drill to its highest speed setting to create cleaner holes. Arrange your boards and clamp them at the joint. Line up your boards to double check you drilled your pilot holes in the right direction. Mitered Butt Joint. Half-Lap Joint. Tongue and Groove Joint. Continue to 5 of 13 below.

Mortise and Tenon Joint. Biscuit Joint. Pocket Joint. Continue to 9 of 13 below. Through Dovetail Joint. Half-Blind Dovetail Joint. Sliding Dovetail.

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