What is a wood joinery?
Wood joinery is a type of woodworking which involves joining of two pieces of timber to produce one single item.
Wood joinery is the most basic concept in furniture making. If we had not mastered the ability to join two pieces of wood together all the furniture pieces would have then been sculptures carved out of one large piece of wood. But joining wood pieces together was developed quite early and is the basic concept in creating a piece of furniture.
There are different types of wood joints for different types of work and an artisan is the best person to decide which type of joinery suits the project. If you master the basic types of joinery then you will be on your way to becoming the best artisan in town. Then you can work on projects like furniture for family or a cat tree for your cat.
Given below are 8 types of wood joinery that are helpful in making different types of furniture. They are:
Types of wood joinery
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The Basic Butt Joint
Source : thesprucecrafts.com
This is the most basic concept in wood joinery, and the butt joint is the first thing that you will actually learn as an artisan. This joint is nothing but when a piece of wood butts into another, at square or right angle on the board and then is fastened with machine screws. This joint is moreover used for the wall framing at the construction sites.
The Mitered Butt Joint
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This type of joinery is similar to that of a butt joint but with a slight exception. The two boards are joined at a perfect angle instead of being a square with one another. The advantage of mitered joint is that it does not ever reveal the end grain and is also aesthetically appealing to the eye.
The Half-Lap Joint
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This is a type of joint where half of each of the two boards that will be joined is removed in such a way that these boards join together in a flush. This joinery can weaken the strength of the adjoining boards but as a matter of fact, it is a better joint than the basic butt joint. There are quite a lot of projects which use this type of wood joint.
The Tongue and Groove Joint
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If you are joining the two wooden boards at a square to one another on the long ledge then you can easily butt in the joint and hold it with the screws. The tongue and groove joint is very strong and provides a better surface area especially if you are ready to glue the joint together.
The Mortise and Tenon Joint
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This is a classic wood joinery technique that you will love to learn and use. This joint type has been in use since time immemorial. It is still the most elegant and strongest method of joining the two pieces of wood together.
The Biscuit Joint
Source : getbiscuitjoiner.com
This is the modern method of joining the wood types together and is especially used for making the table tops, desk etc. In this method, you have to cut slots and make use of beechwood wafers to hold the wood in proper place. The beechwood biscuit swells and the glue join them perfectly together. You have to be deft with your hands so that the cuts are even and the joinery comes out as perfect.
The Pocket Joint
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It is a kind of joint that incorporates of cutting a slot then drilling a hole at a perfect angle before joining the two together with screws. The pre-drilling and cutting work has to be perfect for the joint to work well with the furniture. The pocket joints are best for cabinets, the frames, and other similar works. This type of joint cannot take in a lot of strength. Therefore, you cannot place it on furniture angles that need to take in heavyweight.
In the end, if you want to master the art of making furniture then you really have to learn all types of joinery for woodworking.
