Discover that Box joints are the simplest carpentry wood joints to master…

Are you wondering which carpentry wood joints to use? Here are tips to help you decide which of the simplest box joints to make.

Deciding what wood joints to choose is confusing, especially if you’re a novice, you’ve got to round up the right tools, know how good your skills are, then decide weather to start something outside of your depth.

I know, I know wood joints are confusing so here’s the common wood joints…

Now, using this guide your be able to select the best joint for the job, as your know which gives strength, looks the best and how difficult to make.

If you follow these simple techniques, you will improve your confidence and woodworking skills. These are industry techniques.

Butt Joint

The butt joint is the simplest all box joints, It’s made by cutting the ends of the timber square, butting them up together then fixing.

Butt Joint Uses – The joint is great for edges that don’t need to be seen or that are hidden.

Strength - Butt joints are the weakest of the box joints as they have the least amount of surface area on contact.

Making strong wood joints

All box joints can be strengthened; making strong wood joints can be made simple.

Now by fitting a block of timber within the corner either just glued or secured into each side.

Strengthening blocks are usually either triangular or square; the triangular blocks tend to have a larger surface area to each side, making it stronger and neater.

Tip - These glue blocks can be used to strengthen any of the box joints shown on this page.

Below shows a glue block adding extra strength to a butt joint.

Remember, these strengthening techniques can be used on any carpentry wood joints

Rebate

Another carpentry wood joint is the rebate joint, this is a bit trickier to make than the butt joint, as more work is needed.

Rebate Joint Uses – Corners, as one piece covers the other and is more attractive than a butt joint. Rebate and door fames and front facing boxes.

Strength - As the joint has more surface area it’s stronger that the butt joint, as there’s more wood contact.

To make the joint, the edge of the rebate is marked on the appropriate piece of timber and the depth is also marked around the sides and end. The edge should be cut down to the required depth with a tenon saw and the surplus material removed using a chisel or a router set to the appropriate depth. The depth should be cut twice, the first time to remove the bulk of the material, the second time to carefully take it down to the correct level.

To faster, the joint can be nailed or screwed through the butting edge and in to the rebate joint, as the butt side will not be seen.

Here’s another one to add to your carpentry wood joints...

Housings are trickier than the previous two, they have even more surface area on contact and that means more work to be done.

Housing joint uses – These common wood joints are often used to fasten shelves to the sides of bookcases. Many drawers are constructed with housing joints as they withstand stress from several directions.

Strength – These are very strong joints, as the wood is wedged between 3 sides it gives lots of contact, and making the carpentry joint very firm.

To make the housing joint, a channel is cut into one piece of wood so that a second piece of wood fits in. The channel should be no deeper than one-third of the thickness of the piece of wood. The amount of timber to be left between the channel and the end, should be at least the width of the channel.

The sides of the housing channel are marked on the appropriate piece of timber and the depth is also marked on both edges of the timber. The sides should be cut with a tenon saw and the surplus material removed using a chisel or a router set to the appropriate depth. The depth should be cut twice, the first time to remove the bulk of the material, the second time to carefully take it down to the correct level.

Here’s the final one to your collection of carpentry wood joints.The miter is used for appearance; the joint conceals the exposed end grain of both pieces of timber.

Miter Joint Uses – Skirting boards, dado rail and simple corner joints that allows no end grain to be seen.

Strength - As the miter has not much contact area it’s slightly stronger than the butt joint.

The miters require precision 45 degree cuts in the timber so that the right angle can be accurately made, I recommend that the cuts are made with electric miter saws as inaccuracies can be made with hand saws. Continue to the next level, by reading the HOW TO MITER page for more step-by-step construction tips.

For more great tips leave the carpentry wood joints page. And see all the sites topics about Just Kids Furniture.