13 Types of Wood Joints

Wood joinery is one of the most fundamental concepts in woodworking. If we couldn't combine two pieces of wood in a solid fashion, all woodworking pieces would be sculptures carved out of a single piece of wood. However, with the many varied types of joinery, a woodworker has several different wood joints in his arsenal from which to choose based on the project.

If you master the following wood joinery concepts, you'll be well on your way to becoming an accomplished woodworker.

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Basic Butt Joint

Chris Baylor

There is no more basic wood joinery than the butt joint. A butt joint is when one piece of wood butts into another (most often at a right angle or square to the other board) and is fastened using mechanical fasteners. Woodworkers often use this type of joint in wall framing on construction sites.
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Mitered Butt Joint

Chris Baylor

A mitered butt joint is nearly the same as a basic butt joint, except you join the two boards at an angle (instead of square to one another). The advantage of using a mitered butt joint is that this joint won't show any end grain and is a bit more aesthetically pleasing. However, the mitered butt joint isn't all that strong.
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Half-Lap Joint

Chris Baylor

The half-lap joint is a joint where you remove half of each of the two boards you're joining so the two boards fit flush with one another. This type of wood joinery can weaken the strength of the two adjoining boards, but it also is a stronger joint than butt joints. There are several projects where this type of wood joint is quite desirable despite its drawbacks.
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Tongue and Groove Joint

Chris Baylor

When joining two boards square to one another along a long edge, one can simply butt the joint together and hold it with fasteners. However, the tongue and groove joint is much stronger and provides more adjoining surface areas, which is particularly useful if you're going to glue the joint.

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Mortise and Tenon Joint

Wikimedia Commons

The mortise and tenon is a classic wood joinery method. These joints have been popular since the early times of woodworking and are still among the strongest and most elegant methods for joining wood.
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Biscuit Joint

Flickr

Another method for joining boards along the edges (like the tongue-and-groove joint) is to cut slots and use beechwood wafers (biscuits) to hold the boards in place. A biscuit joint is a very useful modern woodworking joint, particularly for creating table tops. It relies on glue and the swelling of the beechwood biscuit to hold the boards in place. You can get consistent slots and reliable results from biscuit joinery.
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Pocket Joint

Chris Baylor

The pocket joint is a type of wood joint that involves cutting a slot and pre-drilling a pilot hole at an angle between two boards before connecting the two with a screw. This pre-drilling must be accurate, so woodworkers typically accomplish it by using a commercial jig. Pocket joints work great for cabinet face frames and similar applications where a lot of strength is unnecessary.
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Dado

Wikimedia Commons

A dado is a square-grooved slot on one board where another board fits. Like tongue and groove joinery, this kind of wood joinery is good for connecting plywood, such as in cabinetry.

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Rabbet

Chris Baylor

A rabbet is another common wood joint used in cabinetry. This joint is essentially a dado cut along the edge of a board. Rabbets are often used at the back of cabinets and similar assemblies to attach the back to the sides of the box, adding considerable strength to the assembly.
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Through Dovetail Joint

Chris Baylor

The through dovetail may be the most revered of all wood joints. A classic through dovetail is beautiful and strong, adding a touch of class to any piece. There are a few methods for creating through dovetails, from hand cutting to machining with a jig.
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Half-Blind Dovetail Joint

Chris Baylor

In some situations, a dovetail joint is the connection of choice, but both edges of the dovetails should not be visible. A perfect example is a drawer front, where you don't want to see the end of the through dovetail on the face of the drawer. For this type of joint, the best choice is a half-blind dovetail.
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Sliding Dovetail

Chris Baylor

A sliding dovetail is a versatile joint with many possible uses. A good way to think of this joint is as a locking dado. Any would-be woodworker should study the process of building a clean sliding dovetail joint, which is popular in drawer-making.

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Box Joint

Chris Baylor

Dovetail joints are beautiful and strong but not always practical. A box joint is a simpler alternative to the dovetail joint. Building consistent and strong box joints with a jigsaw is relatively easy.