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Traditional Joinery Methods
Craftsmen of traditional buildings and furniture made from wood have always relied on joints and joinery techniques to give them the structural strength and durability needed to have a long lasting unit. Joints used in the building of temples in Japan and China for example have allowed these buildings to stand for hundreds of years even through earthquakes and typhoons. Furniture craftsmen and women are no different.
Talk about amazing, this antique four-poster with its ornate carved headboard is considered to be the oldest piece of furniture in the world. Furniture historians say the style of the bed posts date them to the period 1560-1640.
Far from being roped off into retirement like many pieces of historic furniture,
it is still in use in the castle's Great State Bedroom by John Berkeley, 81,
and his wife Georgina, 73. It has been in use since 1608.
Making furniture with the correct joinery techniques requires a lot more skill and a much longer build time than using nails and glue to hold the wood together. Even the selection of the joint type to be used in different areas requires very careful consideration of the possible ways that the joint can be stressed etc. If the wrong joint is used, it can cause premature failure of the joint and your piece will then need restoration or at worst scrapping.
When teaching students how to make traditional furniture, I use a phrase that was taught to me "Nailed = Failed". While this sounds hard to new students, there is nothing worse than seeing a table with the slab of timber Nailed to the table legs. This nailing does not allow for expansion and contraction of the top which will be very different than the bottom. Also when the nail holes are patched to hide them, it totally ruins the look of a potentially beautiful table top. We do not use dowels for chairs or tables etc. as dowels are nowhere near as strong as an Interlocking Chair Joint or a wedged Fox Tenon. Modern Dowels were created to speed up the process of furniture making and they seriously degrade the strength of a joint.
Furniture made with traditional joints can (as seen above) last for hundreds of years. The quality of the furniture you buy today from us, can and will become a family heirloom and maybe even tomorrows antiques. We at Jarrah Works Fine Furniture understand this and build our furniture is this traditional way.
Below are some of the joints that we may use on the drawers, doors, chairs and cabinets of your next "Family Heirloom". There are many variations of these joints as well as several other different joints that can be used for other applications.
Click image for larger view and a description of each Joint Type.
Interlocking Chair Joint
This is normally used to hold the rails of a chair to the chair legs. Can also be used on table skirts.
Foxed Wedging Joint
This joint is also called a Wedged Tenon and can be used as a Trough Tenon as well. It is a very versatile and strong joint.
Haunched Tenon
This is the traditional joint used on door frames.
Mitered and Moulded Tenon
This joint is normally used on kitchen doors that have the moulding around them to hold the center panel.
Long and Short Shouldered Tenon
This joint can be used to make doors that will have glass inserted in them.
Tenon with Scribed Joint
This is used for the rail and stile on a door.
Blind Dovetail
This joint is used when we do not want the end grain of the timber to show on the front.
Dovetail Halve Joint
This joint is similar to the Blind Dovetail but it shows the Pins on the finished piece. Normally used in the construction of the drawer box.
Through Dovetail
This is probably the most common dovetail most people will see. It is normally used on quality drawer box construction.
Dovetail Secret Miter
This is a joint that I find hardest to make. I normally only use this on jewelery boxes etc. The advantage is that it is very strong and you cannot see it.
Dovetail Halving
This joint is similar to a Tee Halving joint but is stronger in that it can resit pulling which the Tee joint cannot.
Dovetail Halved with Shoulders
This joint is similar to a Tee Halving joint but is stronger in that it can resit pulling which the Tee joint cannot. Also having the shoulders makes it stronger than a Dovetail Halved Joint.
Dovetail Stopped Halved
This joint is similar to a Tee Halving joint but is stronger in that it can resit pulling which the Tee joint cannot. By using the stopped halving, you will not see end grain on the top.
Dovetail Halving Extension
This joint is normally used to extend the length of a piece of timber.
Tie Joint
This is a variation of the Oblique Saddle or Bridle Joint. However it is stronger as it will not pull down.
Oblique Halving Dovetail
This joint is similar t the Oblique Saddle or Bridle Joint. However it is stronger as it will not pull down.
Oblique Halving Joint
This joint can be used for shelf supports or framing supports.
Halved Miter
This joint is used when you do not want the end grain of the timber to show through, which it would if using a full Miter Joint.
Cross Rail & Upright Halved Joint
This is generally used when making up frames of cabinets
Oblique Halving Joint with Shoulders
This joint can be used for shelf supports or framing supports.
Bridle Joint
This is often used to fix table legs to the table skirt.
Stopped Bridle Joint
This is like the standard Bridle joint except it is used where the top edge would be sowing and you don't want end grain visible.
Finger Joint
This joint is mostly used in case manufacture and can make for a strong and very interesting finish.
Thanks to W. Fairham for the images.
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