Tools To Help Join Pieces of Wood Together

Metal fasteners seem to be a great choice when you need to join multiple pieces of wood together. Not only are they solid and rigid, but they also last for a long time and extend the lifetime of wooden joints. But the use of metal fasteners is limited because most pieces of furniture need seamless joints, with nothing visible from the outside. That’s why you should go with wood joints, which are made using specific tools.

From table saw to biscuit joiner, you can use an array of tools to join wooden workpieces. Each piece of equipment is used for making different joint types, like dovetail and dado joints. Below, we have shed light on some major wood joining tools you should have to take your woodworking job a notch higher. 

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF WOOD JOINING TOOLS?

Biscuit joiner

The primary wood joining tool you should have is a biscuit joiner. It is available in two types: handheld and table jointer. It comes with a circular blade that slices through the wood parallelly and creates small pockets in the wooden edges where you have to insert the biscuits. Full biscuit insertion is not possible. You can insert the tool halfway, and the exposed part will hold the other piece of wood. While a biscuit joiner is the most common tool, it does not hold large and heavy wooden pieces together. So, you should use it only when working with smaller wooden pieces. 

Table saw

A table saw is a great woodworking tool to create joints like mortise and tenon, half lap joint, and mitered butt joint. It also features a circular blade that serves as a saw and can easily cut through various wooden workpieces, including thick hardwood plates, plyboards, and even MDF (medium-density fibreboard). The table’s surface area is quite large, and the saw’s blade is usually located at the far end from where you stand, so cutting large workpieces won’t be a hassle anymore. 

Dovetail jig

The dovetail jig creates edge grooves in wooden workpieces through which you can form various dovetail joints. This joinery type is said to be the strongest and is used in connecting two large pieces of wood perpendicularly. It comes with multiple pins that will slice through the wood once you switch on the machine, and the electric motor offers power to the entire jig. But, firstly, you should get a dovetail jig pitch, which is a steel plate with grooves designed along both edges. 

Dowel jig

A dowel jig is almost like a biscuit joiner, but it involves drilling activities instead of cutting through the wood. It comes with multiple holes of exact or varied sizes. You need to fix it on top of the wood’s edge and then guide the drill bit over the jog’s hole and start making holes in the workpiece. 

WHAT ARE DIFFERENT WOOD JOINT TYPES?

The common joint types are: 

• Mitered butt joint: Wood pieces are joined at an angle to enhance esthetic beauty and hide the end grains
• Mortise and tenon: One of the strongest joints is mortise and tenon. Here, an extended part of the wood workpiece is inserted into a groove slot of the same size and shape
• Half-blind dovetail joint: The pins and tails are made in a way that hides the dovetail joint and only one wooden workpiece is visible
• Dado joint: In this, a square groove is cut in one wood piece and the other workpiece is inserted into the slot to form the joint
• Biscuit joint: In this joint, a cut is made into the workpiece along its edge and a small biscuit is inserted 

FINAL WORDS

When choosing wood joining tools, you should be careful about their size, power, pitch length, bit size, and many more features. If the chosen tool is not of the highest quality, you won’t be able to achieve perfection in wood joinery work.