Wooden Joints

Choosing the correct wooden joint for the job at hand is key to the sturdy, final product. The key feature of a wooden joint is to optimize the amount of surface area for the glue to adhere the pieces of wood together.

Dowel Joints- Often used for accuracy, dowel joints are useful and easy to drill adn make. the dowels are most oftenly made out of a hard wood called Ramin and come in a range of widths from  4 to 25mm. Typically pocessing grooved curfaces for glue to adhere.

 

 

Mortice and Tenon- Most oftenly found in furniture, mortice and tenon joints are used in furniture legs where two rails are joined to a leg at each corner. The ends are mitred where they meet inside the leg to create maximun strength in the glue bond.

Dovetail-
Through Dovetail- Often used in the back of drawer, the tapered shape of the finger like pieces prevent the drawer from falling part when an opposite force is applyed. they are not only used for their strength and resistance but also their decorative qualities
Lapped Dovetail- Lapped dovetail joints equally are as strong as the through dovetail joints but are not visable. this is because part of the wood laps over the dovetail. These are most commonly used in drawer fronts

Finger Joints- Also known as Combe Joints, finger joints are a simply fairly easy joint to manufacture as there are not any angles included like the dovetail joint. These joints are ideally suited to industrial situations where it is produced using machine tools.

Steam Bending

Steam bending is a woodworking process by which wood is reshaped with the use of heat and moisture. The heat and moisture makes the wood more pliable and therefore allows it to be moulded around a jig, former or mould.

The way heat and moisture makes wood pliable is throught the structure of the wood.
Woods are made up of many fibres looking very much like straws, these features allowed wood to transport water to the tops of the tree.

The problem with using moisture with wood is that too much moisture can cause the wood to swell and loose its rigidity. So the amount of moisture has to be controlled to ensure the wood does not defect during the moulding stage.

The second problem with steam bending is that not all wood can easily be shaped, this is because in hardwood the fiblres are much more compacted and threrfore harder to form. Also the thicker the piece of wood the harder it is to bend. If there is not enough moisture the wood will simply snap but too much would ruin the wood's structure and aesthetics

Engineered boards

Engineered Boards

 

Hardboard:

Hardwood is created by compressing wooden fibres into a thin sheet of board with the addition of glue or resin base.

 

Uses: Cabinets, Countertops, Furniture

Thicknesses: 3mm

 

Blockboard:

blockboard is made by sandwiching softwood blocks between two wooden sheets under intense presure and glue. the outer sheets of wood can be softwood, hardwood or egineered board

 

Uses: Doors, Tables, Shelves, Paneling and Partition Walls

Thicknesses: 13mm- 30mm

 

Plywood:

Plywood is made up by compressing thin layers of wood together with the addtion of glue. the pieces of wood are then compressed to form one thick board. Plywood is very strong because of the crossing of grain within it production

Uses: Furniture, Sheds, Blackboards, Billboards and Kitchen

Thicknesses: 6.5- 30mm (Maximum thickness is 50mm)

 

MDF- Medium Density Fibreboard:

 

Uses: Furniture, Laminate Flooring, Shelving, Decorative Moulding and Doors

Thicknesses: 3mm- 32mm

 

Chipboard:

 

Uses: Flooring, Countertops and Furniture

Thicknesses: 12mm, 18mm