wood construction

Addition

Joining wood with other pieces of wood together

fabrication

Wood is joined using traditional techniques of knock-down fillings

Temporary joints

Joints that can be taken apart e.g. screws, nuts, bolts

Permanent joints

joints that cannot be taken apart e.g. glue

Dowel joint

Small wooden pegs are glued and hammered into the holes that were drilled in a piece of wood that is being joined

Butt joint

An easy but often weak technique for joining two boards together simply by gluing and pressing two flat surfaces together

Mitre joint

A mitre joint is a joint done by sawing down at a 45° angle and then joint together to make a 90° angle with two pieces of wood

Comb joint

Strong, interlocking, 'finger joint'

dovetail joint

an edge that combines two pieces of wood that have been cut to interlock with each other

mortise and tenon joint

A joinery technique where the cut end (tenon) from one board fits into the matching opening (mortise) of another.

housing joint

A gap is cut in one piece of wood that allows another to slot into place and is placed on top of the other piece.

half lap joint

Cutting a 'step' in both pieces of wood and gluing together

knock down fittings

non-permanent joints which enable furniture to be assembled or disassembled easily

modesty blocks

Small rigid polymer blocks. Used for joining wood. Attached with screws. Used on cupboards or storage units

barrel nut and bolt

A common KD fitting is the barrel nut and bolt. This uses a cross dowel that is fitted into one of the pieces to be joined. The bolt is inserted through the other piece of timber and tightened into the cross dowel (often using an allen key).

Cam lock connectors

Metal dowel that is screwed into one of the pieces by inserting a screwdriver. Cam is the disk that rotated and locks the dowel in place.

wood screws

Used for wood. Have countersink, raised and round heads. Raised are similar to countersink but the head is slightly raised. Round headed sit on top of the wood.

milling timber

Range of cutters are put into the machine depending on whether it needs to cut, create holes or shape the timber.

Used to machine small basic items

Can be operated manually or CNC

lamination

a method/process of bonding one layer of timber to another under heat or pressure to be united. Usually glued together. While drying, the timber is held in place with clamps or a vacuum bag is used

steam bending

combined heat and steam softens the fibres/strips of wood with steam to allow it to bend or shaped over a former