Wood Joining Tools

Chisels

• Chisels are among the oldest woodworking tools. Although the varieties of chisels seem nearly endless, all types of chisels share two basic features: a straight handle and metal, cutting blade. The most common type of woodworking chisel is simply called a "woodworking chisel" or a "butt" chisel. The butt chisel's straight handle attaches to a long, rectangular blade, beveled on the sides and sharp-edged at the front. Woodworkers can use the simple butt chisel to create a staggering array of joints, such as mortise and tenon joints, lap joints and even dovetail joints. To use a chisel, the carpenter pushes the sharp blade across wood's surface to peel up shavings or pounds the chisel with a mallet to remove large chips.

Doweling Jig

• The doweling jig aligns a hand drill in order to bore a hole for doweled butt joints. A "dowel" is simply a short rod of wood and a doweled joint consists of a dowel glued into two separate, abutting components. However, for the dowel to fit and the components to create a strong, attractive joint, the corresponding dowel holes must precisely match. The doweling jig addresses the challenge by clamping onto pieces of lumber and guiding a power drill's bit through the lumber in a perfectly straight line. The doweling jig is basically a perforated, circular body attached to a set of clamps. The perforations in jig's circular body correspond to the exact size of a drill bit and dowel. To use the doweling jig, the carpenter attaches the jig to a piece of lumber, aligns the proper perforation over the material's surface and runs a drill bit through the jig to a specified depth. The carpenter repeats the operation with a second piece and then joins the separate components with a dowel and glue.

Plate Jointer

• The plate jointer, also called the "biscuit cutter," prepares wooden components to receive thin, wafer-like connectors called "biscuits." Biscuits function much like dowels: they fit into corresponding slits cut into separate components and join the components with glue. Although biscuits vary in size according to application, they generally look like a football-shaped saltine cracker. Their oblong form ensures a strong joint, but complicates cutting slits to accommodate them. The plate jointer is specially designed to cut biscuit slits. Bench or floor-mounted, the plate jointer operates much like other wood shop tools; material rests on its stationary base, while its blades cut precise incisions. Once finished on the plate jointer, the carpenter applies glue and biscuits to the separate components, clamps the pieces together and allows them to dry.