Luckily, there are specialized tools to make the job easier. If they’re off by as much as 1/16th of an inch, the joint might not work. There isn’t any slack in doweling, so the craftsperson needs to lay out the locations of the matching holes on each board exactly where they need to be.

$75.00 USD | 1H 58M Preview Course The Tools to Make Dowel Jointsĭowel joints sound simple, but when a woodworker, carpenter, or DIYer is making a wood joint, their work needs to be precise. They’re also useful for drawers, picture frames, and other projects where glue alone might not be enough, but visible mechanical fasteners would derail the aesthetic.ĭowel pins are common in mortise and tenon joinery, but that’s a different method altogether. The dowels are excellent at securing butt joints for cabinet doors or aligning two boards for a flat edge joint, such as a tabletop.

The projects where you’ll most likely see dowel joints are woodworking and cabinetmaking. There are plastic and metal dowels, but they’re generally for adjustable shelving construction. Fluted dowels have spiral indentations, and they swell by quite a bit when they come in contact with glue. In most cases, the dowels are made from wood, whether hand-carved or store-bought, and they come in specific thicknesses. They also make use of each board’s long grain rather than simply the end grain at the end of a butt joint. They’re invisible once assembled.ĭowel joints are strong, and the dowels themselves increase the glue surface by quite a bit.

They also swell when covered with wood glue, locking the joint in place. The dowels act somewhat like a mechanical fastener, as they bridge between the two boards and hold things together. What is a Dowel Joint?Ī dowel joint, or doweling, is a type of joint used to connect two pieces of wood by drilling dowel holes in each piece and using a wooden peg (the dowel) to attach them.

But this method is somewhat old-school and not as popular today, so you might be asking, “what is a dowel joint?” Keep reading to find out. By drilling a few holes and inserting a few pegs, dowel joints can form strong joints without mechanical fasteners like nails and screws. The dowel joint is one of the most simple (at least in appearance and theory) joints a woodworker or carpenter can make.

Flat butt joint