By Joshua Farnsworth | (Updated 10 Oct, 2022. Originally published 27 Nov, 2013)
How to Cut Woodworking Joinery with Hand Tools
Woodworkers cut joinery (wood joints) in wood in order to get their furniture parts to stay together for a long time. Joinery is usually superior to using fasteners, like nails and screws.
Below you can see many of our free video tutorials for cutting some of the most common and popular wood joints, like mortise and tenon joints, dovetail joints, dado joints, and more. Most of these tutorials use traditional woodworking hand tools. You can click the button below each video to see the accompanying detailed articles and photos.
Cutting Dovetails with Woodworking Hand Tools (Tails First)
Dovetails are perhaps the most popular wood joint. It joins two board ends together using strong locking joinery. Have you had trouble with your hand cut dovetail wood joints? Joshua Farnsworth teaches his simple and detailed 8 step method for cutting a dovetail joint, which helps his students see a huge improvement with their dovetail joints! This dovetail tutorial shows how to cut dovetails using the “tail first” method.
How to Make a Mortise and Tenon Joint By Hand
Joshua Farnsworth shares a joinery multi-video series on how to make a mortise and tenon joint with woodworking hand tools. A tenon fits into a mortise to make a very strong wood joint for tables, chairs, and many other types of furniture. This style of mortise and tenon joint is used for table legs and table aprons.
How to Make Breadboard Ends for a Table
In this joinery tutorial Joshua Farnsworth and Will Myers show how to build breadboard ends for tables and desks in this two-part video tutorial on making a table top. A breadboard table end helps to prevent a table from warping during seasonal changes in humidity and temperature. You can watch the second video by clicking “read the blog post”.
How to Make a Secret Mitered Dovetail Joint
Master craftsman Kaare Loftheim shows how to build this interesting and historic wood joint in the Hay Cabinet Maker Shop at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. A secret mitered dovetail was used by 18th century craftsmen to hide the dovetail joints (which they considered “provincial” joinery) within a miter joint.
How to Cut a Groove with a Stanley 45 Combination Plane
Bill Anderson teaches how to cut a groove with a vintage Stanley 45 Combination Plane. Grooves are simple wood joints used to hold drawer bottoms, cabinet backs, and more. A groove is plowed by pushing the plow plane, or combination plane, back and forth until the groove forms at the desired depth. This video was filmed in Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s School.
How to Cut a Half-Blind Lap Dovetail Wood Joint
Will Myers shows how to cut this wonderful woodworking joint with simple woodworking hand tools, while filming the Moravian Workbench video class in Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s school. A half-lap dovetail is used to join the faces of two perpendicular furniture parts together. This type of wood joinery creates a very strong, functional, and visually appealing woodworking joint.
How to Make a Shiplap Joint
In this joinery tutorial, Joshua Farnsworth teaches how to make a shiplap joint with woodworking hand tools. Shiplap joints are use for wall paneling, drawer bottoms, cabinet backs, etc. Shiplap has recently become popular through home improvement TV shows, like Fixer Upper.
How to Make a Wedged Mortise and Tenon Joint
Will Myers shows how to cut, chop, and wedge a very strong wedged mortise and tenon joint while building the historical Moravian Workbench vise at Roy Underhill’s Woodwright’s School. The wedge holds the mortise and tenon joint very tightly, which is even more necessary for a tenon that exits through the back of the mortise.
How to Make a Rabbet Joint with Woodworking Hand Tools
How to Make Tongue and Groove Joints by Hand
In this joinery video Joshua Farnsworth shows how to cut a tongue and groove joint with an antique Stanley No. 48 tongue & groove plane. (You can find an old Stanley #48 or a Stanley #148 tongue and groove plane on ebay).
Make Mitered London Style Dovetails
In this wood joinery video Dave Heller shares a detailed tutorial on making fancy London-style dovetails with a mitered corner. The London-style dovetail originated in, well, London where cabinetmakers sought to show off their joinery skills by cutting the finest pins possible.
Conclusion
You can see all of our wood joinery articles and videos, or woodworking joints, by clicking the button below:
Also, here is a cool graphic that shows a wide variety of types of joinery:
Next I’ll cover Assembly & Gluing up in Step 9…
Shortcut to 10 steps:
- Step 1: Buy the Right Woodworking Hand Tools
- Step 2: Setup Your Workshop & Tool Storage
- Step 3: Learn how to Tune, Refurbish, & Sharpen Tools
- Step 4: Learn how to Use Woodworking Hand Tools
- Step 5: Learn how to Design Woodworking Projects
- Step 6: Learn how to Choose Stable, Strong, & Beautiful Wood
- Step 7: Learn how to Square & Flatten Rough Boards
- Step 8: Joinery: Learn how to Layout & Cut Joints
- Step 9: Learn how to Assemble, Fasten, & Glue-up
- Step 10: Learn how to Traditionally Finish the Wood
Great steps for joining, I can’t wait to try some hand cut joints. Giveaway items would be the candle stand, t-shirt.
Just starting to try my hand at more traditional joinery. Love your videos and tips.
NY, USA
Giveaway items: candle stand, t-shirt or mug
Nicely done on the dovetails. I am doing this now for the case and drawers for my wife’s dresser.
Giveaway panel clamps would be great!
Thanks for your enjoyable site!
Very helpful primer, thanks! During the dado joint video, I found myself wondering why you followed the edge of the inserting piece with your knife, rather than striking a straight line between the marks, since you cut across them with a saw? (and did not appear to do any further clean-up of the walls with chisel.)
PS – if I am runner-up, I’d enjoy the Howarth saw video best, I think.
Nice video. Great taipan how to use hand tools. Thanks
Bowsaw video Blue t thanks again
Your videos are really informative and relaxing at the same time. Great work! Give away items are bowsaw video and t-shirt or mug with the Scottish Infill Panel Plane design. TEXAS USA