Basic Woodworking

WOODWORKING

Chapter 19

Rods and Splines

Introduction:

To provide strength to wood joints, wooden rods or splines may also be inserted, glued in place, and then clamped

together. The most common rod and spline joints are:

 Doweled joints: A wooden rod, called a dowel, is inserted

and glued in both pieces of wood and then clamped

together. In the old days, water was used instead of

glue. Since water causes wood to swell, the dowel

would swell in the wood and secure it.

 Biscuit joints: After cutting a slot into the two pieces of wood to

be adjoined, an oval-shaped, highly-dried and compressed

wooden biscuit (usually made of beech wood) is covered with

glue and inserted in place. The boards are then clamped

together until adhesion is complete.

 Spline joints: A spline is a thin piece of wood inserted into two matching slots cut into wood joints,

much like a bisquit. A spline, however, typically is visible and added to beautify the project.

Joinery