The Types Of Joinery Craftsmanship Today

I love solid built furniture. To me that often means looking for older pieces, made before the days of mass production and particle board. I look for a few different things. One is solid wood. I love solid wood, as it allows me to refinish a piece by sanding it, painting, staining it or sealing it, giving it a new lease on life. The second thing I look for is a certain type for join. I am not carpenter and I am only familiar with one join. It is the one I look for when I am looking for a dresser or anything with drawers. I look for a dovetail join, also known as finger join. To me this speaks of high quality craftsmanship and strength. I want my furniture to last a long time. It has to survive my three kids, two dogs and cat. I want something that is probably older than me and will still be here when I am gone. My husband and I work hard for our money and I want what we buy to last.

Because we are on a limited budget I tend to scour thrift stores and garage sales. Often people are getting rid of a top quality pieces simply because it is 'out of date' or they inherited it and are looking to De-clutter. Pieces made with joinery craftsmanship, also referred to as old school carpentry, are often handmade and usually older. Joinery craftsmanship is when you join 2 pieces of wood without using nails or screws. There are several types of joins to look for. Doweling, Lamello or biscuits, finger joins or dove tails to name a few. Once a common form of carpentry, it requires a lot of skill and often a lot of work is performed by hand, without the use of power tools. However, today there are tools out there that make this form of carpentry a little easier.

Joinery Carpentry is often used in building log homes or timber frame homes as well as tool boxes and furniture. To learn more about joinery carpentry visit 'Wonderful Wood Working' or visit the link below.