Mortise and tenon, bisquits, dowels, oh my.

[Scott Brandstetter]

I started another thread asking about dowel jigs and got a lot of great responses so I thought I would continue with my education. If one were simply looking at time, what would be the quickest way to join boards, edge to face, something like shelves. I realize the mortise is probably the strongest but I'm not dealing with high strength issue. I want quickest, easiest, least amount of changing of tools, bits, etc.

[Matt Day]

Festool Domino

[Leo Graywacz]

Domino and Plate Joiner would be the same speed. The plate joiner would be slightly faster.

You can argue about the strengths of the two joints.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Leo, is the plate joiner the same as bisquits?



Domino and Plate Joiner would be the same speed. The plate joiner would be slightly faster.

You can argue about the strengths of the two joints.

[scott vroom]

I started another thread asking about dowel jigs and got a lot of great responses so I thought I would continue with my education. If one were simply looking at time, what would be the quickest way to join boards, edge to face, something like shelves. I realize the mortise is probably the strongest but I'm not dealing with high strength issue. I want quickest, easiest, least amount of changing of tools, bits, etc.

IMO in order of strength and effort:

sliding dovetail
mortise & tenon
dado
dowel/loose tenon/biscuit
screwed butt joint
pinned butt.

[Matt Day]

Plate joiner = biscuit joiner

[Leo Graywacz]

Yes, plate joiner uses a biscuit.

You linear dovetail......

[Mike Henderson]

If looks are not a problem, put screws in from the outside in countersunk holes and then plug the holes. You can think of the screws as metal dowels.

Mike

[Wade Lippman]

Geez, it depends on what equipment you have (or would be willing to buy), how many you have to do, and what you are doing. Your question is pretty vague.

I usually use dominoes for jobs like that; though I also like pocket screws, sometime with dominoes. Yeah, I know everyone thinks pocket screws are a joke, but they solve a lot of problems as long they can't be seen.

[Bill Adamsen]

Dado is a simple and traditional joint.

[Brian Holcombe]

Dado, Dado with through mortise, dado with dowels and tapered sliding dovetails.

My earliest woodwork was made entirely with sliding dovetails since and I still use the table without issue.

[Robert Engel]

+1 to Mike. Screws and plugs.
Lots of times on bookcases only one side (or maybe no sides) will even be visible.

The answer to your question is its quicker than biscuits or dominoes even if you've got the tools!!

[Jim Dwight]

What about nails? I can throw a few nails in with a nailer pretty fast. Next quickest would be screws followed closely by biscuits. I don't know about the Domino, I've never used one, but it looks on videos to be similar to a plate joiner. I believe a mortise and tenon, like the Domino makes, is significantly stronger than a biscuit joint.

[Jim Matthews]

Shelves without some mechanical advantage with a glue joint will fail.

There's no shortcut, if you want things to stay together.

It's the nature of wood movement along the width of the board,
it expands most perpendicular to the grain lines.

Splines, dowels, floating tenons, etc will all be weaker than
a properly fitted dado joint or through tenon with their mechanical advantages.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?84192-Wood-movement-in-shelves-design-help-wanted

[Scott Brandstetter]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Obviously a lot of options out there and some I didn't think of.

[Leo Graywacz]

Us?? Opinionated?? Naaawwww..... LOL:rolleyes:

[Mike Schuch]

I agree that the tools you have on hand will make a big difference in what is quickest. I have and use a Radial arm saw a lot. Making a few dados with a radial arm saw is very quick and easy. Assembling a shelf with cut dados is also quick and pretty easy because the alignment is built in. The hardest part is remembering to cut the shelf boards a little long to make up for the depth of the dados. When you factor in the time it takes to assemble a set of shelves dados seem way quicker than any other joint to me. Dados with glue and a couple of screws is even faster since there is no need to clamp anything.

I tried biscuits for a while and never liked them. I actually gave my biscuit cutter away. There just always seems to be a better way to join things than using biscuits to me. I am sure there are others that are much more proficient at biscuits then I and find them much more useful.