Miter joints question...

[peter slamp]

So I'm going to make a hardwood frame for a plywood tabletop this weekend. I planned on using miter joints for the frame. As I was thinking about the process today I came up with a question. Do you just glue the miter together? I know you can use a spline but is this necessary? Would a biscuit be appropriate. Just curious what you guys do. Thanks!

[Randall Frey]

A miter joint is not very strong by itself. I would most definately use some support like a biscuit, spline, dowel, pocket screw etc. There are other ways to do it as well. Good luck!

[peter slamp]

That's what I was afraid of. Maybe I should just use a lap joint.

[Al Killian]

There are many ways of doing it. Lap joints will work. I would either use a locking miter or biscuits. Splines add a little extra to the look of the joint, so it will be in part detrimined by the look you are after.

[Mark Singer]

You have the plywood core ....so glue and a brad nailer will work with the miters...just recess the brads and fill

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

For years I used the famous half lap on most all my joints. As a joint it's plenty sturdy, not one of mine has never failed.

the half lap has a lot of gluing surface and if you want you can use screws from the blind side, and unlike the M&T joint you can clamp the half lap.

I think clamping makes for a better glue joint. Which is (I believe) why there is so much talk about the tightness of the "fit" of the M&T. It's because you can't clamp it. You are relying on some tension in the fit to do that for you and you don't want to drive the glue ahead of the tenon starving the joint from too much tension.


The half lap is an easy joint to accomplish and unless people take to examininging your work closely, they'll never know - and unless they are wood workers they prolly won't ever know anyway.