Matt Estlea
The Practice Joint Frame
This is a task that is commonly assigned to beginner woodworkers to expand upon their joint cutting skills. Because not only does this test the accuracy of hand cut joinery itself, but also accurate sizing, layout and finishing among many other key woodworking principles.
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Tool List
Unsure you have all the right tools for the project? This handy guide helps you choose not only the tools you need, but also gives my recommendations in order of preference. It also provides various options to suit different budgets.
Tool List
You will learn:
- Tools required for this project
- Tools recommended for the project
- My first, second and third choices
- What to avoid
#1 Laying Out Joinery
In this lesson, I’ll be showing you how to accurately mark out the lap joint, dovetail halving joint, bridle joint, and through mortice and tenon joint.
#1 Laying Out Joinery
You will learn:
- How to size timber
- How to layout joints
- What tools to use
- How to ensure accuracy
#2 The Easy Joints
In this lesson, we start cutting out the halving joint and the dovetail halving joint using the precise lines we marked in the previous lesson.
#2 The Easy Joints
You will learn:
- How to cut to a line
- How to chisel to a line
- How to refine the joint
- How to test for errors
#3 The Hard Joints
In this lesson, I show you how to cut the bridle joint and the through mortice and tenon joint in order to get maximum accuracy with zero gaps.
#3 The Hard Joints
You will learn:
- How to cut to a line
- How to chisel to a line
- How to refine the joint
- How to test for errors
#4 Finishing Touches
In this lesson, I show you a few methods to flush off the joints to hide any remaining gaps, and we see what result we are left with!
#4 Finishing Touches
You will learn:
- How to flush off joinery
- How to add finishing touches
- How to assess accuracy
- What you can learn next