Wood joints

Dowel Joints
Dowel Joints are a very common joint as they are alot better than a mortise and tenons.The ends of the rails or feet can be shaped to fit the curve of the legs before drilling holes for the dowels to be inserted.They are used to ensure accuracy. the dowels themselves are often made from a hardwood called ramin and come in a range of diameters from 4 - 25mm.

Finger Joint
Finger Joints are like dowl joints but is attacted to the parts that need to be joined. They look like combs and are fairly easy to make as there are no dovetail-type angles, the Large gluing area gives the joint its strenght. This joint is ideally suited to industrial situations where it is produced using machine tools.

Dovetail Joint
Lapped
There are two different types of Dovetail joints.one is the dovetail lapped joint, it is like the finger joint but are more dovetail like hence the name.Havling joints are often found in frame constructions. Wood of equal thickness is used for both parts of the joint. A dovetail halving is sometimes used instaed of a T-halving in situations where increased strenght is needed.

Doveltail Through Joints

theses are ideal for corners as its more asthetically pleasing, the tapered shape of the "tails" resist the forces applied to the joints when the drawer is in use.Apart from being a strong joint in some situations dovetails are used primarily their decorative qualities.

Mortise and Tenon
Corner mortise and tenon joints are used on tables and frount legs of chairs where two rails are joined to a single leg at each corner.the ends of the tenons are mitred where they meet inside the leg.
Haunched mortise and tenons are often used when joining corners of frames,or rails to the ends of legs.The tenon is offset to prevent it breaking through the end grai of the leg or stile. The haunch, which forms a small integral tongue on the tenon, supports the top edge of the rail.