Drainage

How to make a spike-groove connection correctly? The easiest way to make a tenon-groove carpentry joint Making tenon joints with a milling cutter.

For a long time in joinery and carpentry, a tongue-and-groove connection has been used. Ancient architects, using this method, managed to create unique wooden buildings without a single nail or screw. And although a wide variety of hardware is now quite accessible, the articulation of individual parts of various structures by this method has not only not lost its relevance, but is also widely used in modern products and materials.

The principle of connection and its varieties

According to the design, all thorn-groove joints are made according to the same principle: a protrusion is made on one part, and a recess on the second. In terms of configuration and size, they are exactly the same. With a tight articulation of these two parts, a strong technological unit is obtained. During the construction of houses, such a connection prevents the shift of one part of the structure relative to the other; in the manufacture of furniture, it significantly increases the area on which the adhesive is applied, thereby providing additional strength to the product.

According to the geometric shape of the protrusion and recess, such joints are divided into two main types:

rectangular section (sometimes with rounded edges of spikes and grooves);

in the form of a trapezoid (also called "dovetail").

According to the number of spikes and recesses that need to be made for one articulation of parts, these connections are divided into:

single-thorn;
multi-thorn.

Important! Regardless of the number and geometric shape of the protrusions and recesses, they must be made only parallel to the wood fibers.

Application area

The thorn-groove connection has found application in many areas of our daily life. For example, when arranging the floors of rooms according to this principle, such familiar coatings as laminate, ordinary floorboard, chipboard, fiberboard or MDF boards are joined.

Wood, as one of the most environmentally friendly materials, is used to make a wide variety of furniture (from a simple kitchen stool to a designer set for a living room or dining room), roller blinds, blinds and much more. And all these products are mainly made using a spike-groove connection.

During the construction of wooden frame buildings, houses made of timber, when arranging the beam-rafter structure of the ceiling and roof, it is also impossible to do without arranging ledges and recesses.

Beam connection

A thorn - a groove in the connection of a beam is used both for arranging corner structures made of wood, and for longitudinal alignment of individual pieces. Depending on the dimensions of the section and the expected loads, the geometry and the number of protrusions and lugs are selected. For example, in the construction of wooden houses, one-stud connection is mainly used. And to increase the length of the bars of a small section using glue, a multi-thorn method is used.

Joining boards

Almost all owners of suburban real estate have long been fond of such material as lining, as a result of which they get an absolutely flat vertical surface. A spike-groove connection of boards is used for arranging floors, interior decoration of a house, as well as for external cladding of a building (naturally with an antiseptic coating).

The protrusions are tightly fixed in the recesses of adjacent boards, which prevents their displacement relative to each other. When arranging the floors, the tight connection of the tongue-and-groove boards between themselves prevents their displacement in the vertical plane (the floor turns out to be even) and significantly increases the heat-saving properties of the coating (there are simply no gaps between the boards).

Using a manual electric router

Arrangement of spike joints - minimizes labor costs and significantly reduces the time for carpentry work. Of course, this useful tool will not help when building a house, for example, from a bar with a section of 150 x 150 mm, since there are no cutters of this size for a manual router, and the power of this unit will not be enough to install them. But if you want to build furniture, small or door frames yourself, then such a tool is a must. Depending on the size of the parts to be joined and the geometric configuration of the connection, you get the desired cutter, or maybe two (one for cutting a groove, the other for making a spike). Milling tool adjusters, as well as guide bearings (usually included with these milling cutters), will help create projections and recesses that exactly match in size and shape.

DIY tools and fixtures

If you need to make some piece of wood product, then it is not economically viable to purchase an expensive electric milling cutter. Most likely, everyone in the household will have the necessary set of tools, and if they have to buy in addition, then quite a bit. In addition, additionally purchased devices may later be useful for minor repairs (for example, repairing wooden furniture). In order to make a thorn-groove connection with your own hands using only ordinary hand tools, you will need:

wood saw (with fine teeth);
joiner's thickness gauge (special device for marking) or a regular construction square;

Ruler and pencil;
wood chisel.

Self-made corner connection

As an example, consider how to make a spike-groove connection of two bars of the same section at a right angle using improvised tools. Let's say you need to connect 60 x 60 mm (they may well be suitable for making window frames for a summer house).

The thickness of the protrusion for a single-tenon connection (in accordance with the recommendations of carpentry handbooks) should be ⅓ ÷ ⅜ of the thickness of the bar (in your case it will be 20 mm). The length of the spike will be equal to the thickness of the bar (60 mm). The dimensions of the recess must correspond to the dimensions of the spike, so that it fits into the eye with force.

Attention! The spikes must be equipped on the vertical parts of the wooden structure, and the grooves on the horizontal ones.

The algorithm for performing work is quite simple:

First, we mark out future protrusions and eyes. If you treat this process without due attention, then the spikes and grooves made may not match each other in size or relative position. There is also a danger that they will not fit tightly into each other. All this will significantly reduce the strength and reliability of the connection.
Using a thickness gauge (or square) at a distance of 60 mm from the end, we draw a line on all four sides of both bars.
Then, on two opposite sides and on the end, we draw two parallel lines at a distance of 20 mm from each other.

Along the marking lines with a hacksaw, we cut the end to the transverse line, that is, to a depth of 60 mm.

On a note! So that the thickness of the cut (approximately equal to the setting of the teeth of the cutting blade of the hacksaw) does not affect the accuracy of manufacturing the connection, we install the saw blade from the outside (when arranging a spike) or from the inside (when making a groove).

At the end of the bar with a ledge, we saw off the outer pieces of wood.
With a chisel, carefully hollow out the inside of the recess.

We insert the spike into the groove and check the connection made. If necessary, remove protruding defects with a chisel.

Finally

If you need to equip the spike-groove yourself, then it is best to practice on scraps of bars.

If the made protrusions and recesses exactly matched, and the articulation of the individual parts turned out to be strong, then you can start working on the prepared building material. Well, if the spike enters the groove too freely, or vice versa, then it is necessary to check the correctness of the markup again, conduct another training session, and only after that proceed with the implementation of the planned project.

Knowing how to make a tenon groove with a manual router, you can even make at home not only beautiful, but also reliable furniture, but also various wood structures, characterized by excellent bearing capacity. According to the "thorn-groove" system, not only elements of various furniture (tables, chairs and shelves) are connected, but also the frames of low-rise buildings that experience significant loads during operation.

In order to make a spike on a wooden beam with a manual milling cutter, several conditions must be met:

securely fix the workpiece and correctly orient it in relation to the guide sole of the router;
set the height of the working part of the cutter so that the tool removes a layer of material of the required thickness from the surface of the workpiece being processed.

Even using the simplest tenoning device for a milling cutter when performing such processing, you can not only increase its productivity and quality of the result, but also make the process safer. It is especially important to use such a device, which can be made with your own hands, in cases where furniture is produced not in single copies, but in series (in this case, the master has to perform a large number of such operations both with the same type and with wooden furniture of various shapes and sizes). details).

Tools Used

The creation of spikes and grooves, with the help of which the connection of two wooden blanks will be ensured, assumes that a sample of the material is made on the side surface of the beam or board with a manual milling cutter. In this case, all geometric parameters of the elements of the future connection must be strictly observed.

To perform this operation with a hand router, you can use tools with shank diameters of both 8 and 12 mm. The most versatile in this case is the groove cutter, the cutting part of which works as follows:

the side surface forms the walls of the groove and the sides of the tenon;
the end side processes the bottom of the groove and removes a layer of material of the required thickness from the base of the spike.

Thus, using a tool of this type, it is possible to form both a tenon and a groove on the side surface of a beam or board. At the same time, their sizes can be adjusted within a fairly wide range.

In cases where higher requirements are placed on the reliability of the connection of wooden parts, the grooves and spikes are made not of a rectangular shape, but of a shape called the “dovetail”. Grooves and spikes of this configuration are created using dovetail cutters. It is also possible to perform the procedure for forming grooves and spikes of this shape with a hand mill, but for these purposes, devices of a different design should be used.

Dovetail sampling using a template

So that the question of how to make a groove in a board and a beam or a spike on their side surface does not cause any particular difficulties, it is better to use a power tool equipped with comfortable side handles, a wide guide sole and the option of protecting the spindle from turning during the replacement of the cutter. In addition, it is desirable that such equipment has a side stop, due to which the overhang of the cutter used with it in the kit will always remain constant.

How to make a stud picker

When forming spikes on wooden blanks with a manual milling cutter, it is not fixed in space in any way and is brought to the workpiece manually. That is why it is very important that when using a power tool, the workpiece is in a fixture that can ensure not only its secure fixation, but also the accuracy of the spikes formed on its surface.

The design of the simplest device that is able to cope with such tasks is:

several fixed guides (lower, upper, side);
movable bar, due to which you can adjust the length of the sample.

Such a device is manufactured, the dimensions of the components of which are selected individually, in the following sequence:

Along the edges of the plywood sheet, side vertical elements of the same height are fixed, in the central part of which cutouts are made.
Guides are installed on the side elements, along which the sole of the hand mill will move.
To limit the travel of the hand router along the upper rails, the side rails should be fixed on them.
On a sheet of plywood, which plays the role of the base of the device, it is necessary to install a movable element, with which the amount of overhang of the edge of the workpiece to be processed will be adjusted. For fixing, you can use a regular thumbscrew or any other suitable fastener.

In the manufacture of the device of the proposed design, the following points should be taken into account:

The height of the top guides should be the sum of the thickness of the workpiece and the amount of small clearance required to install the fixing wedge.
The cutouts in the side vertical elements are made so wide that it takes into account the length of the spike being formed.

It is possible to work with the device of the proposed design with a manual milling cutter of almost any modern model, the options of which provide for the possibility of adjusting the cutting speed, the amount of feed and overhang of the working part of the tool used.

To create a dovetail spike on the side surface of a beam or board, a device manufactured as follows is used.

A hole is made in a sheet of plywood, from which the cutting part of the dovetail cutter will protrude.
A manual router is fixed from the bottom of the prepared plywood sheet. To do this, you can use clamps, screws or any other fasteners.
On the surface of the plywood sheet, along which the workpiece will move, a board 2.5 cm thick is fixed. It will act as a guide element. Such a board is a consumable and is used once with a cutter of a certain diameter.

Such a device can be installed between two chairs or used to place it in a more convenient and reliable design.

Creating spikes on bars and boards

Using wood splicing cutters for a hand router and the above fixture, processing is performed in the following sequence.

The part to be machined is placed on the lower reference plane.
The edge of the part on which the spike will be formed is placed in the cutout of the upper guides and moves in it until it stops against the movable element of the fixture.
The movable element is fixed in the required position.
Using a wedge element, the upper plane of the part is pressed against the upper guides.
A manual router is placed on the upper guides.
The tree, using a tool installed on the router, is first removed from one side of the spike being formed.
After processing one side, the workpiece is turned over and the formation of the second side of the spike is performed.

Even such a device, simple in design, makes it possible to process tenon-groove joints with high precision and productivity using hand mills.

Before starting work, such a device must be configured. This can be done using the following algorithm.

The tool installed in the hand router is lowered until it comes into contact with the surface of the base plywood.
The thickness of the part is measured.
The thickness of the workpiece is divided by 4. The result will be the distance by which it is necessary to raise the cutter above the base surface.

In the manufacture of wooden products, a flat tenon is the most reliable way to connect parts. You can make a spike using a hacksaw - an award and a chisel. But this is not the best option. It is more convenient to make spikes using simple electric tools.

The most suitable machine for making spikes is
stationary cutter. In the photo you can see how it was made.
using a saw mounted on the milling shaft. Thorn
It is passed from two sides, so it will be exactly in the center.

The spike can also be cut in a vertical position, for this
you will need a circular saw with a variable saw height. For
workpiece holding guide ruler circular better
make it higher than the length of the spike, for example 10-15 cm. .

Let's go in order.

1. We make the preparation of parts already in a clean size. At
markup to the length of the parts you need to add the length of the spikes. For example
for doors, spikes are usually made 55-70 mm long. , for tables
or chairs depending on the thickness of the legs,
approximately 30-40 mm. .

2. With the help of a ruler and a square, we mark the shoulders of the spike from all
sides. Then with a hacksaw we make shallow cuts according to the markup.
These will be the shoulders of the spike.

3. We will choose the spike itself with a manual milling cutter, end mill
"barrel". The bearing for the cutter is not needed here. For comfort
and accuracy of work, we install an additional support for the router.
This is a part of the same thickness fixed perpendicularly.
Both parts are attached to the table with clamps.

The use of spike-groove joints at home will allow you to independently create beautiful furniture, which is also distinguished by reliability. Even the frames of low-rise buildings are connected using this scheme, especially when it comes to serious loads during operation. Therefore, it will be useful to figure out how to make a tenon groove with manual milling cutters.

Tools Used

The sample of material in this case is carried out on the surface of the bars and boards on the side. The main thing is that the intended connection should maintain dimensions in terms of geometry.

To complete the process with a milling cutter, it is allowed to use tools equipped with shanks with a diameter of 8 or 12 millimeters. The so-called groove cutter will become a universal option for any kind of work. The device is supplied with a cutting part, in which the basic principle of operation is described as follows:

The surface on the side is involved in the formation of the sides on the side of the spike, the wall part of the grooves.
The side with the end part is used when processing the bottom. After that, the necessary layer of material is removed from the base of the spike.

The result is the simultaneous formation of both spikes and grooves on the surface on the sides. For sizes, individual adjustment is allowed, and the owner has ample opportunities in this sense.

Sometimes for grooves and spikes they choose not the shape of a rectangle, but the type of the so-called "dovetail". This option is relevant if increased requirements are placed on the reliability of the connection. Accordingly, the cutter used is also called "dovetail" in this case. Such work can be done without problems with hand tools, if necessary.

Making a stud picker

When parts are processed manually, the router itself does not have additional spatial fixation. But the overall result of the work, the accuracy of the connection itself in the future depends on this.

To assemble the simplest design that can cope with the task, you will need to use:

Several guides that remain fixed. They should be side and top or bottom.
The length of the sample is adjusted by using an appropriate movable bar.

For manufacturing, the following sequence of actions is used:

A plywood sheet is taken, from one edge of which side elements are mounted in a vertical plane. In the center of the material, you need to create appropriate cutouts.
The sides are supplied with guides. On them, the sole of the hand mill moves in the future.
The side bars are fixed on the top rails. Then the course of the working router associated with these parts has restrictions.
The plywood sheet, which has become the basis for the installation, also serves as a surface for installing the movable element. Then the amount of edge overhang for the future workpiece is easier to control under any circumstances. Fixation is provided by conventional screws, other types of fixing devices.

There are several points in the manufacture that require separate accounting:

The top guides have a height corresponding to the sum of the thickness of the part under processing and a small gap on which the wedge is installed, which is involved in fixing.
The emerging spike has a certain length, which is taken into account when determining the thickness of the cutouts for the side elements along the vertical.

When such devices are used, the work is carried out with the participation of manual milling machines of any modern model.

As follows, fixtures are made if dovetail joints are required.

A hole is created inside a sheet of plywood with several layers. The part for cutting at the cutter itself protrudes from this part.
A plywood sheet is prepared in advance, on the lower part of which the manual milling cutter itself is fixed. Clamps and self-tapping screws are perfect for doing the job, as are other types of fasteners.
A board 2.5 centimeters thick is attached to a plywood sheet, which later participates in the movement of the prepared part. The function of the guides is taken over by the design. Boards are disposable consumables.

Creating spikes on bars and boards

Processing is carried out using the following sequence of actions:

The part to be processed is installed on the plane from the bottom side.
The edge of the part, where the spike is formed, contains cutouts at the guides at the top. The structure moves inward until it hits the end.
An element of a movable type must be fixed, while maintaining a certain position.
We use a wedge tool to connect the guides and the plane located at the top to each other.
Connection of a manual router with the upper guides.
With the help of a milling tool on a home milling table, wood is removed from one side.
When the first side of the workpiece is processed, the second one begins.

The operation will be successful only if the performance and accuracy parameters are high. The setting refers to the required actions before the instruments are turned on. To resolve the issue, actions are performed with the following sequence:

The milling tool is lowered until it reaches the surface of the base.
Measurement of part thickness.
The thickness result is divided by 4. The result is the distance parameter that is followed when raising the cutter above the base.

Wood cutter "Dovetail"

For grooves and tenons under similar circumstances: only half of the usual width. This is due to the features possessed by the compounds of this variety.

The main thing is to correctly adjust the device, fix it in a suitable position.

The tenon-and-groove connection should result in some clearance. It is necessary so that later you can conveniently use the adhesive composition.

How to choose a groove with a router?

The solution to the problem depends on where the grooves are located, what size they have. There are several recommendations for home craftsmen:

The use of open grooves involves fixing at the tabletop, holding the workpiece along the cutter.
Accuracy is determined by the height of the cutter, the location of the bar.
It is recommended to use wood waste for trial operations. This avoids mistakes.
Sampling is carried out in stages, with several passes.

The main thing after the completion of each stage is to get rid of wood waste in time. Then the tool will definitely not suffer from overheating. When doing work, it is easiest to use a template cut out of plywood. They pass through it with the cutter itself, with the bearing installed.

Conclusion

It is best to use the remains of wooden blocks for training. If the holes and connections match perfectly, you can go directly to the actual building material.

If there are any errors, it is recommended to check again whether the preliminary markup is correctly applied. This is followed by a retraining session. Only when everything is correct, the direct implementation of the main work begins.

Agree, it is very problematic to quickly and efficiently cut a perfect round spike on the ends of round wooden blanks. Well, of course, if you are not a happy owner of a CNC tenoning machine. For those whose workshop or workshop is not so richly “packed”, we offer an elegant way to solve this problem. Make a simple and reliable conductor from improvised materials in 15 minutes

1. Workpiece

You will need a small block of wood or MDF. Approximate dimensions - section 4x4 cm, length about 10 cm. However, it all depends on the diameter of the intended spike and the size of the workpiece.

2. Hole for workpiece

Drill a hole in the bar with a diameter equal to the diameter of your round blank. If the hole turns out with a small allowance, then it will be very good.

A little allowance won't hurt. In the future, this will facilitate the cutting of the spike. But do not overdo it, otherwise you may get backlash

3. Limiter

In order for the workpiece not to fail during processing, it will be necessary to install a limiter. To do this, cut out a fiberboard or thin MDF plate with a size equal to the base of your bar. Of course, you can glue the base to the bar with wood glue, but it makes sense to do it easier - connect these two parts with double-sided adhesive tape.

4. Set up the router

Now set up your tenon cutter. Use a straight cutter. Set the height of your spike, don't forget to compensate for the thickness of the stopper.

5. Adjust the stop

Adjust the router stop so that the center of the router coincides with the center of the hole in the jig

6. Milling the groove

At this stage, cut a groove in the conductor blank. It is better to do this in 2-3 passes. On the stop, you can put a mark so that each pass ends in the same place, namely in the center of the hole.

The conductor is ready!

7. Fix the jig

You should securely attach the resulting jig to the stop of the milling machine. The easiest way to do this is with a clamp. Adjust the overhang of the cutter to the diameter of your future round tenon.