Hobbyists who would like to make a piece of furniture may not be sure about what type of joinery they should use for their project. Their indecision may be due to having insufficient information about the different types of joints that are available. This article discusses some of the pros and cons of dowel joints. Use this information as you evaluate the suitability of this technique for your project.

The Pros

No hardware is needed. A dowel joint is a joint that is made by drilling a hole in one piece of timber so that a pin can be inserted to link that piece of timber to another piece. This type of joint is popular among DIY enthusiasts because one doesn't have to use any hardware, such as nails and screws during a carpentry or joinery project.

It is safer. A dowel joint gets rid of some of the injury risk factors that exist during a joinery project. For instance, you will be at no risk of being injured by a hammer as you drive a nail into the joint. Similarly, the users of that piece of furniture will be safer because there will be no protruding hardware to harm them.

The joint is versatile. Dowel joints can be adjusted to suit the requirements of any project. For instance, you can make a series of dowel joints if you would like a cabinet to be very strong and firm. The same technique can also be used when you are working with concrete or metals.

The Cons

Misalignment can occur. It is very easy for the dowelling bit to slip as one makes the hole for the joint. It can then become very difficult to ensure that the joint is properly aligned if the hole was slanting in any way. One must either have a drilling press or have plenty of experience in order to get the hole right the very first time.

Limited durability. The dowel eventually shears due to the forces that act on the joint after the piece of furniture is completed. This then makes it necessary to use a drill or any other tool to extract the old dowel so that a new one can be inserted.

Weigh the strengths and the weaknesses above carefully. You can then conduct the same analysis for the other types of joints, such as mortise and tenor joints or miter joints so that you can select the best joinery technique for your project.