I have alway prefered a tennon to dowels and biscuits as joinery. So what i would like to know is what is better a tennon or a dowel. Dowels can be good in some situations ie, chair rails etc. Is one better than the other though?
What is better tennon or dowel?
Apr 14, 2006
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Better for what? Speed and ease of construction? Shear strength? Pull-out strength? Antique authenticity? Requiring fewest tools/jigs? Answer: totally depends - both have their place, with lots of overlap for most applications. Andy
Read the full replyInformation here may be outdated?
Better for what? Speed and ease of construction? Shear strength? Pull-out strength? Antique authenticity? Requiring fewest tools/jigs? Answer: totally depends - both have their place, with lots of overlap for most applications. Andy
A dowel is a loose round tenon. Unless it is pinned, it has poor resistance to withdrawal, unless it is of sufficient cross-section, it has poor resistance to shear.
Same depth criteria apply as in the "how deep" thread - don't bore all the way through the other piece, or it's a bridle.
depends to some extent on the way the grain lies, but a tenon is usually stronger than a dowel. endgrain doesn't glue well, and if your dowel relies on a hole drilled perpenticular to grain, then there is a lot of endgrain involved. a mortise would result in more joint strenght because the sides of the mortise hold glue well.
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