joints and joinery

In architecture, the connection of construction materials. All joints are carefully detailed by the architect with concern for strength, movement, penetration by the elements, and incompatibilities. The term joinery refers especially to carpentry. Common types of joints include the dovetail, used for interlocking two flat members at right angles, as in the sides of a drawer; the doweled joint, in which doweling is employed for mechanical strength; and the mortise and tenon, in which a projecting piece fits into a groove, used to join a horizontal member with the vertical member of a frame.

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