There are almost as numerous situations for wood jointing as there are some other wood joint systems that have come up over the years. One of the most popular jointing strategies that have been around for a long time is the dovetail joint. The dovetail joint in the past were marked and than hand chiseled and cut by a craftsman. This is why today they have the reputation as one of the finest systems around for jointing pieces of wood together. At this moment with modern tools and trades, it is really fast and easy to make high quality joints in a variety of wood thicknesses and job situations. One jig I have used with great benefit it the porter cable dovetail jig 4210. This jig is very easy to set-up and is a pleasure to use.

There is also the common spline jointing system. In this strategy you sline cut, or rip dado's along the length of the two wood pieces to be joined and then bond them with a "spline" that is pressed in the middle of the two pieces. The advantage of the spline is that its relatively speedy to create and it's a lot more compassionate than a dovetail joint. In the past, the German craftsman I was taught from in Los Angeles, didn't have dovetail jigs like the porter cable dovetail jig 4210 previously mentioned.

Another famous jointing system is the dowel pin strategy. This system has increased in recognition these days with the arrival of several nice jigs for facilitating this type of wood jointing. The jig attaches to the work piece and then a hole is drilled into both pieces, lastly, a dowelling pin and glued are used to bond the two pieces. This is a very nice modus operandi and is fairly fast and easy to use for jointing. I however, do not prefer to use this procedure. I find that it is very ease for the pieces to be off a bit, which means running it thru a large sander.

Of all the techniques I have used, I really feel like to do rabbeted wood pieces and dovetails. One of the reasons is that rabbeted pieces are nice to highlight to conflicting colored woods for a very "high-end" look. The other reason is because friends, family, and clientele a like all see the dovetail as a sign of quality. Sometimes I have to chuckle how even a person who knows very little about woodworking will still look to see if the joints are dovetailed. It's the contemporary sign of value!

The nice part is that since jigs like the porter-cable 4210 12-inch dovetail jig came onto the market, now you can do high-caliber joints like this very fast and with ease. The nice thing about this is that if you take the several minutes it takes to make a dovetail with your jig, you're immediately looked at as a "builders" rather than just a contractor. If you take the time to put the extra grade of a dove tail joint you will observe that your peers will start looking up to you. It's really kind of funny! There really is a stigma that goes with doing dovetails. The secret is, it's not challenging, nor is it time absorbing anymore! Ssshh! If you get this jig, don't tell everybody!