How to Join Two Pieces of Wood: Edge, End and Face Methods

To join two pieces of wood, match the method to how the grain meets. Edge-to-edge glue joints can outlast the board itself, end-to-end joints need a long scarf or finger cut because glued end grain is weak, and face-to-face glue-ups build thickness. This guide covers all three, plus screws and pocket holes when you have no special tools, with Titebond clamp pressures and times.

Pick Your Method: Edge to Edge, End to End, or Face to Face

Look at which surfaces will touch. Long-grain faces and edges bond well, and end grain does not, which decides most of the choices on this page. For a ranked comparison of seven structural joints with breaking-force numbers, see our guide to how to join wood. This page is the beginner walk-through for the three cases people search for most.

What you are joining	Best beginner method	Reinforce with
Edge of one board to edge of another (panel, tabletop)	Jointed edges, glue and clamps	Biscuits or dowels, for alignment only
End of one board to end of another (longer board)	Scarf joint, 8:1 to 12:1 slope, or finger joint	Nothing extra when the slope is long enough
Face of one board to face of another (thicker stock)	Glue and clamps with cauls	Nothing, if both faces are flat
End of one board to the face of another (T or L shape)	Pocket holes, dowels or screws plus glue	See joining pieces in a corner

How Do You Join Two Boards Edge to Edge?

Joint both edges straight, spread a thin film of glue, and clamp. Titebond describes its original wood glue as bonding stronger than wood, so a tight edge joint needs no screws or hardware to hold. The effort goes into the six steps below.

1. Match the boards. Use boards at the same moisture content, since Titebond notes that different moisture levels leave stepped joints. Run them through the planer together so the thickness matches, and pencil a triangle across the set so you know which edges mate.
2. Joint the edges. Each edge must be straight and square. No jointer? Our guide to edge-joining without a jointer covers a router, table saw and hand-plane route. Leave a very slight hollow: Gary Rogowski in Fine Woodworking recommends about 1/32 inch of light in the middle of a two-foot joint (a spring joint), and a single clamp at the center should close it.
3. Dry fit. Clamp the boards with no glue and check that the faces sit flush and the seam closes along its whole length.
4. Spread glue thin. A thin, even film on one edge is enough. Titebond Original gives 4 to 6 minutes of open time and 10 to 15 minutes of total assembly time at 70 degrees F and 50% humidity, so set out every clamp before the bottle opens.
5. Clamp in alternation. Alternate clamps above and below the panel, tighten each a little at a time instead of one fully and then the next, and add cauls (stiff bars) top and bottom so the faces stay flush. KM Tools also warns against over-tightening.
6. Wait before cleaning up. Chisel off squeeze-out once it turns rubbery, and do not plane or sand until the glue swelling has gone, or the joint will sink as it dries.

Titebond Original clamp pressure: 100-150 psi for softwoods, 125-175 psi for medium woods and 175-250 psi for hardwoods. Source: Titebond Original Wood Glue product page

Why One Clamp Is Never Enough

Those psi figures apply across the glue line, so the force you need grows with the length and thickness of the joint. Multiplying Titebond’s range by the glue-line area (board thickness times joint length) gives the table below. This is our arithmetic, not a Titebond figure, and hand-tightened clamps rarely reach their rated force, so treat it as a reason to use several clamps and cauls, not a target to hit.

Joint (thickness x length)	Glue-line area	Softwood, 100-150 psi	Hardwood, 175-250 psi
3/4 in x 24 in	18 sq in	1,800 to 2,700 lb	3,150 to 4,500 lb
3/4 in x 48 in	36 sq in	3,600 to 5,400 lb	6,300 to 9,000 lb
1-1/2 in x 36 in	54 sq in	5,400 to 8,100 lb	9,450 to 13,500 lb

The clamp in the box above is listed at 1,500 lb of clamping force, so even a short 24-inch softwood joint calls for at least two. For the panel-gluing details beyond this, see how to glue a large wood panel without gaps.

“Bonds stronger than wood.”

Dowels and Biscuits: Alignment, Not Extra Strength

On an edge joint, dowels and biscuits keep the board faces flush while the clamps squeeze, which is their real job. A dowel should be no smaller than one-third and no larger than one-half of the thinnest board’s thickness, so 3/4 inch boards take 1/4 to 3/8 inch dowels, with 5/16 inch in the middle. A doweling jig keeps each hole square to the edge. Our dowel gluing guide covers glue amounts so the joint does not squeak later.

How Do You Join Two Pieces of Wood End to End?

Cut a long sloped scarf joint, or interlocking fingers, then glue and clamp. A plain butt joint is the wrong tool for lengthening a board, because the cut end soaks up glue and leaves little to hold. If you must glue end grain, Titebond suggests sizing it first: brush on a mix of one part glue to one or two parts water, let it soak no more than two minutes, then apply glue as normal. Our guide to glue for end-grain joints compares what works.

A scarf joint turns an end-grain joint into a long-grain one by cutting both ends on a shallow slope. The slope is written as a ratio, and the overlap length is simply the board thickness times the ratio. WoodenBoat’s published tests of five ratios on European oak with epoxy found that the steeper (shorter) slopes were weak, with 4:1 reaching roughly 65 percent of solid timber and 20:1 up to 95 percent.

Scarf slope	Overlap on 3/4 in stock	What the WoodenBoat oak and epoxy tests showed
4:1	3 in	About 65% of solid timber strength, a rule of thumb the article cites
8:1	6 in	Failed suddenly at the glue bond
12:1	9 in	Traditional ratio for boat spars, and among the higher ratios that carried the most load
20:1	15 in	Up to 95% of solid timber, and the only one where the wood failed instead of the glue

Source: WoodenBoat, “The Strength of Scarf Joints”. The overlap column is our arithmetic. The tests used epoxy, and wood glue will give different absolute numbers, but the trend (a longer slope is a stronger joint) is the part to take away.

To make one, mark the slope on the edge of both boards, cut or plane to the line, and dry-fit until no light shows through the seam. Glue the slopes and clamp with a caul across the joint, since sloped surfaces tend to slide as pressure builds. If you cannot afford 9 inches of overlap, a finger joint cut with a router or table-saw jig gives a similar long-grain glue area in a shorter length.

How Do You Join Boards Face to Face?

Glue the two flat faces together and clamp across the whole surface. Face-to-face is long grain to long grain, the strongest glue case, so the usual failures are gaps from cupped or twisted boards and glue that skins over before the clamps are on. Flatten both faces first, and work in a small enough batch that you finish inside the open time.

• Spread glue over the entire face with a brush or small roller until it is wet from edge to edge, with a thin film and not puddles.
• Put cauls (flat scrap blocks or bars) on the top and bottom faces so clamp pressure spreads instead of denting the wood.
• Alternate clamps above and below, and tighten gradually from the middle out, as in the edge-to-edge steps.
• Allow longer open time on big surfaces. Titebond Original gives 4 to 6 minutes, while a longer-open glue such as Titebond III gives 8 to 10, as compared in our Titebond 1 vs 2 vs 3 chart.

How Do You Join Two Pieces of Wood Without Special Tools?

Use glue and clamps for long-grain joints, and screws for anything meeting at an angle. A drill, a few clamps and wood glue cover most beginner builds, and none of them needs a jig.

• Glue plus clamps: any clamp works for faces and edges if you spread the pressure with a scrap block, and a tight glued edge joint can outlast the wood around it.
• Screws: drill a pilot hole so the board does not split, countersink the head, and add glue as well. Screws hold less well in end grain than in a board face, so drive them through the face of one board into the end of the other.
• Pocket holes: a pocket-hole jig is the one inexpensive tool worth buying for T and L joints, because it hides the screws. Our guide on whether you need glue in a pocket-hole joint covers that question.

If you do buy a pocket-hole jig, Kreg’s guide gives screw lengths by board thickness and says to match the drill depth to the thickness. Fine-thread screws suit hardwood, and coarse-thread screws suit softwood and plywood or MDF. Apply glue before driving the screws and hold the boards square with a clamp.

Board thickness	Pocket screw length
1/2 in and 5/8 in	1 in
3/4 in	1-1/4 in
7/8 in and 1 in	1-1/2 in
1-1/4 in and 1-3/8 in	2 in
1-1/2 in	2-1/2 in

Screws and pocket holes suit cabinets, shelves and boxes. For legs, rails and anything that will be racked, step up to the mortise and tenon joint.

How Long Should You Clamp Wood Glue?

For an unstressed joint, Titebond recommends clamping for 30 minutes to an hour, and for a stressed joint, 24 hours. Treat 24 hours as the minimum before the piece carries any load.

• Open assembly time (Titebond Original): 4 to 6 minutes at 70 degrees F and 50% humidity, with 10 to 15 minutes of total assembly time.
• Minimum application temperature: above 50 degrees F for glue, wood and room.
• Do not plane or sand until the swelling from the water in the glue has gone, or the joint sinks.

Common Mistakes When Joining Two Pieces of Wood

• Gluing end grain and expecting it to hold. Use a scarf or finger joint to lengthen a board, or a dowel, screw or corner block at a right angle.
• Skipping the dry fit. A gap you find before the glue is on can be fixed, and one you find after cannot.
• Mixing wood at different moisture contents. Titebond warns this leaves stepped joints after gluing.
• Tightening one clamp fully first. Tighten all of them a little at a time, in alternation.
• Sanding too early. Wait for the swelling to go down, or the seam will show as a groove.

Keep reading

• How to Join Two Pieces of Wood Without a Jointer (4 Methods)
• How to Connect 3 Pieces of Wood: The Right Joint for Every Configuration
• How to Join Wood With a Router: Edge Joints, Grooves, and Using It as a Jointer

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Join Two Pieces Of Wood Without Screws?

Glue and clamps are enough for long-grain surfaces: edge to edge for panels and face to face for thicker stock. Add dowels or biscuits to keep boards aligned, and use a scarf or finger joint to lengthen a board. Only end-grain butt joints need a fastener.

What Is The Best Type Of Wood Joint For Joining Two Pieces Of Wood?

It depends on which surfaces meet. For edges and faces, a plain glued joint is the best, because glue on long grain bonds stronger than the wood. For lengthening, use a scarf joint. For frames and legs that carry racking loads, use a mortise and tenon or dowels.

Can I Use Nails Instead Of Screws To Join Two Pieces Of Wood?

Yes, for light work such as trim, small boxes and holding a glued joint while it sets. Nails hold by friction and can work loose, while screws pull the pieces together with their threads. For anything that will be pulled, loaded or moved often, use screws plus glue.

How Do I Ensure A Strong Wood Joint When Joining Two Pieces Of Wood?

Glue long grain to long grain, fit the joint tightly, spread a thin even film of glue, and clamp within the glue’s open time. Titebond lists 100-250 psi depending on wood hardness. Keep the joint unstressed for 24 hours, and do not sand or plane until the glue swelling has gone.

How Do You Join Two Pieces of Wood End to End?

Cut a scarf joint with a slope of 8:1 to 12:1, or cut interlocking finger joints, then glue and clamp. A plain butt joint is weak because end grain soaks up glue. A 12:1 scarf on 3/4 inch stock overlaps 9 inches.

Which Method to Start With

For two boards side by side, glue the edges and clamp them in alternation. To lengthen a board, cut a 12:1 scarf, and to thicken stock, glue the faces with cauls. Pocket holes and screws are the fallback when the pieces meet at an angle. Whichever you pick, glue long grain, clamp to the pressure Titebond lists, and leave the joint alone for 24 hours. Browse more fundamentals in our woodworking tips hub.