Bridle joint

Woodworking joint

A bridle joint is a woodworking joint, similar to a mortise and tenon, in that a tenon is cut on the end of one member and a mortise is cut into the other to accept it.^[1] The distinguishing feature is that the tenon and the mortise are cut to the full width of the tenon member.

The corner bridle joint (also known as a slot mortise and tenon) joins two members at their respective ends, forming a corner. This form of the joint is commonly used to house a rail in uprights, such as legs. It provides good strength in compression and is fairly resistant to racking, although a mechanical fastener or pin is often required. The bridle joint is very popular in workbench construction.

Corner bridles are often used to join frame components when the frame is to be shaped. Material can be removed from the joined members after assembly without sacrificing joint integrity.

A variation of the bridle joint is the T-bridle, which joins the end of one member to the middle of another.^[2] The tee bridle joint is very strong and good for joining 2 pieces together.

In traditional timber framing the bridle joint is commonly used to join the tops of principal rafters.

Applications

Legs or stiles to rails
Frames

Methods

Corner bridles can be cut by the following methods:

Hand saw and chisel
Circular saw with multiple passes (depending on width and depth)
Table saw with a dado set in a single pass
Electric router using a straight or rabbet bit
Spindle mould
Brace and auger to start the mortise, followed by chiseling to square the opening
Mortising machine to create the mortise

References

^ Bridle Joints, WoodworkDetails.com
^ Woodwork Joints Proven Woodworking

Woodworking

Overviews

History
Glossary
Wood (lumber)

Occupations

Woods

Soft	Cedar (Calocedrus, Cedrus) Cypress Douglas fir Fir Juniper Larch Kauri Pine Rimu Spruce Yew
Hard	Afromosia Alder Andiroba Anigre Ash Apple Aspen Avodire Balsa Beech Bilinga Birch African Blackwood Australian Blackwood Boxwood Bubinga Camphor Cedrela Cherry Chestnut Cocobolo Cumaru Ebony Elm Eucalyptus Hazel Hickory Hornbeam Idigbo Imbuia Ipê Iroko Jarrah Jelutong Lignum vitae Linden (lime, basswood) Lovoa Merbau Mahogany (American, African) Maple Meranti Oak Padauk Pear Plum Poplar Purpleheart Ovankol Ramin Red Quebracho Rosewood Rubberwood Sapele Teak Totara Utile Walnut Wenge Willow Zebrano
Engineered	Cross-laminated Glue laminated Hardboard MDF OSB Particle board Plywood Wood-plastic composite

Tools

Abrasives Axe Adze Burnisher Chisel Drawknife Drill Fence Float Gimlet Gauge Impact driver Janka hardness test Jointer Mallet Milling machine Mitre box Rasp Router Shaper Sandpaper Square (Carpenters, Combination, Miter, Speed, Try) Thickness planer Timber-framing Veneer hammer Vise Warrington hammer Winding sticks Wood scribe Workbench
Clamps	Band clamp C-clamp F-clamp Flooring clamp Gripe Holdfast Mitre clamp Pipe clamp Sawbuck
Saws	Backsaw Bandsaw Bow Bucksaw Chainsaw Circular Compass Coping Crosscut Frame Fretsaw Hand saw Jigsaw Keyhole Miter Ripsaw Scroll Table Veneer Whipsaw
Planes	Bedrock plane Block plane Chamfer plane Compass plane Finger plane Fore plane Grooving plane Jack plane Japanese plane Jointer plane Moulding plane Razee plane Rebate plane Router plane Scrub plane Shoulder plane Smoothing plane Spokeshave Surform

Geometry

Joints	Birdsmouth Biscuit Box Bridle Butt Butterfly Coping Crown of thorns Dado Dovetail Finger Groove Halved Hammer-headed tenon Knee Lap Mason's mitre Miter Mortise and tenon Rabbet/Rebate Scarf Splice Tongue and groove
Profiles	Bead Bevel Chamfer Ogee Ogive Ovolo
Surface piecing	Binding Edge banding Intarsia Marquetry Oystering Parquetry Purfling