Dado Joint

A stopped dado joint is a special kind of joint to hold together two boards intersecting at a 90 degree angle. It looks a lot like a regular dado joint except that half of the dado is cut in one board and the other half is cut in the other. The result is a bit stronger than a regular dado joint, although it is a bit more difficult to make.

• Step 1: Start to cut a dado joint into a piece of wood, but stop half way or three quarters of the way through.
• Step 2: Measure out the distance from where you ended the dado to the end of the board and the depth of the dado.
• Step 3: With the previous measurements, cut out a corner from your second board.
• Step 4: Fit both of the pieces together with glue and nails.

Tips for Making a Stopped Dado Joint

You have to be careful when cutting a stopped dado joint to make sure that you are cutting on the right ends of the board. This is only important if one side of the board has a special finish that you wanted pointing a certain way. Once you start cutting your second board you will not be able to change which side is facing which direction.