A bridle joint is a

woodworking joint Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...

, similar to a

mortise and tenon A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) joint connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at right ...

, in that a tenon is cut on the end of one member and a mortise is cut into the other to accept it. 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 A workbench is a sturdy table at which manual work is done. They range from simple flat surfaces to very complex designs that may be considered tools in themselves. Workbenches vary in size from tiny jewellers benches to the huge benches used by ...

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.Woodwork Joint
Proven Woodworking
/ref> The tee bridle joint is very strong and good for joining 2 pieces together. In traditional

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

the bridle joint is commonly used to join the tops of principal

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...

Applications

* Legs or stiles to rails * Frames

Methods

Corner bridles can be cut by the following methods: *

Hand saw In woodworking and carpentry, hand saws, also known as "panel saws", are used to cut pieces of wood into different shapes. This is usually done in order to join the pieces together and carve a wooden object. They usually operate by having a ser ...

and

chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, stru ...

Circular saw A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. ''Cir ...

with multiple passes (depending on width and depth) *

Table saw A table saw (also known as a sawbench or bench saw in England) is a woodworking tool, consisting of a circular saw blade, mounted on an arbor, that is driven by an electric motor (either directly, by belt, or by gears). The blade protrudes t ...

with a

dado set A dado set or dado blade is a type of circular saw blade, usually used with a table saw or radial arm saw, which is used to cut dadoes or grooves in woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet makin ...

in a single pass * Electric router using a straight or rabbet bit * Spindle mould *

Brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cur ...

and

auger Auger may refer to: Engineering * Wood auger, a drill for making holes in wood (or in the ground) ** Auger bit, a drill bit * Auger conveyor, a device for moving material by means of a rotating helical flighting * Auger (platform), the world's f ...

to start the mortise, followed by chiseling to square the opening *

Mortising machine A mortiser or morticer is a specialized woodworking machine used to cut square or rectangular holes in a piece of lumber (timber), such as a mortise in a mortise and tenon joint. Square chisel mortiser The square chisel mortiser (also called '' ...

to create the mortise

References

{{Woodworking Joinery Woodworking Timber framing

Applications

Methods

See also

References