A butterfly joint, also known as a ābutterfly key,ā is typically used to hold two or more pieces of wood together. They are also used to hold one board that has slowly started to split into two boards together, reinforcing the original board. Essentially, butterfly joints stabilize cracked wood.
For some people, butterfly joints are used as a piece of home dƩcor, often placed on door frames, wooden tables, or otherwise as a decorative element of the piece.
If you own a CNC machine, you can produce joints, and many other projects, from the comfort of your own home or your own workshop.
Luckily, CNC machines can cut a variety of materials, which includes aluminum, brass, steel, wood, and mire making it easy for them to produce butterfly joints. In fact, certain CNC machines can produce dozen of butterfly joints in a matter of minutes.
On Woodworking Network, they used a scrap piece melamine as a template, cutting several outlines of butterfly joints. They created different columns of butterfly joints, allowing them to make two different sizes, producing many butterfly joints at once using their CNC machine.
Keep in mind that the thicker the material is that you need to insert the butterfly joint into, the thicker the joint itself should be.
Many people often believe that CNC machines are used for major projects, and although they often are, they can also create small projects as well that can help improve your bigger projects. For instance, butterfly joints are a small project but they can help reinforce your bigger projects, such as tables, chairs, stools, and so forth.
Check out the article on How to Start Woodworking (Woodworking for Beginners) from Yard & Garden Guru, Tim Graham.
Looking to purchase a new CNC machine? Contact CNC Masters.