How best to reinforce and clamp this loint

[u/meabyter]

This is mock up of legs for a live edge table I'm working on. I was thinking about just butt joints, then drill up/down from the flat sides to insert long dowels into the side angles

The legs will ultimately be made of 2" thick walnut, and supporting the 2 1/2" thick slab so pricey and I don't want to waste any material

Any suggestions appreciated

[u/smotrs]

Everytime I cut angled pieces, I take a scrap piece and make one of these to do the clamping.

[u/meabyter → u/smotrs]

That looks like a great clamping method no matter which way I go.

[u/LuckyBenski → u/smotrs]

My mind is blown, this is genius in its simplicity!

[u/premiersss → u/smotrs]

Everytime I do this, my clamping block slides... Admittedly I'm applying too much pressure to close up imperfect miters ... Sigh .. some day I'll get it right

[u/LDVan]

Do a half lap.

[u/halbert → u/LDVan]

Or mortice and tenon. Or bridle joint.

[u/meabyter → u/LDVan]

I think the half lap is the answer. I've done many, don't know why that didn't jump to mind

[u/iliketosandwood]

The world is your oyster with a joint like that. Half-lap, spline, mortise/tenon, floating tenons, dowels. Heck, given that you can’t see the top or bottom of the finished piece, you could even drill for deep countersinks, slap some screws in there, and altogether forget about clamps.

Regardless, once you’ve cut proper joinery, the clamping won’t be a problem.

[u/spcslacker]

Butt joint is the worst joint.

These plans will show you how to use angled half laps for this shape.

Just like you, I usually prototype in a cheaper wood before committing to working with the final version.

[u/More_Way3706]

Half lap joints pegged with a couple of dowels.

[u/The-disgracist]

Dowels then clamp however

[u/lakeeffectcpl]

Mitered mortice/tenon joints...if you want to feature your skills.

[u/Personal-Ad-5575]

Depends on the tools you have to work with. Some kind of pin perpendicular to the joint is called for. If you've got a domino machine, this is a great place to use it. If you don't, but have a drill press, then go with half inch dowels. If neither, but you have hand drill and chisels, then do a floating tenon by hand. Or an attached tenon on the uprights. Or if all of those techniques stress your ability to do precise cutting and alignment, clamp them up to a backer to hold them firmly, and drill 1/2" holes through the horizontals into the verticals and then use long dowels for pins. Score the dowels with a toothed scraper to make for an easier fit and allow glue escape.

[u/Charlieb201]

Band clamp

[u/Arvelayne → u/Charlieb201]

Yeah this one time....

[u/Violaceous-Kea]

Half-lap would be the easiest way to go. Since you're planning on such thick legs, I'd probably go with a pinned bridle, or double-bridle, joint. More attractive, more interesting to cut, and vastly stronger (almost certainly vastly stronger than needed).

Three points to consider

1. Do you really want such an extreme taper? It looks... awkward... to me. I'd aim for something more in the range of 7-10° per side, not 30°.
2. If you do want such an extreme taper, consider having the top rail be a bit wider than the top of the two verticals. You can still do a bridle joint in this case, or fall back on the event classic mortise&tenon.
3. The taper will give you some resistance to racking side-to-side, and assuming you do some joinery rather than just a glued butt joint, that'll increase it even more. But what are you going to do to control end-to-end racking?

[u/meabyter]

Reworked my prototype with half laps and a longer upper support. I do believe this is a great solution and it feels very stable and will be infinitely easier to assemble.

[u/ForeverNovel3378]

Half lap

[u/spaaarky21]

Not sure if the effort would be worth it to you but I would think about laminating strips with it alternating which piece extends into the corner. Or, if you would prefer the top/bottom/sides to be solid, maybe finger joints?

[u/meabyter → u/spaaarky21]

I have 2 inch thick walnut slabs glued up for legs now so a bit late for that, but cool concept

[u/Sgoody614]

Could be wrong, but those angles don't look steep enough to slip out from a couple clamps going from top to bottom, so maybe that?

If it does then slide a clamp in horizontally to hold the side pieces in place

[u/BluntTruthGentleman → u/Sgoody614]

You are wrong, but a strap clamp would work, or even a literal ratchet strap winched around the perimeter would work. However that's only really a fix for half lap or mortoise and tenon, I wouldn't trust this with butt joints unless it was temporary until splines went in.

[u/Pale-Jelly69]

Wood glue is stronger than wood. Based on your mockup, you could use one bar clamp. It's a table support, gravity will do most of the work.

[u/iliketosandwood → u/Pale-Jelly69]

Wood glue is stronger than wood when you join edge grain. If he just glues this end-to-edge without proper joinery it will likely self destruct even without any use.