I don’t have a dado and don’t want to invest in one. We often use half-laps for shop-cabinet door frames, workbench leg frames, outdoor furniture, and internal web frames for furniture such as dressers. Sometimes perfectly flush, other times loose or cut too deep. Click here to download a printable plan ———> Kerf Maker Jig Plan. I am making a door with half-lap joints. Cutting on-the-money rabbets for half-lap joints with a portable circular saw and handheld router is a breeze with this two-in-one jig. Half-lap joints do reveal end grain on both sides of the joint, so avoid using the joint where such an appearance proves objectionable.

The half lap adds sturdiness to the internal structure without adding additional height. The half-lap joint can be quite strong when properly used. That’s 18 half laps I have to cut. A dado blade is a rip blade, meant to go with the grain of the wood.
Build the jig You can make a simple half-lap joint on your tablesaw with a dado blade, miter-gauge extension, and a workpiece stop. If you need wider than that, just make it longer! We have all seen this done using a dado blade. *** An awesome viewer of mine helped me out by drawing up some plans for this jig. I’m attaching three 2X4s stretching from the joists in my basement to the floor and spaced out to handle 8 foot lumber. ***UPDATE! We have also seen stub tenons made this way. Easy Half Lap Joints: If you’ve ever tried to cut a half lap joint and been frustrated with the results, welcome to the club. When you use it to cut a half lap or a stub tenon, it leaves a very ragged surface, which would seem unsuitable for a glue joint. I’m attaching to those three levels of “shelve” pieces (perpendicular 14” 2×4 pieces) that folks say should be lap jointed. With this set up I can make a dado, groove or half lap up to about 1-1/2” wide. Up until now my lap joints were pretty much hit and miss.