1,576 Splines
Posted by Dustin Horton // November 21, 2024 // Local Business
By Craig Vollmer
This stack of boxes with the weird little wings sticking out are part of the way through the build process of an order of nearly 200 of my Bauhaus Bluetooth speaker. Adorning the corners of each one are eight splines – a total of 1,576 to be exact. “What’s a spline?” you ask. A spline, while appearing to be a nice design feature on a box, actually has the important purpose of fortifying the structural integrity of the box corners. If you remember from ninth grade biology class, the cells in the wood of a tree are basically a bundle of microscopic straws. The end grain of lumber exposes the ends of these straws. Gluing end grain to end grain like the angled corners (miters/bevels) of boxes like these is a very weak joint, because the glue gets sucked into those straws, starving the joint of glue. One good drop to the floor or really dry air from the furnace, and that joint will pop right apart. But by cutting a perpendicular slot spanning across both boards at the corner and gluing another piece of wood into it, adds incredible strength to the joint. It will never come apart; the wood will actually break before the glue joint. Once trimmed flush to the box sides, splines made from a contrasting colored wood also add some appealing character to the box. Any box made without splines won’t be a box for very long but will make great kindling for the fire. Splines are a sign of quality craftsmanship…and they look really good too.
Craig Vollmer owns and operates The 1812 Shoppe – Custom Woodworks located in Marathon, Cortland County where he builds finely crafted furniture, home décor, and novelties from wood.
