This method is intended to replace nails, screws, and other metal fasteners in almost any type of wood joinery. The material is inexpensive and readily available in any grocery store. Simple hand tools are all that is needed to lock a wood joint and keep it from separating from use or age. The pins are bamboo kabob skewers and they typically run 1/8" to 5/32" in diameter making them a perfect size for wood joinery. Bamboo has straight, tough grain that is very resistant to shear forces. This method is somewhat time consuming, but I have not had any failure of a joint in the nearly twenty years of use. It even works well with butt glued joints. Most applications of this method can be hidden and even exposed pins are tough to see when finished.

The tools needed are simple hand tools. A drill, drill bit of the correct diameter, hammer or mallet, side cutters, glue, sharp chisel, metal drill bit size plate, and a pair of pliers.


Once the glued joint has cured, use the drill to bore holes into the joint at points that would prevent the joint from being pulled apart. Bore the holes slightly off perpendicular and deep enough to go into both pieces of the joint. This is the function that locks the joint, just like a nail or a screw. The next step is to pull a skewer through the appropriate hole in the metal drill plate to size it to the drill bit used as the skewers may vary a wee bit over their length. Apply some glue to the skewer and use the hammer to tap it into the drilled hole until it bottoms out. Wipe the excess glue off with a damp rag.


Use the side cutter to lop off the pins extending from the joint and let the glue cure. Once the glue has cured, use the chisel to pare off the stub of the pin flush with the surface. The area can now be sanded smooth like normal.


This is locked dovetail joint. There are pins on the bottom also.


This is a locked drawer joint and the cockbeads locked to the drawer front.