Butt Joints

[Joseph Garrett]

Terry said: "I think it is well accepted that a grain-end butt joint is
likely the weakest way to join two pieces of wood. I have a project in my
shop that required 8-foot long boards of an exotic wood. The longest I
could find anywhere were 4 feet long. So I bought two 4-foot-long boards.
Epoxy man used epoxy magic to make the two 4-footers into an 8-foot long
board. I simply end-butt jointed two boards together to make the longer
board via the two-step West System bonding method."......

Terry, 
Epoxy is great, but I'd have opted for a "Finger Joint". I found a cutter
with 1/4" shank for my router/table. The original project was to extend the
length of  a set of keys. 
Worked slicker'n deer guts on a door knob! I think the combination of the
epoxy and the finger joint would have made it as if it were just one
board.<G> BTW, #1 Son works in a plant that makes Trusses and I get a lot
of the scrap. (for the wood stove/kindling) Noticed finger joints in some
and asked him. He said they do it all the time to get one continuous length
of board, rather than "scab" them together. Their engineers say it's just
fine.
Regards,

Joseph Garrett, R.P.T.
Captain, Tool Police
Squares R I