Woodwork Joint Cleanliness
Tight wood joints (mortise-tenon, dovetail) without gaps, holding without relying on glue.
The five levels
Each anchor describes what separates one level from the next — not a general description of quality. This is the text the evaluator itself reads.
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Level 1 Below Standard
A joint with glue-filled gaps; weak structure.
Example A line of light showing through the joint.
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Level 2 Approaching
Uneven fit between joints.
Example One tight corner and one loose.
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Level 3 At Standard
A clean, gapless joint bearing its load.
Example A snug joinery holding without glue.
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Level 4 Above Standard
A precise joint whose line nearly vanishes with finishing.
Example A clean, tight dovetail.
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Level 5 Excellence
A masterful joint making the piece look like one board, stronger than the wood around it.
Example A joinery that looks naturally grown.
Where does your own work sit on these levels?
Submit one work to be read against this criterion alone: your position across the five levels, why you are not higher and why not lower, three literal quotes from your own work, and one exercise with its success check. Your first card is free.
Price: 7 SAR · Included in Pro & Artist Plus · First one free — Pricing details
Read my work by this criterionOther criteria in the same art
Executing product with precision and attention to detail
The five levels →Choosing materials appropriate to product and ensuring their quality
The five levels →Aesthetic choices making product beautiful and desirable
The five levels →The product performing its intended function efficiently and comfortably
The five levels →Offering a solution or design that sets the product apart from the market's repetition
The five levels →Tight joints and a piece that holds functionally: the joint bears load, the vessel doesn't leak, the structure doesn't loosen.
The five levels →The cleanliness of the work's last five percent: surface, edges, finishing — what separates the amateur from the maker.
The five levels →Conformance of Islamic ornament / Sadu to its geometric rules: the grid, closing repetition, star symmetry.
The five levels →