They say the simplest ideas are the best ones and beadLOCK is no exception. BeadLOCK is a jig that you use with a hand drill to create strong loose tenon joints. For those of you who are thinking "What's the point of a loose tenon?" The term 'loose tenon' simply means that the tenon is not a part of the pieces to be joined i.e. You cut mortices in both mating pieces and then cut a separate piece of wood to act as the tenon.

BeadLOCK is made and sold in the USA. Its currently not on the UK market but you can buy it online from American stores.

There are many uses for beadLOCK, including:- Face frames, joining table legs and rails, reinforcing cope and rail joinery, angled joints, mitre joints...

The beadLOCK tenon stock comes in two sizes 3/8" (9.5mm) and 1/2" (13mm) and looks like dowels joined together. BeadLOCK works by drilling a series of overlapping holes in both mating pieces & then cutting the tenon stock to fit into the drilled holes.

When using it, I found that it works great. The only problem I can see is that you have to be very careful when setting it up by the witness line, which you mark on the wood, as a slight error won't make an accurate joint. Once you do it a few times you get the hang of setting it up correctly and quickly.

My overall rating is 'Excellent'. BeadLOCK is a great product, I couldn't belive how strong the joint is - I tried breaking the joint apart and failed, it just didn't budge. The only downside is that you can't buy it in the UK yet. You can order it from the USA from a few online stores which will ship to the UK.