Rabbet Joint

A rabbet is an L-shaped recess cut along the edge or end of a board, leaving a step that a second piece fits into. Joining two rabbeted (or one rabbeted, one plain) pieces this way -- a rabbet joint -- adds real glue surface and a mechanical shoulder compared to a bare butt joint, while staying far simpler to cut than a dovetail or mortise and tenon.

Where it shows up

Cabinet backs let into the case sides, drawer sides rabbeted to receive the drawer front, and box corners are the classic uses -- anywhere a hidden, structurally-adequate joint needs to go together fast. A rabbet-and-dado joint (a rabbet on one piece fitting into a dado on the other) adds even more mechanical interlock for corners that take real racking stress, like drawer boxes.

Cutting it

A table saw with a dado stack, a router with a rabbeting bit (often with interchangeable bearings to set different depths), or a hand router plane can all cut a rabbet. Depth and width are usually sized to the mating piece's actual thickness, not a nominal one -- test the fit in scrap before committing to the real joint.