Maker | Designer | Educator

Work

Jointly

Jointly is a typeface designed for CNC cut joinery in wood. For as long as wood has been used as a construction material, there has been joinery. From dowel joints of flat pack furniture, to the half-lap of a log cabin, to the exquisite geometry of Japanese traditional joints, and the ever-classic dovetail, joinery says a lot about an object’s purpose, the craftsperson, and about history. But what if the joints could literally say something? Jointly was designed for messages that last, poetry in wood, and allowing furniture to truly speak for the first time.

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JOINTLY © 2025 by Coby Unger is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

My largest project to date with JOINTLY is a set of shelves for my brother to display his extensive tea mug collection. My wife Sadie wrote the poem that creates the joinery for this project.

My largest project to date with JOINTLY is a set of shelves for my brother to display his extensive tea mug collection. My wife Sadie wrote the poem that creates the joinery for this project.

It is impossible to read the whole poem from one angle. It reads: Take a sip and tell me What spins by slow each day What stirs and wakes deep within Sit here now relish in today

It is impossible to read the whole poem from one angle.
It reads:
Take a sip and tell me
What spins by slow each day
What stirs and wakes deep within
Sit here now relish in today

As I was developing the workflow, the first few tests were designed in Fusion 360 adding all the appropriate radii and spacing for each letter. This workflow was greatly improved by having the full typeface designed ahead of time.

As I was developing the workflow, the first few tests were designed in Fusion 360 adding all the appropriate radii and spacing for each letter. This workflow was greatly improved by having the full typeface designed ahead of time.

Pictured here is a student in a CNC joinery class at MIT. He was prototyping a box for his child.

Pictured here is a student in a CNC joinery class at MIT. He was prototyping a box for his child.

Students in my CNC Joinery class at Truro Center for the Arts used Shaper Origin to experiment with Jointly and other self-designed joints.

Students in my CNC Joinery class at Truro Center for the Arts used Shaper Origin to experiment with Jointly and other self-designed joints.

For production, I set up a fixture on a Shopbot CNC router to hold the boards vertically for cutting the text tenons. Mortises were cut on the same machine, with the boards lying flat in a more typical orientation.

For production, I set up a fixture on a Shopbot CNC router to hold the boards vertically for cutting the text tenons. Mortises were cut on the same machine, with the boards lying flat in a more typical orientation.

Seen here is the mortises for one side of Alex's tea mug shelf.

Seen here is the mortises for one side of Alex’s tea mug shelf.

When I asked my wife Sadie to marry me, I did so with a box featuring JOINTLY.

When I asked my wife Sadie to marry me, I did so with a box featuring JOINTLY.

This was the first test of the concept. Made with Shaper Origin in December 2020, this test joint proved to me this concept was possible.

This was the first test of the concept. Made with Shaper Origin in December 2020, this test joint proved to me this concept was possible.

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