Finger joints are used in a wide variety of applications. The reasons for finger jointing may be varied. One goal is to remove knots and defects and then to produce usable long pieces of wood by finger jointing the short pieces. Another reason for finger jointing is to produce a finished component that has a greater strength than ordinary wood. A properly finger jointed length of wood will have a strength factor greater than the same piece of wood that has not been finger jointed.