This research delves into dowel-type joints with bamboo scrimber as an innovative alternative to traditional wooden fasteners. The focus is on their application in connecting timber elements of medium density suitable for engineered wood or bamboo product assemblies and timber structures. The test results showed that bamboo scrimber can be ideal for dowel-type joint applications. The mechanical performances of such joints (such as the failure mode, carrying capacity, and slip modulus) are significantly dependent on the ratio of side laminate thickness to dowel diameter and the embedment strength of the laminate. A small ratio of side laminate thickness to dowel diameter is found to result in a ductile failure mode and high capacity, small joint slip.