Alumina and zirconia ceramics joints were made by diffusion bonding through platinum and palladium gaskets in air at temperatures between 1300 and 1550 degrees C. The instrumentation and the procedure for these joints manufacturing are described. The effects of temperature, pressure and exposition time on 3-pt bending strength of resulting joints were established. The maximum bending strength of the samples reached 500 MPa. During thermal resistance testing the samples withstood several hundreds of thermal cycles at temperatures up to 800 degrees C in air. (C) 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.