I mean, skipping the dado stack when building cabinet shelves is just asking for a wobbly mess, idk why anyone does it

3 comments

3 Comments

My neighbor tried building shelves without dados last year and they sagged so bad his coffee mugs slid to the middle. He showed me the whole thing, just butt joints and glue, and you could rock the cabinet side to side. There's a reason all the old cabinet books show that joint. It locks everything together so the weight goes straight down into the sides. He ended up taking the whole thing apart and redoing it with a proper router jig. That extra groove really is the difference between something that lasts and a pile of kindling.

holly_adams701mo ago

My buddy tried pocket holes on some garage shelves thinking it'd be faster. They held for a week before the whole unit leaned like the Tower of Pisa, was kinda funny to see.

sanchez.pat1mo ago

That "pile of kindling" line is too real, @holly_adams70, because people forget wood moves with the seasons and breaks weak joints.