Dado joints won me over after a shelf disaster

I thought screws were enough for shelf support in cabinets. After a shelf COLLAPSED, I tried dados and the difference is NIGHT and day. What joint methods do you prefer for shelf stability?

3 comments

3 Comments

troy8901mo ago

Swore by pocket screws for years until a bookcase leaned like the Tower of Pisa. Had to take it apart and reinforce everything with proper mortise and tenon joints (what a pain). Now I mix methods, like using dados for fixed shelves and screws for adjustable ones. Actually found that a bit of glue in the dado makes it rock solid, even without screws. Still hate sanding the ends of those tenons, though.

dylan3701mo ago

Read somewhere that mixing joinery methods like that is smart for different stresses. Glue in dados does seem to hold well without screws. Sanding tenons is always a chore though.

zarak181mo ago

Sanding tenons is such a pain, especially when you're trying to get a perfect fit. Last time I made a table, I spent hours just on the tenon ends (my arms were so sore the next day). Mixing dados and glue really does work well for shelves, like in a cabinet I built where the fixed shelves are rock solid without any screws. But for adjustable shelves, I still use screws because it's easier to change them later (even though glue would hold better). It's all about finding what works for each part of the project, even if it means extra sanding sometimes.