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View Full Version : Rabbets & Dados In Cabinets


Mike Goetzke
10-24-2010, 3:38 PM
I've started my kitchen cabinets. I planed my hardwood to 0.750" but the plywood is just under just under 0.720". I'm using the ply for backs, unseen sides, tops, bottoms, & shelves.

I adjusted my rabbet/dado depth to give me a 1/2" thickness of the ply after the cut (means the groove depth is less than 0.25"). Now I went to cut the matching rabbets/dados in the solid wood and realized oh no it will be almost 0.030" thicker after cut than the ply.

I don't want to adjust the dodo depth for ply & hardwood. What do the pros do?


Thanks,

Mike
Mike Goetzke
10-24-2010, 4:59 PM
Guess I'm just getting cold feet. I just set the depth at 1/4" and it came out fine...sorry.
Steve Griffin
10-24-2010, 5:38 PM
I set the depth to sheetgood thickness minus exactly 5/8". So my dados are around 1/8, but the outside dimensions of a box are always correct.

BTW, I find nothing gained by deeper dados than 1/8, other than more sawdust to cleanup.

-Steve
Peter Quinn
10-24-2010, 6:58 PM
You are mixing sheet goods and solid panels in the same case? That has me confused. Are you gluing sheet goods to solids via a dado? That is best avoided IME. One moves, one doesn't. Perhaps I am confused as to your construction?
Mike Goetzke
10-24-2010, 7:20 PM
I set the depth to sheetgood thickness minus exactly 5/8". So my dados are around 1/8, but the outside dimensions of a box are always correct.

BTW, I find nothing gained by deeper dados than 1/8, other than more sawdust to cleanup.

-Steve


You are mixing sheet goods and solid panels in the same case? That has me confused. Are you gluing sheet goods to solids via a dado? That is best avoided IME. One moves, one doesn't. Perhaps I am confused as to your construction?

Thanks for the responses.

I really only have this problem with the upper corner cabinet I'm building. I'm using a wood that you can't buy veneered ply for off the shelf so on the exposed sides I edge glued the hardwood. The backs are ply.

I just finished building the corner box and it came out great. The dimension along the wall is only about 1/16" off - easy to correct with the adjoining cabinet.

Mike