Dado's & Rabbets - How deep?

[George Bokros]

How deep do you cut your dado's and rabbets say to support a shelf or top in a cabinet or bookcase?

I usually go 1/2 the thickness of the side component. Example if I have a 3/4" thick side I cut the dado 3/8" deep.

Thanks

George

[Erik Christensen]

that's my rule also

[Bill White]

Same here.
Bill

[Mike Henderson]

Me too.

Mike

[Troy Turner]

Sounds about par for the course...

[Joe Kieve]

I used to go 1/2 the thickness but don't any more. Now I go 1/4" deep on 3/4" stock and 1/8" deep on 1/2" stock. Main reason is, what if you have opposing shelves such as on a book case? No material left if you go 1/2 the thickness.
Just my 2 cents.

joe

[Stephen Cherry]

1/8 on a 3/4 ply leaves 1/2 on a double sided dado, 5/8 on single. This leaves some wood to screw into if you are pocket holing. Maybe that's belt and suspenders, but a dado makes alignment easy for pocket hole assembly.