I have read several threads on SMC about sliding dovetails and have also used them a few times. My current project is a cherry book shelf that will also serve as an end table for our couch. I am planning to use a single upright to join the top and bottom shelves and offset the upright from center. The shelves are 9 1/8" wide and the shelf stock is 1" and the upright is 1 1/4" thick. The sliding dove tail would only reach about half the width of the pieces with a butt mount appearance on the front.
Would the strength of the sliding dove tail be maximized through some combination of width of shoulders and the male dovetail? I was imagining the shoulders might be strongest if they were about 1/3 the thickness of the upright on each side of the dovetail. I also would guess that a greater dovetail angle would increase strength - say around 14 degrees with a depth of around 1/2". I could even try to haunch the joint but would that have any real impact on joint strength?
Please let me know what you believe to be a good solution. I have read the thoughts on dovetails vs. m&t joints in these earlier posts. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ail-vs-M-amp-T
Thanks