Question on design

[Noah Alkinburgh]

I am considering building the shelf pictured below for a friend. This is designed to be knock down. The original plans call for non-glued biscuit joints. I have two questions:

1. How is this strong enough to support any kind of weight? Only thing I can figure is that the shape pulls the sides together as weight is added therefor making sort of a friction or jam fit.

2. could I subsititute a floating tennon instead.


Noah

[Bruce Page]

Noah, why not do all the shelves with wedge pins? I think it would look cool

[Todd Burch]

Non glued biscuit joints would probably work, but I would opt for either stopped dadoes (so they would not show in the front) or a sliding dovetail with no glue.

Even with biscuits, you would have to put an AWFUL lot of weight on the shelves to bow the wood out enough to cause shelves to fall. Also to shear the biscuits. You could perform a test with some loose biscuits between two boards held just tight enough with bar clamps. Jump up and down on it. I would think that the shelf would fail before the biscuits failed.

[Noah Alkinburgh]

Bruce,

That is a consideration to do through tenons on all shelves. My concern is that this would cause the overall design to be busy not cool. But that is why I asked...what do I know


Todd,

I guess I am suprised that the buscuit would be that strong. I am not concerened so much with the shelf bowing as much as it shearing off the buscuit.

I hadn't thought of sliding dovetails but would think that they would be extremely difficult due to the 3° angle of the sides. I can see how I would probably be able to get the dovetail slot on the sides but then doing the shelves and getting the alignment seems very difficult.

I must admit I thought of the dado but didn't want to see it so when you said stoped dado I just slapped myself on the forhead and said DUH!

Thanks for the thoughts from both of you guys.

Noah