Hiding Dados in a Solid Wood Bookcase – Viewer Question
This Viewer Question comes from Mark. He writes:
My question has to do with a bookcase I am building. I consider myself a novice woodworker. I certainly learn from my mistakes and this may be another one. I am building this bookcase from solid red oak. It has three fixed shelves that I have glued into dadoes. I am wondering about finishing the front edges to cover the dadoes. I have curved the top of each side, so I cant attach anything with any thickness. I cut some thin strips, but I am afraid they won’t be flexible enough to bend over the curve at the top. Any thoughts? Can I leave the edges unfinished? I am thinking I should cover those dadoes.
Hey Mark. Bottom line is you don’t have to cover the dados if you don’t want to. Since its solid wood, the edges probably look fine and I doubt anyone will ever notice the joinery. But if it bothers you, there are solutions out there. You can buy rolls of veneer tape in many species, including red oak. This thin veneer can take just about any curve you can dish out. Many even contain a heat activated glue so all you have to do is put it on the edge, run an iron over it, and use a roller to push it into the grain. Then trim the excess and you’re good to go. But that technique is usually reserved for plywood, since we don’t want to see the ugly edges. You can see how I apply this type of edge-banding here: Video – On the Edge. But boy oh boy it really pains me to think of you covering solid wood edges with veneer edge-banding.
So here’s one other suggestion. You might think this idea is crap so feel free to discard it, but this is something you should try to do whenever you confront a problem. Always try to think of a way to add something to your design, rather than just fix the error. For instance, what if you ran a decorative trim piece of walnut across each fixed shelf. It could look like an intentional design choice instead of something that disguises a joint. You could cut the strip with a bevel on it or even some kind of profile to make it really pop. The picture on the left gives you an idea of what this might look like. Obviously this may or may not work depending on the look you are going for, but its one possible solution.
Now we should probably also discuss how to prevent this in the future. What could have been done to prevent the exposed dado joint? The first thing that comes to mind for me is a stopped dado. So instead of running that dado all the way through to the end of the case side, you can stop it about an inch back. And your shelf simply receives a little notch at the front corner. This would give you the strength of the dado with the appearance of a simple butt joint at the front of the case.
***So how would you guys deal with a problem like this? And what ideas do you have for prevention?
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Im am working on a book case right now the sides are 7in wide so I cut 6 in wide small blocks to put a 1/2 in from each side and they attach to the sides and hold the shelf up I didnt want to use dados and I cant cut them anyway with the setup I have
On solid wood, I just leave it unless I’ve really, really screwed up the dadoes. Even if they’re not 100% fitted, I think it looks better than edgebanding w/ the tapes.
Agreed.
I typically use stopped dados. The nice thing is that, with care to make things consistent, assmebly becomes easy with regards to lining up the face. The stopped dado sets the shelves’ alignment front to back making 1 less thing I am elevensies checking during assembly.
I have also seen mortise and thru tennon joints used here that looked nice. They have not worked in the styles of the rooms I have built stuff for, though, so I have not had the pleasure of using this.
Trow away the edge banding !!!
I don t like it at all – the glue doesn t stick well. cutting the edge give problems.
Just use solid wood – and slice some more :)
I love to see wood joints, not hide them under wood tape. Since it is after the fact, I would trim the ends of each shelf and end of the dado and inlay some matching grain wood to look like a sliding dovetail joint. I would end the cut on the shelf at an angle so the inlay would be a scarf joint. I think your eye will be drawn to the dovetail and no one will notice the inlay on the shelf.
Maybe add a decorative inlay on the front edges of the sides and shelves to cover the joints?
You might attach a piece of wood at the end of each shelf where it meets the front side, inline with the shelf. This would change the design of the shelf. You may have to do this to the very top as well to balance the design. Possibly a piece the same thickness as the shelf allowing it to stick out about 1/2 inch beyond the front edge. I would use a tight radius at the outside edge and maybe a slope starting a little way into the shelf front letting it blend with the shelf front.
I’m not sure how wide your bookcase is so the length of such a piece would be up to you. You could leave the edges squared or rounded, although rounded may require rounding the front edged of the shelves as well. You could also cut the end piece to wrap around the end a short distance from the front side. You could cut a couple of samples from scrap wood to hold up to the bookcase to see it is worth the effort.
You could stain it (not sure what finish you used), the same tone as the finished bookcase or a contrasting tone (lighter or darker).
Norm did it for his bow front chest. He used homemade veneer, but it was mahogany.
http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0711
It was just on last week. In that very refined piece of furniture I think it was very appropriate.
I would leave them. I like that look.
I’m a novice at being a novice so what I’m about to suggest might not be worth the ink I’m wasting to type this.:) If the selves come out the same distance as the sides and he doesn’t want to add anything to the sides. A contrasting trim could be added to each shelf and the top & bottom overlapping the sides. I would round off the trim so that it is thick in the middle of the shelf and thins to whatever looks good on the edge. I don’t know how this would look or how difficult it would be having never done it myself but I thought you might give me your thoughts on it.
Hm! Stopping a dado! Just getting started into this, it’s funny how the simplest things seem like such a novel idea. It had never even really crossed my mind, and yet it makes so much sense. This is why I’m glad this site is around.
This is the best site on the internet! :)
I’d vote for leaving them show. Depending upon the style of the piece and your general style tastes perhaps that might not be to your liking. Going back in time the stopped dado is the default option. An exposed sliding dovetail is more interesting to show, but is more complex to setup than a dado. I go along with those nixing the edge banding. Oak seems like it can handle exposed joinery. IHO. Nice to have lots of folks share their thoughts. Have fun.
I have had this happen to me several time thru the years.what I Could suggest to you or any one is to mitter yourself a piece of molding of the design you like and add it to your front shelves or to the side panels.Stain the trim or do it in a natural finish.this will make your project stand out and take notice. A little extra work but the end results are worth it
You could insert small contrasting (or Matching) blocks flush with the cabinet face into each dado basicly turning the dados back into stop dados. Then notch each self as Mark pointed out. I would use a contrasting wood to give it a design element. Much less work than creating the sliding dove tail (which would look great) and add a intresting look.
While there are plenty of options for joints, it seems to be commonly accepted that the stopped dado is the prime choice. (easy to do, quick, simple. I like simple.)
I’m not saying anything against the other styles; we all will experiment and use them sooner or later.
Ideas on how to not show the beauty of the stopped dado:
What about attaching fake tenons to the outside of the edge of the case? (doesn’t hide the joint, but can accent the piece)
If I understand the questioner’s post correctly, there’s a round over that thinned the front edge; what about adding a strip of moulding along the edge of the case to hide the joints? Even store-bought has a wide variety of options.
I like Marc’s suggestion of the decorative trim. You could trim the shelf slightly to make it blend in, or have it stand out and proud. (or is that proud and out?)
One last option (from my perch): decorative hardware. Furniture tacks, pyramid rivets, brass thumbtacks, whatever. You can use them to draw the eye to where the shelf meets the carcass, and still hide the joint. Without completely tearing apart your hard work, too.