Which wood joints to use?

[KY Joe]

My wife and I are starting into a remodeling phase in our house, trying to have it "done" when we retire (in just three years)! We are going to install a set of gas logs for which we want to build a corner surround. We also want to complete the library/den with a wall of built-in shelves. Also in the mix is replacing window casings and door moldings in all of the bedrooms. The miter and bevel of the casings and moldings won't be a problem, but neither of us has much experience with quality joints! We've read about dovetail and dado joints and can't decide which would be best for the surround and shelves! We want the surround to have a furniture or cabinet quality to it as it will stand some 32 to 36 inches into our family room! That really is a "feature" in a room that is only 12 feet wide by 28 feet long.
What joinery technique would you suggest we try first! Would a bisquit jointer be a viable choice here. Any of your suggestions will be appreciated.

[Knottscott]

Hi Joe - It's hard for me to envision exactly what you're doing, but for any shelving I like to use dados for the shelves and cover the edges with a face frame. For glueing large sections at 90d, butt joints with biscuits are a good choice IMO. You could also use a beveled edge joint and biscuits for the same application, but it requires alot of accuracy which can get difficult if you have a good sized panel. Pocket screws can be extremely handy in alot of applications where the inside of the joint is hidden, and you require the joint to be drawn together while the glue dries....it's easy than clamping and gives the joint more strength. Good luck!

[Tom Hintz]

for shelving, dados are the most frequent choice because they are strong and relatively easy to make.
I have stories on making regular and stopped dados (hides the dado at the front of the shelf) at the links below that will give you an idea of how it's done.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/hottodado.html

http://www.newwoodworker.com/stopdado.html

[don_hart]

Another vote for dados on the shelves. They will give you a good strong joint and are easy to make.

[LarryG]

If the joinery will be exposed at the front edges of the shelves and standards, sliding dovetails look wonderful. They're fairly easy to do on a router table, and they're stronger than dados because they hold themselves together.

[JimD]

For the shelves, I would make them adjustable using either metal standard you guy at HD or Lowes or by drilling 1/4 holes every inch. I have a jig for this where you do it with a plunge router and it goes pretty quick. In your case, it sounds like you don't already have a lot of things like this so you might want to use the standards. They can be surface applied but look better if you recess them to be flush with the vertical pieces by cutting a dado (vertically instead of horizontally as others have suggested to make fixed shelves). To attach a face frame to the vertical shelf supports, I usually use glue and some pneumatic nails. The nails create holes that have to be filled, however. If you can build the whole thing in a shop you can clamp the face frame in position but I normally do not for a built-in cabinet because it's easier to fit the face frame to the walls and the cabinet with it in place.

To build the bottom part, assuming it will be closed with doors, you have several options. If you do not want to make the doors, you may want to start by going to HD or Lowes to find out what standard sizes they can order doors for you in. You can then make the cabinet to fit. Where the joint in the cabinet will not be visible, screws and glue hold well. I recess the screws below the surface of the plywood. I would probably have a continuous top and bottom for the cabinet and sides that set inside of the top and bottom. That lets you screw the bottom on and the screws will not show. To attach the top to the sides, biscuits would be a good way. You could cut biscuit slots and clamp it up and have no fasteners showing. If you don't have enough clamps, you could still use biscuits but shoot a few pneumatic nails in to hold the joint together as the glue dries. The nails can be hid by a colored wax stick or putty to be not too visible.

Jim