# Question about wood stability in a carcass I'm making



## himself (Feb 21, 2015)

So I am making a jewelry armoire and I am going to be dovetailing the carcass together the top is going to be a flip up lid hinged to the carcass. The top piece underneath the lid looks like









The two ends that will be the pins of the dovetail are 1 5/8 inch. My question is will the sides of this crack over time after I glue the carcass together since it's the grain is fairly short on two of the sides. Here is a sketch of the overall design.









As you can see I modified it a bit so that when the top opens the carcass has a top dovetailed onto it with a small section cut out a little smaller than the dimensions of the top


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## oltexasboy1 (Sep 25, 2013)

Are the sides going to be glued up panels or solid pieces ?


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

It is a little hard to tell from the drawing how the dovetails are arranged. Generally speaking as long as the dovetail joints have the grain running in the same direction, you should be fine. Be sure to allow the wood to move, ie: don't glue trim across the grain. 
Also, if those are sliding dovetails holding the case together… just glue them at the front. This will allow the sides to expand and contract, while keeping the joints flush at the front.


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## himself (Feb 21, 2015)

oltexasboy1- yes the sides have one glue seam thats not centered.


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## BLarge (Aug 29, 2011)

Your top, bottom and sides and drawers dividers will all move together. I'd think through that case attaching to the base, to me that is where you'll have some issues., but that easy to account for.

I'd do a shop drawing with front, side elevations and plan view. You'd be suprised how many issues you can work through before even beggining a cut list. It's also a great way to figure through wood movement.


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## Tony1212 (Aug 26, 2013)

> ...that case attaching to the base, to me that is where you ll have some issues., but that easy to account for.
> 
> - BLarge


Glue and screw the front to keep it flush. Oversized screw holes and no glue at the back to allow for wood movement.

The back may not look so nice, but no one looks at the back. Well, except for us woodworkers and we'll say, "Good, you accounted for movement."


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## himself (Feb 21, 2015)

tony1212- Why would it matter if I just screwed or glued the whole carcass bottom to the base top since the grain orientation will be arranged the same way?


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## Tony1212 (Aug 26, 2013)

Is the carcass from the same board as the base? Even with the same species of wood there can be slightly different expansion rates.

Probably won't be that big of a deal, but if it were me, I'd rather err on the side of caution.


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