# dado depth for shelving



## drax0r (Jun 6, 2010)

I'm in the process of laying out plans for a modular entertainment center, double bookshelf, and bridge shelving unit that will be made entirely out of 3/4" plywood except for face frames.

What is the rule of thumb for setting the dado depth for shelves? My inclination is to go half-way, but I have seen some much shallower dados in similar applications and wondered what design or engineering reasoning went in to determining these depths.


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## ND2ELK (Jan 25, 2008)

The depth of a dado is half the thickness of the material it is going in.


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## drax0r (Jun 6, 2010)

That was my assumption, but then I saw Norm build one that was like 1/3.

In retrospect, I'm wondering if it had something to do with the fact that he was using solid hardwood rather than pine plywood…


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

If you're only using glue, then go half way. If you can use screws to hold it together, it can be as shallow as 1/8" deep.


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## drax0r (Jun 6, 2010)

I was planning to use finishing nails and glue.

I'll probably end up going half-way, but this thing is going to be pretty monstrous in size when its all put together, so at some point I have to think less about the capacity of the shelves and more about the structural integrity of the piece as a whole.

If I remove too much material for shelf dados I think it would be in danger of failure by racking in certain directions.











Face frames removed for clarity (but should add some structural strength when applied)


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