"bent" wrote in message
...
I am curious how much gap to leave for these joints, which would entail
possibly not gluing certain faces of the joints, and building for loose dry
fit-ups. Sometimes I had control over gaps, some times not. I did not
have any undersized, non-nominal tools. I was not prepared for the added
space of the glue. I glued ALL applicable surfaces I wanted w/ a small
paint brush. How much gap in thou, or 1/32" or whatever should be designed
into this type of work? The finished pre-glue -up work would look like
scrap to ME w/o knowledge of this. I am very picky about final dimensions.

some of the joints I have made recently which needed glue:

1)drawer lock joint w/ 3/4" face, 1/2" side birch (not Baltic) - (for
drawer)
-TS and router table. 1/4" straight bit. Sanded quite a bit. Chamfered
the corners w/ block. I dry fitted tightly. Thats what I wanted. Then
came glue up. Worked out but I needed all my clamping power. Where did
the glue go Phew.?

2)dado joint w/ 1/2" back, 1/2" side birch (not Baltic) - (for drawer)
-router table. 1/2" straight bit.
There is like .025" or .030" between these two, so glue up was fine. When
I made it I had serious reservations about using the joint! newbie

3)rabbet and dado (free-standing support pillars for sliding doors)
-router table. 1/4" straight bit. 1"x3" select pine. Dry fit was just
right. Mallet time. No gap left anywhere (for glue)! Glued everything!.
What a bummer. Amazed I didn't break anymore cast iron clamps! Had to
sand to get the final thickness back.

4)butt (free-standing support pillar for door hinge side)
- no problems except run-out. Don't know what thickness it added. Seems
like a lot. Disaster in another placement.

5)rabbet and dado (top door jambs) - actually the sides slide on screws
and shimmed from behind, I can slide tops out w/ sides screwed in place,
and they are jointed to be exactly 30" and 24", but I don't think I'll use
any glue. Not much of any gap. More now. Nothing visible. Paintable.
What do you think - expansion!?

Make all of you joints to within .001-.005 of snug but not too snug. Then
add glue.