"Tom Banes" wrote in message
...

snipe............
Should I recut the tails and/or pins and tails both to get more wood
in the joints? It'll be a PITA, but I have extra stock for the braces,
so it can be done.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Regards.

Tom,

Putting aside the comments about where this rack is going to be located (she
could always just fill some empties with colored water and use it as a
decoration), I think I would do the following modification. Make the
cross-piece about 4 times as wide. The single dovetail is plenty strong and
when it has a wide shoulder on each side of it - that will help prevent any
front-to-back racking.

All the weight of the bottles is straight down - unless mother nature has
changed it lately, so there is little pressure on the front and backs.
Bottles will slope towards front so the front will have some pressure but
not enough to do any harm and it will help insure the dovetails are under
constant tension.

Where the extra wide shoulders on the cross-pieces mate with the front and
back, if there is no material there (such as the gaps I see between the
rows, simply glue in a spacer). I think the only racking this will receive
is when the bottles are put in or taken out. But if it's used only for
decorative purposes, then that's not a problem.

Bob S.