On Jun 15, 7:18 pm, dpb wrote:
Toller wrote:
"Me" wrote in message
roups.com...
What percent difference in price are cabinets with dovetail
construction vs those without? What is the advantage of dovetail?
Stronger? Longer lasting?

Back when glue was uncertain, dovetails were much stronger than anything
else.
Now they are done mainly for looks.

Disagree on both points -- they're still done in better quality carcase
work for mechanical strength w/ the looks as a secondary benefit.

As for glue strength, hide glue has been used for centuries and in tests
recently in FWW, it still tests as strong as the wood for common species
(like oak) in a majority of fracture tests...

Glue still won't hold a drawer together reliably for a long time...

--

And I disagree with Toller on another level: Besides the mechanical
interlocking of a dovetail, think about how much more surface is
available for glue. If I'm not mistaken, the only joint that has more
exposed surface for glue is a very fine finger joint, but you loose
the mechanical interlocking that a dovetail provides - something very
desirable in a drawer front.