"John Moorhead" wrote in
om:

So, to the subject - I am building a couple of cabinets - an
entertainment center, [appx 66" tall (30"t base, 36" t chest) , 36" w
24"d] and was going to dovetail the top and bottom of the carcasses
to some poplar "H"stretchers, if that's the right term - the cabinet
shelves will be dadoed into the sides, and I wanted to put a framework
at the top and bottom of each carcass that would hold the sides in.
Both cabs get tops and trim that'll hide the DTs... If it translates,
here would be a typical top view.

So, if it isn't going to show, and we're talking poplar and plywood, so we
AREN'T talking trying to win the Artistry in Wood Show in Sonoma this
summer... Why aren't you using rabbets and pocket screws? Or biscuits?

Or are we back to the all too common Overengineering Syndrome? Dovetails
because we can? Hey, happens to me all the time. Apply dopeslap here.

George is right about glueblocks & cleats, too, BTW. And the dustframes.
Make them first, and squaring up the rest of the assembly gets easier by
half. And Nahm would approve. Just be sure to brad them in from both
sides of the frame.

I'm still meaning to get up there to see you, but we're in grandchild
season here, with a new delivery two days ago...

Keep up the good work with the kids at school. It will be a couple of
decades before any reasonable estimate of your impact can be made. By
then, no one will be able to prove you did anything wrong, so do it how
you think is right.

Patriarch