sliding doves in plywood

seandequeiroz | Posted in Joinery on March 29, 2009 09:39am

i’m making a sideboard and i want to use plywood for the bottom. i like the sliding dovetails that were used in a hutch i saw in ffw. in that hutch the bottom was made of pine as were the dividers with the sliding dovetails. is there a problem with making sliding dovetails using plywood?
sean de queiroz

Replies

Jimurock | Mar 30, 2009 03:34am | #1
I wouldn't care to try it. Plywood tends to splinter, and a splinter or two halfway along your dovetail could bring your glueup to a crashing halt.

Jim
PeterDurand | Mar 30, 2009 04:52am | #2
I did it once. Practiced with some of the plywood that was going to be used for the finished work. And I suppose I was lucky..it turned out quite nice.

So it was not FWW. I still had fun with it.

Cheers,

Peter

Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
philip_r | Mar 30, 2009 08:11pm | #3
If you use a high quality ply, and the SD isn't too long, you'll be okay. However, if you are using a ply-to-wood connection, you have to consider wood movement.

Please post back if you don't understand.
WillGeorge | Apr 03, 2009 03:04pm | #4
is there a problem with making sliding dovetails using plywood?

I would say it depends on the length you make them! Over about a foot or two.. Make a tapered dovetail. With a small taper.. You can glue the whole length and get it to fit...