Bookshelf construction.

[Ed Landau]

Beginner woodworking 'student' :) I'm building a handing bookshelf (imagine kitchen wall cabinet).

Question regarding the bottom horizontal piece of wood (that books rest on) and how it attaches to the vertical sides of the shelf:

1) I was going to put a dadoe in the verticals and rabbet the horizontal but go to thinking that dowel or even biscuits might be more solid. The obvious answer is that if I use a dadoe'ed vertical piece, it has to be thicker than if I used dowels. Am I on the right track?

Any suggestions welcome... including how to secure the "nailer" (the piece I'm going to nail to the wall studs) to the frame of the box.

-Ed (aunst8 [e-mail])

[George]

Got a router table? If so, sliding dovetails would be my choice.

To hang to the wall, consider French cleat. Both are sturdy joints even on

1/2 -3/8 stock.

I could try to describe both the joints and the methods, but they're in a lot of books - with pictures - so hit the library.