Woodsmith magazine 'classic bookshelf' question

[oo Mike oo]

I don't see a date on the magazine - looks like a demo to get people to sign up. Has a picture of the bookcase on the cover and plans starting on page 24.

My question is about the face frame, it appears that the only means of attaching the face from to the main part of the shelves is glue. Does that look right to you. They claim it adds stability and strength to the bookcase but should it attach more securely than glue??

Thanks, Mike

[Patriarch]

oo Mike oo wrote in news: [e-mail]:

What would you think should be better than a glued face frame? Not brads. Not biscuits. Not dowels.

Glue will do just fine. And there will be no holes to fill later.

Patriarch

[dpb]

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But, depending on the details of the design, I might well use a few biscuits primarily to help with the alignment during glue-up, not strength. Only if there is a problem with end grain or excessive possible expansion/contraction should a good glue joint ever fail in such an application.

As an aside, a good PVC glue joint on an edge will break somewhere besides the glue joint virtually every time with every common furniture lumber. Ergo, the glue is stronger than the wood so the strength of the attachment is not an issue.

[henry]

I would use glue only. First tape the parts for glue sqeeze out and clamp away. If the design makes the frame flush with sides I would make the frame very slightly larger and plane.It will be a little less alignment problem.

[oo Mike oo]

I guess I should have prefaced the question by saying I'm a novice, but I guess you figured that out eh? : )

Thanks for the feedback all.