Building 12mm drawer boxes.

[gstuartw]

I'm building drawer boxes using 12mm Baltic Birch and for an interesting look I'm leaning toward thru morticing the drawer sides so the end of the Domino tenon shows. I'm in a quandary as to which tenon I should use, 4mm or 5mm. Here are my thoughts:

4mm - Using the rule of 1/3's these are the proper thickness to use with 12mm material. Using this size tenon allows me to place 3 across the 4" wide drawer side material which looks better than 2. The issue here is that if I flush the Domino with the outside surface of the drawer side the Domino will only extend 8mm into the end of the drawer front/back. I realize that the fronts and backs of the drawer will be captured between the sides therefore negating any chance of the parts pulling away from each other along the axis of the tenon.

5mm - These will leave less material on either side of the tenon's 5mm thickness which will weaken the front and back parts in the direction it will receive the most stress. In addition there will be less material on the end of the drawer side but the tenon will be pulling agains all those ply's. Finally, I can't see spacing more than 2 across the 4" width of the sides. The up side is that I will have 18mm of tenon into the drawer fronts/backs making things stronger in that regard.

Thoughts?

 

[Peterm]

If you want to use through-dominos then 3.5mm vs 4mm either side of the tenon is neither here nor there IHMO. Taking the height of the drawer box into consideration,  if you want to use 4mm doms then I'd rebate the sides by a couple of mm - then you have 10mm in the side and the front/back.

FWIW I do a lot of 12mm ply drawer boxes and I don't typically use 4mm (non-through) dominos.

HTH Pete

 

[#Tee]

i used a 5mm on 12mm baltic birch for drawer box for pass thru tenons.

 

[Kev]

You can always make your own tenons .. of any size [wink]

 

[gstuartw]

If you want to use through-dominos then 3.5mm vs 4mm either side of the tenon is neither here nor there IHMO. Taking the height of the drawer box into consideration,  if you want to use 4mm doms then I'd rebate the sides by a couple of mm - then you have 10mm in the side and the front/back.

FWIW I do a lot of 12mm ply drawer boxes and I don't typically use 4mm (non-through) dominos.

HTH Pete

Pete, thanks for your insight. You make a good point about the small difference in size between 4mm and 5mm tenons in relation to the plywood. (That’s one in the “Size does not matter column!) [wink]

i used a 5mm on 12mm baltic birch for drawer box for pass thru tenons.

Thanks #Tee, I’m assuming you morticed the parts independently. One of the benefits I saw in thru morticing the tenons was doing the operation to both parts at the same time. The problem there is that the 5mm bit is not long enough to seat a 30mm tenon. I’ve seen from others that I could mortice as far as the bit goes, leaving the tenon proud and then trim it. The issue there is that to save time I purchased prefinished drawer material. No matter how careful I am I would surely damage the finish....so there’s another process...more time.

You can always make your own tenons .. of any size [wink]

No Kevin, please don't give me one more distraction from my project! [wink]