Crafts / Craftsmen / craftswomen (craftspeople, I suppose)

I use the domino system from Festool with Rafix from Hafele to hold it together. Doesn't work quite as well with ply but still works. I only make one off custom though so no prototyping.

You could have the cnc cut small blind mortice and use loose tenons which is basically what the domino system is. Or go Ikea style and use dowels.

As far as supporting weight is concerned you'll need to look at your spans but guessing that is under 1.8m wide you should be ok with 18mm weight bearing surfaces.

I've come across Dominos before but I'm trying to keep 'hand' machining to a minimum. But mainly I don't have a fancy Domino machine.

I had concerns that dowel and butt joints would be strong enough, but considering that the back panel is bracing against shear force, they're probably unfounded.

Yeah I am considering that, I do have a Kreg jig, though I can imagine it to be awkward to use on big panels like this.

Dowel + Minifix or Rafix are very strong. It's they type of joint you see on a lot of commercial furniture. There are lots of machine options to add these fixings to panels but that's a different type of woodworking.

If you use dowels and glue joints it's usually very strong too. But you need to clamp up large panels for the glue to be effective. I prefer the 'knock down' approach as it makes the furniture easier to move which means it's still useful even if the clients needs change.

Assuming the "shelf" above the cupboard doors is the only weight-bearing surface, you could rout a groove into the back panel if you were concerned.

All options mentioned above are good. I guess it comes down to whether you value speed, simplicity of construction, cost or strength.

Oh yeah, good shout, I should do that.

@airhead, flat-pack-ability is probably a big bonus tbh as I'd like to market the design if it's a success, I'll go that route. I've only got access to a 2-axis CNC so will have to do the 'endgrain' holes by hand, but will create a jig to make that faster and more accurate.

It is possible to make a router jig to cut holes for dominos.

When I was looking into these type of machines I opted to buy lamello zeta P2 but I still have the need to use dominos occasionally so I spent a bit of time making myself a jig that means I can use them. It's much more of a faff than buying the machine but it did save me quite a lot of cash.

Have you given any thought to levelling the base. If you produce something with a base that sits flat on the floor you will have all kinds of problems with uneven floors. It gives you lots more to think about in terms of where the load is distributed too.

Oh yeah, that'll be on height adjustable feet, just haven't drawn them in yet :)

BTW will those Minifix hold alright in MDF?

Just another word of advice. If you're doing this CNC and relying on the thickness of purchased stock for your measurements (for grooves, for example), be careful. The MDF and ply will almost certainly be different thicknesses.

I made a pair of bunk beds and steps/drawers out of Birch faced ply - all the joints had dados cut into them but I had exposed fixing for the beds. The steps I chose to use miller dowels which works well - I would possibly use walnut dowels next time and make a feature of them.

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Agree with this and I found different batches of plywood from the same timber merchants varied enough to make the dados loose/tight

Do you mean because of tolerance, or because of stock thicknesses being different? Both come in 18mm but I understand I'll need to do a little refining of tolerances in prototyping. Luckily the Valchromat will be used for most of the tenons and has a higher tollerance.

@pryally that looks awesome, I like those dowels as a feature actually.

Yeah more what pryally said. The 18mm is just a nominal dimension. You'll find it varies between 17 and 19 (or thereabouts) between batches. So cutting a groove might work with your MDF prototype but that may then be loose when you build it with ply, for example.

I've used a few different sizes in MDF and Ply and they hold up fine. That's in conjunction with the dominos which will hold well enough to trial build furniture, of course the domino kit is expensive now but mine has paid for itself over the last 10 years. I also have some jigs for drilling the Rafix, lots of expensive bits and pieces that go into making furniture which I've collected over the years. :)

There are lots of different types of connectors, I chose Rafix because they suited me. You can use the plastic blocks which screw onto the surface if it meets your criteria.

Oh yeah, thanks, something like that is probably ideal for the prototype at least.

Today was my first day back in the workshop in a month after being sick. Many woodshavings! Much sawdust! Happy chippy.

Pleased to hear you're feeling better @Bobbo!

Thanks, look! Look at the glorious sawdust etc.

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no offence mate but that dining table you're working on in the top pic looks rubbish

Ever heard of a river table? Well that's going to be an abandoned quarry table. Now all I need is a tanker of resin.

We couldn't afford any of the bookshelves we liked so we decided to make our own. It's basically an alternating stack of planks and tubes with threaded rod through it and caps with thread tapped in them on both ends. Turning of the caps was done by the ever helpful staff of the uni workshop, one day I'll have my own lathe.

Some progress pics in the attachment, this is its current state. Need to disassemble it again to saw the threaded rod to length and then it's ready for final assembly.

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Nice shelves ^ and nice workshop ^^

Finished off this oak pot, added magnets, two positives and one negative in the base and the opposite in the lid, so it will only lock on in one position with the grain lined up.

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This thread now depresses me. Since mini_com came along I've not had any time to tinker. And since my working space is outside it will likely be spring before I can do anything. Through down about £200 on Baltic birch ply that's just sitting in the shed.

One of these can help with outside working over winter. I have one for when I have to do such things at clients houses as it saves me a lot of issues.