How Much Should I Leave Below a Dado Cut in Plywood?
Asked by CraftyBuilder92
Hey everyone! I'm just diving into woodworking and I'm working on a project to build a box for a piano keyboard. This box is going to serve as a shelf in my desk, so I want the top of the piano to sit almost flush with the desk surface. The box is designed to hold a weight of 14kg and I'm using 18mm thick plywood for the construction. I'll be box jointing the sides and want to cut a 6mm deep dado in the sides, front, and back to fit the bottom piece. The dimensions of the box are a depth of 320mm and a length of 1432mm. I checked the sagulator, and it seems the sag will be acceptable. My main question is about the dado cut: how much material should I leave below the dado to make sure it doesn't break?
Answers
Typically, a good rule of thumb is to keep the dado depth at no more than half the thickness of the plywood you're working with. Since you're cutting a 6mm deep dado in 18mm plywood, that should be fine! Plywood is pretty strong in that regard, so you shouldn't have any issues with strength.
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CraftyBuilder92: Thanks for the tip! So, if I cut the dado 10mm above the bottom, that should still be alright?