shop cabinet construction...dado, pocket screw, or biscuits...whats best??

[Larry Frank]

I just finished the cabinets in my shop and built them with pocket screws in 3/4" plywood. The backs were 1/2" ply in a dado with glue and staples. I have built them with dado, screws from the outside and biscuits at various times. I would say that any or all would work and depends on what you like and what is easiest for you. With pocket screws, you have to make certain to hold the pieces tight and in place when putting in the screws. With biscuits, you have to make certain to get the pocket properly located. The cheapest is probably assembly screws from the outside and works just fine.

[dennis thompson]

I just built some cabinets for my shop & used pocket screws because:
-they are fast
-they are easy
-they are strong
-most importantly, when I make a mistake (& I make plenty) I can take it apart & fix it
Dennis

[Jim Becker]

The answer to your title question is...."yes". And of those methods will produce nice results for cabinet carcasses. Pick the one you are most comfortable with and go for it. Relative to "durability", it's the glue that does most of the work. I tend to keep carcasses as simple as possible. For my tack trunks, I use butt joints, glued and screwed because it's fast, works well for the thinner 1/2" material I work with and hidden by the overlay trim work that is part of my design. For regular cabinetry, if it's 1/2" material, I do the same as the tack trunks. If it's 3/4" (18mm) sheet stock, I use pocket screws sometimes, but butt joints with glue and screws is still faster for me because I am moving the material less. I only use biscuits for alignment of face frames and don't even glue them most of the time.

[Greg Portland]

I guess my goal is ease & speed in constructing them, but i want them to last. The quicker I get things reorganized the faster I can get back to my project list

Grizzly or Ikea cabinets are cheap (cheaper than I could buy the raw materials) and come with decent hardware. You'd be done in a day including install. I went with Grizzly melamine cabinets in my shop and have no complaints. If speed is really an issue then IMO this is the best option.

[Steve Griffin]

I'm in the Dado Camp. They locate things in space and save time at the assembly table. They are far stronger than butt joints, especially if glued and screwed. (My shop cabinets take far more abuse than any kitchen, so the last thing I want is a weaker method of construction)

A big part of a question like this is your tooling. I'm set up with a sliding table and can quickly put in 1/8" dados. Sure beats horsing around trying to line up partitions to a pencil line. Add the time to put in pocket holes and there is no way Dados are slower.

-Steve

[frank shic]

ikea cabinets are an incredible value for the price. they even have a computer utility you can use to design your room and that they can download later to make sure there aren't any errors. you'd be hard pressed to match their hardware (soft closing hinges and the tandemboxes) at retail prices.

[David Hostetler]

What's best is subjective. What is strongest? Dovetails. Are you actually going to dovetail your cabinet carcasses though? I highly doubt it. Some guys do. If you are building quick and dirty shop cabinets, and aren't following someone else's plan verbatim, You may want to seriously consider locking rabbets with glue, and a few brads just to make sure...

I guess pocket screws would be okay, not great. I wouldn't use biscuits for anything other than face frames on cabinets. Not enough strength...

[Bob Carreiro]

Gotta go with pocket screws and glue, hands down. Sure datos have their place, but not in the speed department which you were looking for by your follow-up post.

Pocket screws (and glue) offer the most strength for the time spent in project prep and assemby time - no dato calculations/material size adjustments, no layout, no setting-up machinery/cuting, or clamping necessary. Pocket screws do away with all of these and still provide a formatable joint. IMO

Oh, and "Yes," I use datos, almost rarely now, but I use pocket screws regularly and each time I am thankful for their invention!

[Jay Allen]

What's best is subjective. What is strongest? Dovetails. Are you actually going to dovetail your cabinet carcasses though?

Cabinet carcass no, but I do use them for drawer boxes. They have through dovetails with applied fronts, full 3/4" thick sides and 1/2" ply bottoms. The ones I have right now are made from cottonwood.
In general I follow the others who screw straight through the sides, but I would pocket screw the ones that have an exposed end.

[Roger Pozzi]

Mine are 3/4" construction grade plywood and glued with pocket screws. Works very well.
But, I did buy the 90 degree corner clamp and that really makes things go fast and accurate.

[Jerome Hanby]

I've got that clamp on my Amazon wish list. Someday soon I'm going to pull the trigger for a pair.

Mine are 3/4" construction grade plywood and glued with pocket screws. Works very well.
But, I did buy the 90 degree corner clamp and that really makes things go fast and accurate.

[Brian Tymchak]

I built the case of my hanging cabinets using pocket screws only. I had planned on glue and pocket screws but being the first time I had used them, I was curious as to how strong they would be on their own. I put one joint together, saw how strong it was, and decided the glue was unnecessary and would add time to the building process. Their still hanging there on the wall after 4 years. I did dado and run screws into the ends of a couple of internal shelves, which tied the whole case together into a very rigid structure.

[John Nesmith]

Most recently, biscuits, glue and a few screws. But I have also used dadoes and glue, and I have used pocket screws. All work fine for this application.

[Rick Potter]

Roger and Jerome,

What 90 degree corner clamp are you referring to?

Rick Potter

[Jerome Hanby]

The one from Kreg... Amazon link