# Joining maple and walnut for shelf



## coraldo (Nov 1, 2013)

I am making a small kitchen shelf to hang on our wall. It will basically be a 20'' x 20'' box with a shelf in the middle, thus giving me 3 shelves (top and bottom of box). Each board will be 5'' wide. I was thinking of doing a 1'' maple piece in the middle of each board (framing and middle shelf) and 2''walnut on either side. My question is, if the shelf is not holding anything heavy, do I need to dowel or can I just glue? I wasn't sure if the glue would be strong enough. If I can glue, please let me know what brands you recommend.


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## Lew (Oct 25, 2011)

Edge gluing will be fine. I am a user of titebond II, however any brand yellow wood glue will work.


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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

If you mean gluing the sides to the shelves, this i would use the dowels for, end-grain gluing quite likely won't hold up for these joints, the rest will be fine.


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## nbo10 (Jan 26, 2011)

A proper glue joint is stronger than the wood. Dowels would help with the alignment of the boards. 

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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

An ens=grain butt joint is not a "proper" glue joint.


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## nbo10 (Jan 26, 2011)

Never said glueing end grain was proper. From the op he isn't glueing endgrain. 

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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would use rabbets and a dado, with glue and clamps. Adding fasteners wouldn't hurt.








 







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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

nbo10 said:


> Never said glueing end grain was proper. From the op he isn't glueing endgrain.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


Cabinetman has a proper idea, and the OP does mention dowels and a simple box, how did you think he was going to do it based on the post without dowels or end-grain glueing?


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## nbo10 (Jan 26, 2011)

From the title of the thread and mention of 1" maple and 2" walnut, I take it the OP is asking about edge joining the boards to make the shelf; Not assembly of of the box.


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## shoot summ (Feb 21, 2014)

nbo10 said:


> From the title of the thread and mention of 1" maple and 2" walnut, I take it the OP is asking about edge joining the boards to make the shelf; Not assembly of of the box.


Here is his question:

My question is, if the shelf is not holding anything heavy, do I need to dowel or can I just glue?

IMO it pertains to the assembly of the box. The right way is a dado or rabbet. For something this small I wouldn't have an issue with just gluing though. Just make sure you apply some glue, let the end grain wick some of it up, then apply more. This is a situation where more is better.


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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

Yes, I read his question the first time, which leaves a lot to the imagination, like should I glue what/where?
For assembly I agree, M & T is best.
He could have finger-jointed since there are 3 pieces in all parts.
I suggested the dowels since he obviously has them.


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## coraldo (Nov 1, 2013)

I apologize, I have responded a couple of times now, but for some reason my post is not showing. I apologize for the misunderstanding, I was referring to edge joining. I was planning on using glue and kreg jig for the building of the frame (Although I do like the idea of finger jointing mentioned above and may do that instead). I just wasn't sure if glue on its own was enough for edge joining, and if it was, if I needed a special kind of glue or if basic yellow woodworkers glue would work (Thanks Lew). I thank you all for your responses and insight. I am very new to this, and want to attempt make it close to right the first time.


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## Bleedinblue (Mar 4, 2014)

If you are using pocket holes to build the rest of the case, you might as well throw some pocket holes in the shelf too. As mentioned above, dados would be the best and easiest...but that would require a dado stack or router work which you may or may not have the tools for.


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