A cabinetmaker in Louisville showed me his drawer boxes were nailed, not dovetailed, and honestly I think he was right

Troy Wilson · 2026-10-11T11:40:03.878686+00:00

Last month I drove down to Louisville to pick up a load of maple ply and stopped by a guy's shop who does high end kitchens. I watched him assemble a drawer box with 18 gauge nails and glue, no dovetails at all. My first thought was cheap work, but then he flipped it over and showed me the fit on a Blum undermount slide was dead on, no racking. He said he's been doing it that way for 9 years and has had two callbacks, both from a bad batch of glue. I've been cutting dovetails on every drawer for the last 14 years and now I'm wondering what I'm actually gaining aside from looking fancy. Curious if any of you have gone this route or if I'm crazy for thinking about it.

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A cabinetmaker in Louisville showed me his drawer boxes were nailed, not dovetailed, and honestly I think he was right | Cabinetmakers - Discusd