Dado Shelves adjacent to each other?

You should have no problem. The thickness of the shelf itself will contribute strength at the joint. Just make sure the fit is as close as you can get. The glue will also add support.

+1 ^^ I’ve done this many many times. It works fine.

-- Jerry, making sawdust professionally since 1976

I would avoid it. 1/4” is not enough material for adequate support. Consider not only current use, but potential future uses (heavy books?). You posted this question because your gut didn’t like the look of it. Trust your gut.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

It will work fine. I have done it several times. Your shelf needs to be thick enough to hold the load without sag. The load at the joint is vertical.

-- Bruce, Boise, ID

Yes, it will work. There are few things to consider though. First is that 3/4” plywood is not 3/4” thick. So if you cut 1/4 dados adjacent to each other the remaining piece is somewhat less than 1/4’’ which isn’t much. What I do in that situation is to cut the dados 3/16” deep, that gives 1/8” more thickness on the case.

-- Bondo Gaposis

+1 Bondo

-- Bruce, Boise, ID

I would avoid it. 1/4” is not enough material for adequate support. Consider not only current use, but potential future uses (heavy books?). You posted this question because your gut didn t like the look of it. Trust your gut.

- pintodeluxe

Would you please explain why?

Thanks very much for the thoughtful replies.

Hi Jeff welcome to Ljs
I agree 1/4” will support the weight you talking about and perhaps as little as an 1/8” will work.Through the years I’ve gotten in the habit of making my dados half the thickness of my 3/4” ply but that’s not necessary.It will depend on your material if you want to go to the other extreme of only using 1/8 dados.

-- https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos

You could compromise and do 3/16” depth. That leaves you with 3/8” web between shelves while giving you a deeper socket than 1/8”.

-- The quality of one's woodworking is directly related to the amount of flannel worn.

You may want to file this from WoodBin. The Sagulator or deflection versus span and other variables.
http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/

-- Wuddoc