Old timer at the supply house told me to stop using glue on my drawer lock joints

I was at the local lumber yard last Tuesday picking up some prefinished plywood when the guy behind the counter, been in the trade 40 years, asked what I was building. I told him a set of kitchen drawers with lock miter joints. He just shook his head and said stop gluing those, they'll fail in five years because the wood moves different directions. I thought he was crazy, I've been gluing them for a decade. But I tried a full set without glue, just clamps and a dry fit with a little wax on the pins. Six months later and none of them have loosened up or cracked, and I can actually pull them apart to adjust if needed. Has anyone else had long term issues with glue on interlocking joints like that or am I just paranoid now?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan_webb4929d ago

Tried the same thing after a buddy who builds cabinets for a living swore by it. Been about a year now on a set of shop drawers I did with just wax on the lock miters and they're still tight as day one.

leobrown29d ago

Picked up that trick myself about two years ago when I was building a big bank of utility drawers for my mudroom. Old timer at my local shop told me the exact same thing, said the lock miter joint will work itself apart if you glue it because the wood grain fights itself. I was skeptical too but I tried a test piece with just a little paste wax on the mating surfaces and it held tight as anything. Even dropped one of those drawers off my bench onto concrete by accident and the joint stayed solid, no movement at all. Been doing all my lock miters dry ever since, saves glue and makes adjustments way easier down the line.