Dovetail vs dominos, the plywood drawer box argument

So I was reading through an old woodworking magazine from 1998 that my uncle passed down, and there was this letter from a guy in Ohio who said dovetails on plywood drawer boxes are a complete waste of time because the pins can split the inner plys over time. I never thought about that before. I mean, I know plywood joints need different treatment than solid wood, but I always figured dovetails were just the gold standard for everything. On one hand, I get it, a dovetail on a furniture grade birch plywood box looks sharp and gives clients that handmade feel they're paying for. On the other hand, I've seen my own drawer boxes from five years ago start to fray around the dovetail points, not the joint itself but the plywood layers around it. Maybe dominoes with some epoxy are actually the smarter move for plywood since they don't stress the core as much. But then again, a drawer box made with dominos feels like something from a production shop, not a custom build. Has anyone else ditched dovetails on plywood specifically, and did you notice a real difference in how the drawers held up over time, or is it all just talk? I'm genuinely torn here and I've got a big kitchen job in Portland starting next month where I need to pick one method before I order material.

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sethr112mo ago

Yep, been there. Switched to dominos on plywood years ago. Never looked back.

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