Wood Experts - Finger or Dovetail Joint?

[Erock_Germany]

I am looking for a cabinet for my DRRI and have found a local guy who builds cabnets for a fair price.

He uses a dovetail joint for his Fender style cabinets.

I know what the finger joint and dovetail joint look like but which is better for guitar cabinet construction?

My instinct tells me dovetail is stronger but Fender always used finger joints.......any experience here?

[Toneseeker]

I'm no expert on this but it seems to me that Finger jointing is easier than Dovetail. Dovetail is less likely to drift apart and can be neater. At the end of the day it's proper wood to wood jointing so I would not expect any acoustic difference.

JMHO.

Pete

[NTBluesGuitar]

Dovetail joints are great for dresser drawers because they're designed specifically for that pulling/pushing force that's exerted with repeated use. They work just fine in speaker cabinets, though.

Box joints (also known as finger joints, which, I was shown by a carpenter, are not the same thing), are better for amp cabinets because you're creating a LOT of surface area for the wood glue to use in bonding both pieces of wood together. Especially when you use 1/4" joints; wood glue has a stronger bond than nails/screws, BTW.

Surprisingly, I've learned that dovetail joints are less likely to hold the 90º angle and skew when compared to equally glued and treated 1/4" box joints. Never would have guessed it, but it makes sense, again, when you think of the surface area in contact with 1/4" box joints compared to dovetail joints.

Neither affects sound in any way (unless done poorly).

[Erock_Germany]

Thanks NT - good food for thought. Since the cabinets are a great value for money, I will accept the dovetail joints.....

[juniorspecial]

My understanding is that dovetail joints are substantially stronger than finger joints. Finger joints are a cheap, easier-to-make substitute for dovetail joints.

[10-15-14]

Finger joints are a very strong wood joint, certainly more than strong enough for a cabinet as well as Dovetails. I always thought that the Dovetail Joint was a great cosmetic feature on an uncovered cab.