Had to pick between plywood boxes and dovetailed drawers

Did a kitchen job last month where the customer wanted "the best" but didn't want to pay for hand-cut dovetails. I went with pre-finished birch plywood and lock rabbet joints. Saves 4 hours per drawer bank. Has anyone else had that argument with a client about where quality actually matters vs just looks?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly.dylan3d ago

Woah there, slow down. You're saving time but you're building junk that looks cheap. I've had clients come back to me two years later with those lock rabbet joints starting to gap out and the plywood edges chipping from normal use. Dovetails aren't just for looks, they actually hold together way better over time. The argument isn't about what you can get away with, it's about whether you want your work to last 5 years or 50. You think the client doesn't notice the difference when they start seeing those gaps?

hollyramirez3d ago

My neighbor's been fighting with his kitchen cabinets from that big box store for three years now, same kind of gap issue you're talking about @kelly.dylan. It's like people forgot that saving money upfront on joints just means paying for it later with headaches.