Skip to content

Stopped dado shelf

joints.stopped_dado_shelf

A shelf in a stopped dado, as in a bookshelf: the dado stops stop short of the side's front edge, so it doesn't show at the front.

The shelf's front corner is notched to the stop, its front edge flush with the side's; at the back the dado runs out (under a back panel).

Stopped dado shelf, assembled

Stopped dado shelf, exploded

Parameters

Parameter Default
side_height 400
shelf_length 300
depth 200
shelf_height 150
stop 15
stock 20 mm board, oak

Change them in a design file (see Change an example):

from woodwright.examples import joints

design = joints.stopped_dado_shelf(side_height=500)

Drawings

The plans in one PDF: plans.pdf.

Assembly

assembly

Parts

parts

Shelf

shelf

Side

side

Cut list

side   400 x 200 x 20 mm  oak
       - stopped dado 20 mm, 6.5 deep, in bottom_face, 15 mm short of front_edge
shelf  306.5 x 200 x 20 mm  oak
       - notch 15 x 6.5 mm in left_end at front_edge

Code

From woodwright/examples/joints.py, which imports the names it uses (see From an example to your own design):

def stopped_dado_shelf(
    side_height: float = 400,
    shelf_length: float = 300,
    depth: float = 200,
    shelf_height: float = 150,
    stop: float = 15,
    stock: Stock = OAK,
) -> Assembly:
    """A shelf in a stopped dado, as in a bookshelf: the dado stops `stop`
    short of the side's front edge, so it doesn't show at the front.

    The shelf's front corner is notched to the stop, its front edge flush
    with the side's; at the back the dado runs out (under a back panel).
    """
    asm = Assembly("stopped_dado_shelf", root_location=CASE_SIDE)
    side = asm.add(Board("side", stock, length=side_height, width=depth))
    shelf = asm.add(Board("shelf", stock, length=shelf_length, width=depth))
    asm.join(
        DadoJoint(
            dado=side.bottom_face,
            end=shelf.left_end,
            position=offset(shelf_height, side.right_end),
            stopped={side.front_edge: stop},
        )
    )
    return asm

Exported with woodwright 0.9.0 on 2026-10-25.