Drawer Boxes 1 4 Sides
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Our staff offers simple, strong and fast ways to make this important furniture component.
I northward woodworking magazines, books and plans there'southward virtually always an omission that's large enough to drive a truck through: How to build the drawers for the project.
Normally the woodworking author (always well-intended, I can assure you) writes instructions such as: "Build the drawers using your method of choice."
Well that'south all well and good unless you're like a lot of woodworkers who have never actually chosen a method of drawer-making. To remedy this problem, we've come with iv skillful techniques for building drawers that our editors take refined after years of shop work.
Each method has its pros and cons. Merely based on your skill level and your detail set up of tools, in that location is likely something here you lot tin can utilize for your woodworking. Before we discuss the differences of each method, here are the similarities.
Drawer Nuts
When designing a drawer and coming up with a cutting list, here are some rules we follow.
In general, the drawer front should be three ⁄ four " thick – unless it's a drawer with a "false front." False-front drawers are a unproblematic drawer box with the forepart screwed to the box. Information technology'southward a handy way to fit drawer fronts in projects where the drawers run on metal slides.
The sides and back of the drawer should exist 1 ⁄ ii " or 5 ⁄ 8 " thick. Use thinner stock for smaller drawers and thicker stock for big ones.
The lesser is usually 1 ⁄ 4 "-thick plywood for small drawers or 1 ⁄ 2 "-thick material for bigger drawers, or drawers that will hold heavy objects.
The bottom should slide into the drawer in i ⁄ 4 " x 1 ⁄ 4 " grooves milled in the sides and drawer front. If the bottom is thicker than 1 ⁄ 4 " you'll need to cut a bevel or rabbet on its edges. The dorsum of the drawer should be ane ⁄ 2 " narrower than the sides to let the bottom to slide into identify at the rear.
Sliding Dovetail Drawers
Sliding dovetails aren't only for edifice bookcases. This technique works extremely well for constructing drawers that will be mounted with mechanical drawer slides.
When you follow these instructions yous'll end up with an inset drawer that has a perfect 1 ⁄ 2"-broad infinite for a drawer slide. By merely putting the socket in a dissimilar identify you tin create an overlay or lipped drawer, too.
A couple notes on this technique: You need the right-size bit for the joint. The mutual 1 ⁄ ii"-bore dovetail scrap is too big when using one ⁄ 2"-thick drawer sides. You're better off with a three ⁄ viii"-bore dovetail scrap, which is normally available.
Also, you lot demand to take some care when making the examination cuts on the male portion of the joint. If your drawer uses a unlike species of wood for the sides than for the front, check the fit of the male portion of the articulation in a socket in both species. This might sound a bit odd, but different species react differently to a cut. It might simply be .002″ difference or so on each side of the joint. But with sliding dovetails, even small-scale amounts matter.
Finally, cutting all your parts 1 ⁄ sixteen" wider than your finished size. The router bit will tend to blow out the grain when it exits the work. After you mill all the joints, run each long border over your jointer to remove the inevitable tear-out. — CS
Sliding Dovetails Step-By Step
1. To cutting the socket, set your iii⁄8″ dovetail fleck then it protrudes 5⁄sixteen″ above the top of your router table. Set the fence and so there is exactly 9⁄16″ of space between the flake and the contend. Brand a test cut to confirm your settings.
This tricky technique uses only two setups on your router table to cut very strong drawers that are perfect for a project that uses drawer slides. That's considering information technology automatically creates a 1 ⁄ two " infinite for side-mount drawer slides.
2. Cut the sockets on both ends of the drawer front. Notation that I employ a backing lath faced with sandpaper. This minimizes tear-out when the flake exits the work. The #220-grit sandpaper keeps the work in place during the cut.
The drawers go together similar a puzzle, and the interlocking nature of the joint ensures their longevity. The downside to the technique is that you need to be very persnickety in setting up your tools; sliding dovetails practice not suffer fools lightly.
iii. Using the aforementioned setting, cut the socket on the back end of the side pieces. This socket holds the back in place.
The thickness of your materials must be expressionless on (bank check it with a dial caliper) and y'all must make a couple more examination runs on scrap with this technique than the others. Merely once you main information technology, picket out. You'll use it all the time.
iv. The finished result. Y'all can see the tear-out on 1 of the joints. Also annotation the "cabinetmaker's triangle" fatigued on the edges. This reminds me of which way my parts will exist oriented every bit I machine and assemble them.
5. To cutting the male portion of the joint, get out the acme of the scrap the same. Shift the argue so just 7⁄64″ of the fleck protrudes from the fence. This measurement worked for my Oldham bit, which measures .275″ at its smallest point. Your scrap may vary.
6. Make a test run before cutting the groove in the sides and front for the drawer's bottom. The parts should slide together easily and crave just a couple taps from a mallet to seat them firmly.
7. In the end, this technique produces a wicked-tight mechanical articulation with just a couple tool setups. It's 1 of those few techniques that is both fast and strong.
Hand-Dovetailed Drawers
This is a time-consuming but rewarding way to make a drawer. There is no stronger, beautiful or individual technique than cutting dovetails by hand. Similar all good things, it requires do. But one time you have a couple drawers congenital, yous'll find your saw and chisel skills improve exponentially.
A couple notes on this technique: There are unabridged books written nearly dovetailing, so nosotros couldn't possibly cover everything that'south involved. However there are a few basic principles and tricks that make the process easier.
Use proficient tools. A sharp well-tuned saw and chisel make all the deviation. Inexpensive, inaccurate or deadening tools will brand the learning curve much steeper. Earlier you try this technique on a drawer for a project, try it out on some scraps first. Even experts need to "warm up" with a test joint or ii when dovetailing.
Hand-Dovetailed Drawers Step-By-Step
1. A precipitous and high-quality cutting gauge, such as the Tite-Mark, makes lines that are easier to see than with a scratch gauge, which uses a pivot.
This is the traditional, and many would argue, the strongest way to brand a drawer. Traditional drawers have through-dovetails at the back of the box and one-half-bullheaded dovetails at the front.
Our favorite technique is to make the drawer sides, front and bottom using 1 ⁄ 2 "-thick stock and then glue on a one ⁄ iv " -thick piece of veneer for the front. This technique allows you to cut through-dovetails at all iv joints (which is easier) and to stretch your supply of expert drawer-front end material.
2. Mark out your tails on the finish grain and the outside face up of the drawer side. Strike your lines with a marking pocketknife followed by a mechanical pencil. This will increase your accuracy. Marker the waste portions of the joint with an "X" and and then brand your cuts.
3. Remove the waste product between the tails with a fretsaw or coping saw. The closer to the bottom of the tail you get, the less make clean-up work y'all'll accept with a chisel.
four. Remove the waste outside of the tails with a backsaw, which cuts straighter than the fretsaw.
This method is the almost time-consuming of the four in this article. Merely that'south the cost of strength and endurance.
5. The Tite-Marker gauge can be used similar a chisel to remove waste from between the tails and on the ends of the joints, as shown. If you sharpen the tool's apartment cutter, it will piece woods like a chisel.
6. Remove the balance of the waste with a bench chisel. The most of import thing to note here is you should stand and then you can see when the chisel is perfectly perpendicular to the work, as shown hither.
7. I picked up this trick from the Net and it works great. To mark the pins, clamp the tail board in place to the pin board using a ready of inexpensive 90° clamps, available from any abode-heart store. This clamping setup allows yous to focus on marker authentic lines.
eight. I like a spear-betoken pocketknife as shown here because you can work on the left and right sides of a tail with simply one tool. With other tools, such as a pocketknife, you lot run the risk that your knife line isn't in exactly the right place.
9. Transfer the lines marked on the end grain downward the confront of the board. Marker your waste pieces and remove the waste matter using a backsaw, fret saw and then a chisel.
10. Before y'all endeavor to assemble the articulation, relieve the inside edges of the tail board with a knife as shown. This part of the joint is never seen and it allows yous to easily slide the parts together.
11. A deadblow mallet is all you need to assemble pocket-size drawers. For larger assemblies, I recommend backing up the joint with a slice of scrap to distribute the hammer blows evenly.
12. The assembled joint. No, those aren't gaps. Those are the pencil lines that I split up in one-half with my saw.
13. I have tried a variety of ways to clamp dovetails, simply I proceed coming back to these cauls. They take just a couple minutes to brand and put the pressure right where it's needed.
xiv. To glue the 1⁄4″-thick veneer front end to the assembled drawer box, use your workbench as a behemothic clamping caul as shown.
15. Apply the veneer before planing or sanding your dovetail joints. Otherwise you'll simply make more work for yourself. It's amend to do all the trimming at once.
xvi. The completed joint. Once the finish is applied and the blood-red drawer front ages a bit you volition barely be able to tell the forepart is applied.
Drawer-lock $.25
Some woodworkers swear by the router. And why not? It's a great tool for many applications − including making drawers. By using a drawer lock bit in a router table it'due south a simple process to chop-chop create dozens of hardwood drawers (plywood isn't advised) and end upwardly with strong, attractive joints. It doesn't matter how deep, wide or tall your drawer is. With the bit fix, all you lot do is run the inside edge of each side – no adjustment necessary.
There's always a merchandise-off, and with drawer lock $.25 it's toll and set-up. Though you'll need only ane scrap, it can cost equally much equally $55. One time you have the fleck, it's disquisitional to go it set correctly in your router table for a tight, accurate fit.
While the following steps walk y'all through the setups for a unproblematic inset drawer, the fleck can also be used for overlay drawers and also allow clearance for mechanical drawer slides. By first rabbeting the necessary clearance on the behind of the drawer fronts, the same chip will once again exercise all the joints for any of these drawers.
Drawer-lock Bits Step-By-Stride
1. First ready the bit to i⁄2″ high. This probably isn't the terminal setting, but information technology will put you lot in the ballpark. Make sure the router is unplugged for any step that puts your hands (or tools) near the bit.
This specialty router fleck allows you lot to cut all the corner joints with one router table setup. With minor adjustments the bit will even mill the groove for the bottom. Drawer-lock joints are like shooting fish in a barrel to gather and attractive. The interlocking design is strong and offers pregnant gluing surface.
2. The 2nd setup step is to align the rear cut flute affluent to the fence face up. A modest rule or straightedge makes this quick. To make things easier, it's also a good idea to set the fence parallel to the miter gauge slot at this time. Annotation that your fence faces should be set every bit close to the fleck as possible.
The downside to this method is that y'all need to make several test cuts to get the settings perfect, and yous need to purchase a fairly pricey router fleck – about $30 to $55 depending on the brand.
3. Now it'southward fourth dimension to adjust the last flake summit. Run two pieces of scrap material (the thickness of the flake doesn't demand to lucifer your workpieces) flat against the table supporting the cut with your miter gauge. A perfect mating fit is shown. If the tongues fit all the way into the socket, not bad; only if the fit is loose, raise the bit.
four. Make the kickoff cuts on both ends of the sides, with the inside surface against the argue. Utilize a bankroll block to stabilize the drawer side and avoid tear-out. This same setup will create the lesser grooves in the forepart and sides.
five. To run the drawer front and back, the fence must be reset. Unplug the router, then use i of the sides to adjust the debate to gear up the protruding flute of the bit flush to the outside edge of the side piece.
6. Then just run both ends of the fronts and backs with the workpiece flat on the router tabular array. Apply a miter gauge to guide the cut. If you were making an overlay drawer, the front would need to be rabbeted for the necessary start and the fence reset to run the drawer fronts.
Rabbets and Brads
This drawer method is so uncomplicated it should be illegal. With 1 table saw setup and a dado stack you lot can build drawers all 24-hour interval long.
2 critical accessories are required. You need a stacking dado set. You'll only use the two outer blades of the dado prepare to cut 1 ⁄ 4" rabbets. (If you don't have a dado set up you lot could also apply a single 1 ⁄ 8"-kerf blade. This would crave some set-upwardly changes, but the concept is the aforementioned.) You lot also need a zero-clearance insert for your saw, which supports your piece of work during the cut.
On a finished front end drawer as shown here, rabbet the front and back. On a false front drawer, rabbet the sides. Nosotros recommend shooting brads through the sides into the rabbet. These brads will add some strength and reduce the clamping necessary to build these drawers.
Rabbets and Brads Step-By-Step
1. Prepare information technology up once and forget information technology – how simple. The commencement step is mounting the two full dado blades to achieve a ane⁄iv″-wide cut. And then set the cut height. to 1⁄4″.
When nosotros demand to make drawers fast, this is the mode nosotros go. You can cut all the joinery for your drawer (including the bottom groove) with just a stack dado and one setup on your table saw.
It'southward a fairly forgiving technique that beginners master quickly. It'due south just existent downside is that it'southward the weakest of the four joints. While the drawer is plenty potent for nearly applications, it's not in the same league every bit a traditional dovetailed drawer.
2. Side by side, slide the rip debate toward the blades and lock the debate exactly 1⁄ii″ from the outside tip of the blades.
3. You're ready to cut. The rabbets are made simply on the drawer fronts and backs. The side pieces are left intact. The showtime laissez passer should be fabricated at the end of the slice. Use your miter gauge to guide the cut to remove the waste product.
4. The 2nd pass is made with the end of the slice guiding along the rip debate, defining the inside shoulder of the rabbet. It may exist necessary to make a third pass to clean out the center of the rabbet'southward cheek.
v. The final cut is for the 1⁄four″ x 1⁄iv″ groove to accept the bottom. It's made by running the ii sides and front piece (shown) flat on the saw, guiding the bottom edge against the fence. The dorsum is 1⁄ii″ narrower and has no bottom groove. pw
Product Recommendations
Here are some supplies and tools we notice essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred past our links; notwithstanding, nosotros have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
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Dado Blade Set up
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Tabular array Saw Bract
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Titebond Iii Woods Glue
Source: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/four-good-ways-to-build-drawers/