Any advice on drawers?

[Drew Bru]

Alright, so I've been working on/off for the better part of a year on a dresser, and I've come to my most confounding challenge yet. The drawers! Some background: Ten (inset) drawers total (20"W X 16"D) 1/2" hard maple sides with a 7/8" hickory front. Halfblind dovetails in the drawer front. 1/4" solid maple bottoms held in by dados in the sides and front. The bottoms will be screwed into the back (that's been left short) through an elongated hole. I have dust frames between the drawers (web frame w/plywood panel). Wish I had a picture, but you probably know what I'm doing.

So, to the meat of the matter. The drawers are tapered toward the back, maybe 3/16" narrower in the back. They're not exactly square. I had been planning on making wooden center-mount slides (attached to the front and back of the drawers somehow) and the web frame/dust frame. The classic sliding dovetail type. Now I'm thinking that this will be much more work than I am ready to take on (although if you have any tips to make this easy, PLEASE post them).

My second option was to have the drawer sides slide on the web frame (perhaps with UHMW tape on the web frame) and have some guide blocks to keep it from moving side-to-side. Two things worry me about that, however. The first being that the drawers are out of square and will wobble from side to side. The second being that the front of the web frame is cherry and will probably wear down with use (the sides of the webs are maple, so it's less of a concern). There's not really room for side-mount guides....it's pretty tight.

So, Creekers, any thoughts? Thanks.

[mike holden]

Drew,
Why do you think you need guides?
Seriously.

Look at 18th century furniture, lots of drawers, no guides (at least as you seem to think of them).
There are runners to support the bottom - you have the dust frames.
There are kickers to keep the drawer level - you may have to add, but again for all but the top drawer, you have the dust frames
There are "guides" that control the side to side movement - you may have to add.

But, all they really are is a box fitted into a box.

They have lasted 200 years, if any of my furniture is around in 200 years I will be proud! (not really, I will be dead, but you know what I mean)

Mike

[Drew Bru]

Mike,
I guess the only reason I was thinking I needed guides was:
1. For a little center support of the drawer bottom. I read in a FWW article awhile back that if you're using solid wood drawer bottoms they should be 1/2" thick. Mine are 1/4". I haven't loaded the drawers with clothes yet, but so far they look to be pretty sturdy. I don't know how much support center guides would actually add though.
2. Since the drawers taper toward the back, I was worried about lateral movement.

I'm thinking now that I'll probably test it with some temporary guide blocks on the dust frame (maybe with hot glue or carpet tape) to see how much lateral movement there will be. If everything seems to glide smoothly and has a good feel, well then I'll probably go with that setup instead of center guides. I've used a similar drawer setup on a telephone table I made awhile back and it's worked out pretty well. The drawer appears to float in the frame, which is a nice visual effect.

I'm probably thinking this out too much.

-Drew

[Joe Chritz]

I really doubt you ever "need" 1/2 plywood unless your drawers are really big. A 1/4" ply panel spanned on all four sides is pretty strong.

You have a few options for the drawers but bypassing runners and adding some wooden guides to the carcass is likely the best method. You may end up with some racking since the back is narrower and you still may have problems with the fronts lining up if there isn't room to square the face in the opening.

If you can put the drawer in with no runners and line up the face you can probably make them work. Inset drawers aren't very "non-square" friendly.

Joe

[Lee Schierer]

I'm not being critical, because I've been where you are.

Your biggest problem is that your drawers are not going to be interchangeable with each other. Unless you label the drawers and drawer openings so you know which drawer belongs where, every time the dresser is moved and someone takes all the drawers out, it will be a puzzle to get them back in the right hole.

Although you have a lot invested in the existing drawers, you might be better off using them in your shop and making new ones for your dresser. The frustrations of trying to fit an out of square drawer can drive a woodworker to take up knitting. Remember this as a lesson to get all your parts cut square and assembled square. Time spent up frnt pays large dividends in the final assembly stages. Yes you can make the drawers work , but is that the best long term solution for the project and your peace of mind?

[Drew Bru]

Lee,
This project is by far the biggest learning experience I've gotten as a woodworker! Every aspect of this wardrobe has taught me not to cut corners, especially when it comes to preparing my stock (which all started out as rough sawn lumber).

The drawers are graduated from 8 1/2" at the bottom to 4 1/2" at the top. They could have been interchangeable from side to side (there are 5 drawers on both the Left and Right side of the wardrobe, with a divider down the middle) but due to an assembly error in the carcass the drawer widths are off by about 1/4". I don't plan on moving this thing too often, so I'm willing to accept the flaw. The project has been stalled because I was hesitant to undertake the drawer construction, so now that it's mostly done.....I'd rather not backtrack.

Every piece of furniture I've made has taught me a new skill, and they're all flawed in some way. I like to think it gives them.....um.....charector. And like any other project, if I don't point out the flaws they usually go unnoticed by most people.....that is unless the drawers wobble or bind every time I change my clothes!

[Lee Schierer]

Every piece of furniture I've made has taught me a new skill, and they're all flawed in some way. I like to think it gives them.....um.....charector. And like any other project, if I don't point out the flaws they usually go unnoticed by most people.....that is unless the drawers wobble or bind every time I change my clothes!

I've ridden in that boat a few times myself. Make sure you get your yarn on sale and it is all the same dye lot......