Flush drawer fronts

[Tom Hammond]

I've always made drawers where the drawer face glues and screws to the drawer box, and then acts as a stop as it comes in contact with the apron face. However, I'd like to try making some inset drawer faces that are flush with the apron when closed. The Amish guys in my area make these all the time, but I've never done it. Is there some piece of information or key design feature or dimension I need to be aware of? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Mark Ball]

You can still glue and screw (I have only used screws) the face of the drawer to the drawer box, you just have to have everything square so the drawer fits nice. I made a dresser with inset drawers, used full extension drawer glides, just mount them in so when they are closed the drawer front is flush with the face frame. I believe I used pennies for spacers between the drawer face and face frame, use double face tape to hold it until you drive the screws.

[Philip Rodriquez]

A hand plane is also VERY useful.

[Jim Becker]

I pretty much have always made full inlay doors; 99% of them using a drawer box separate from the drawer front. The fronts are screwed to the box post assembly so they can be fine tuned to the casework.

One thing you have to carefully consider is wood movement. Many folks will just use an arbitrary 1/16" gap all around when building, but depending on the time of year and the local weather, that could result in tightness/scraping. It's actually not a horrible idea to calculate what the cross-grain expansion contraction will be for the species you're using to insure that problem doesn't haunt a nice project down the road. (I personally have had to deal with this in the past...fortunately, the method I build as described above, makes it relatively easy to adjust with a sharp block plane after the fact)

[Paul Halpern]

I have questions along these lines, too; In the case of using the drawer sides (Mark), do the slides provide the stops? And if so, is it adjustable to ensure that the drawers are truly flush when closed?

I'd be interested to hear what other methods folks use and like for stopping the drawer when closed.

Thx.

[Tom Hammond]

... is it adjustable to ensure that the drawers are truly flush when closed?

That's the meat of my question as well.

[Lee Schierer]

When I've made inset drawers the metal drawer slides are the stops. With my method, there is no adjustment for in or out so you have to figure it out with the slide. Generally the slide just buts up against the back of the drawer and you set the carcase attached portion back inside the face frame by the drawer front thickness..

[Neal Clayton]

or, there's always simple old style wooden slides .

four L shaped slides simply mounted straight to the box. the ends of the slides are the stops.

[Tom Hammond]

... and you set the carcase attached portion back inside the face frame by the drawer front thickness..

OK... but if it's skew by a 32nd, it'll look like crap. Is there some kind of microadjustment on the drawers slides that will allow me to align the drawer face to the cabinet face accurately?

[Lee Schierer]

OK... but if it's skew by a 32nd, it'll look like crap. Is there some kind of microadjustment on the drawers slides that will allow me to align the drawer face to the cabinet face accurately?

I'm not an expert on this, but what I do is drill the holes int eh drawer front for the screws and insert the screws so that about 1/16" sticks out the front. Wit the top of the piece removed, I install the drawer box in the opening with a little weight in it on the slide. Then I place two pennies on the bottom of the drawer opening in the face frame and sit the drawer face on the pennies. Place a third penny on one side so the drawer face is touching it. Press the drawer face up against the drawer box and lightly tap on each of the screws with a hammer. This will leave a mark on the back side of the drawer face. Remove the drawer face and drill pilot holes on each of the marks. Put the drawer face back in position and run the screws into the pilot holes. It works for me.

If the drawer face doesn't line up, you can plug the screw holes with 1/8" dowel sharpened with a pencil sharpener and cut to length. Apply some glue and tap the plugs into the holes. Trim the plugs with a chisel when the glue sets up.

[Karl Brogger]

The Blum undermount slides have adjustment for up/down on each corner. They also have a locking device that you can adjust the drawer forward/back in the cabinet. I set the slides so the drawer ends up just a freckle beyond the plane of the face frame, then adjust it forward.

Square helps, but you can never get everything perfect right off the bat, so I usually size my drawer fronts, (and doors for that matter), a 1/16" bigger than what I need, then grind them to fit on the edge sander.

The Blum slides are kind of sloppy and don't like ultra tight tolerances. You will regret it if you go for a less than 1/16 gap all the way around. Looks nice, but unless you have a seriously good humidity control there will be rubbing.

[Tom Hammond]

The Blum undermount slides seem to be the answer.

THANKS.

[Dan Friedrichs]

The Blum undermount slides seem to be the answer.

THANKS.

Yes, they are nice. +1 on everything Karl said (don't leave too small of reveal).

When you buy them, you buy the slides, then you buy the locking devices that go on the bottom of each drawer. They make a special locking device for inset drawers (the "standard" locking device doesn't have all those adjustments, so make sure to get the one for inset drawers)

[Alan Schaffter]

A friend of mine has a nice tip for aligning applied drawer fronts in the latest issue of Woodworker's Journal. He first drills holes for the pull screws in the applied front only. He roughly aligns the front and drills holes in the drawer box. He removes the front then enlarges the drawer box holes. That gives some wiggle room for the attachment screws. He puts everything together, but tightens the screws only enough to keep the applied front from slipping on its own. He gently taps the front into alignment. Once aligned, he tightens the screws and shoots few brads from the back to keep the front from slipping. If he needs to readjust a front later, remove the screws pull the front off, snip the brads, and do it again. He usually waits for installation and things to settle before shooting the brads.

Of course this doesn't do anything for front to back alignment of the slides and fronts.

[Paul Halpern]

How often do folks build flush drawers without the separate fronts? That is, just a box, and using half-blinds on the front? What considerations come to mind when deciding which method?

I haven't used drawer slides of any sort yet, so I'm not sure what constraints that adds. Does using slides require the smaller box, thus the separate front? (Although I would guess that also depends on the case/face frame design.)