Squaring a drawer after glue is dry

[Josh Rudolph]

I did some searches for some ideas, but have had no luck, so I figure I will ask.

I recently built some drawers for my cabinets I am making for in the shop.

I used ambrosia maple for the drawer sides. It was cheaper than anything else. So why not. I dovetailed the drawers with my Leigh D4 jig.

For glue-up I clamped the dovetails and used two corner jigs to hold them what I thought to be square. The corner jigs are square.

I am installing the drawers using Accuride slides and have had trouble getting them to close flush to the face frame. While troubleshooting I have discovered a few of the drawers to not be square. I am confident my clamping procedure was correct...where I screwed up was placing them on the floor to dry while clamped. I didn't have enough truly flat surfaces and wanted to get all 6 glued up. So lesson learned...the bad thing is I knew better and still did it!

So...I am trying to figure out some ways to fix this screwup. I cut some 90 degree blocks to install in the back corner to try and square things up. I tried it on one and it did not work. Another option would be to cut the sides as close to the front and back and redo the joints. This would shorten the drawers about 1.25"...I would like to keep that as a last resort. Any ideas on how I may fix these?

[glenn bradley]

I have been there. I really thought the shop floor was flat enough to reference the drawers off of while clamping . . . wrong!!! You may get some sagely advice from some on here as to a solution. I have found the quickest and most long term, satisfactory way to correct this is to make new parts. The only drawer unit in the shop that I am unhappy with is one that I "fixed". The drawers now close but they work funky and poke at me mentally every time I open them . . . or look at them . . . or think about them. They are scheduled to DIE (queue maniacal laughter - Boo-hoo-whaa-haa-haa-haaaa) during my outfeed table rebuild sometime this summer.

[Mark Salomon]

Sorry but I don't think that there is really a good fix (I've been there). Best to either start new or shorten the drawer sides. Since your using a mechanical dovetail jig I don't think that it's too much work for you. You can easily spend as much time trying to find workarounds and end up not happy with the result.

[Chip Lindley]

White vinegar will soften yellow wood glue. The joints can be soaked, scraped clean, dried thoroughly, and reglued. But, that's a lot of trouble and mess! I think I would make new drawer sides and chalk it up to experience. Disassemble the drawers and perhaps the pieces can be cut shorter and used for something else, later.

[Karl Brogger]

Easy.

Throw a clamp on it corner to corner, pull it square, pin nail or hot glue the bottom in to hold it. I square every drawer I build this way.

If there's some glue popping, and you're worried, either pop a few nails in the front/back side of the drawer, or if you really feel like proving you've slid off the deep end, use a couple of finish screws. Dovetails don't really need glue anyway, but its better if they do.

[jim gossage]

Easy.

Throw a clamp on it corner to corner, pull it square, pin nail or hot glue the bottom in to hold it. I square every drawer I build this way.

If there's some glue popping, and you're worried, either pop a few nails in the front/back side of the drawer, or if you really feel like proving you've slid off the deep end, use a couple of finish screws. Dovetails don't really need glue anyway, but its better if they do.

I would think that this would lead to cracking later on. If you have to force wood into alignment with some device, you are fighting it's natural tendencies to return to it's original state. If the difference between those two states is substantial, the wood usually wins.

[Peter Quinn]

I have had some luck with shims placed on the case sides behind the slides to correct for out of square drawers, but it depends on the severity and it has it's limitations. Accurides don't give much wiggle room, which is why I prefer blum slides. if by out of square do you mean they sit flat but are now a parallelogram? In this case shims may work, you may be able to square the fronts enough with a belt sander to get the drawer fronts to sit right if the sides are parallel. But if the drawers are also racked, the fireplace or wood stove is really your best option for fixing this problem. That and somemnew stock.

[Josh Rudolph]

I have been there. I really thought the shop floor was flat enough to reference the drawers off of while clamping . . . wrong!!! You may get some sagely advice from some on here as to a solution. I have found the quickest and most long term, satisfactory way to correct this is to make new parts. The only drawer unit in the shop that I am unhappy with is one that I "fixed".

Glenn,

Unfortunately...your right. It will bug me to death if I don't fix them like they should be.

I guess this will be a lesson....thankfully not too expensive. I think I may even just hand cut this next set now. It will depend on what I end up with for stock.

Josh

[johnny means]

I worked in a large shop where one of my responsibilities was constructing dovetailed drawers. My drawer list usually consisted of 100 - 200 drawers which had to be completed from S4S in 2 - 3 days. Obviously, these type of time constraints don't allow for careful clamping of every drawer. So not every drawer glued up perfectly square. I was taught to use an edge sander with a square stop to sand the sides square to the front. I was also told that clamping dovetail drawers was bad because it masks out of squarenes, only to be seen after removing the clamps. We would tweek our drawers square using a jig as a reference. The dovetails should nullify the need for clamps.

[Alan Schwabacher]

I wonder if you could put a drawer in a warm oven for a while, then clamp it to cool. Yellow glue can creep, and maybe when it's hot it would do so more quickly. If you've decided to remake them, this might be worth trying first.

[Brian Ross]

. , . I was also told that clamping dovetail drawers was bad because it masks out of squarenes, only to be seen after removing the clamps. We would tweek our drawers square using a jig as a reference. The dovetails should nullify the need for clamps.

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I build kitchens and still make my own half blind dovetail drawers out of maple with a Leigh Jig. I have not clamped drawers for a few of years. I put them together and measure diagonally from corner to corner and with the tap of a mallet you can get them perfectly square. You also have to be careful that you do not apply to much glue for it will get trapped in the sockets with no place to go.Subsequently you can not get the drawer sides seated all the way into the front and back of your drawer I discovered this the hard way when I switched from through dovetails to half blind. It is not a problem with through dovetails as the glue just squeezes out.

Brian

[John Sanford]

I guess I'm a little confused about how they're out of square. Still, shimming the slides is one option, planing the "box" back into square is another if the out-of-squareness isn't too extreme, quite doable since you have solid wood sides. Take an 1/8" of the "front" of one side, and 1/8" off the "back" of the other side, bob's yer uncle. The inside of the drawer box won't be square, but the outside will be, which is what the slides care about. Mind you, this is just one possibility, and there may a a bunch of reasons it won't work. But's it's worth considering.

[Pat Barry]

If you are using the Accuride undermount center slides then I would say leave the drawers as is and mount the back end of the slide shifted off center line by enough to compensate - so the font closes flush the way you want, and like some one else said below - Bob's your uncle!

[Lee Schierer]

You've probably already figured this out, but it is extremely important to check everything for square and flat while the glue is wet. I usually do a dry fit first to make sure parts fit and will clamp up square and flat then apply the glue and re-check for square and flat after clamping. In teaching people I continually stress the importance of getting everything cut square as the first step in any project. If the pieces are made square the assembly is easier to get together square. It sure beats the pain of trying to make things work later. When making drawers or picture frames it is essential that opposite sides are exactly the same length when assembled.

[Tim Sproul]

It is a rare day when you can get flush fitting drawers to be flush without a little fitting.

Close the drawer. Scribe a line in the drawer front edges to be flush with the frame. Remove drawer and taken down the drawer front to the scribe lines in your favorite manner.