Planing drawers

[Prashun Patel]

I have an embarrassing problem. I am making a table with 5 side-by-side drawers separated by dividers. Unfortunately, two of the openings are not square (I measured the divider height improperly, which has resulted in a 1/8" taper in the leftmost and rightmost openings.)

I have been able to plane the tops and bottoms accordingly to get the drawer to fit, but the drawer front is now slightly skewed relative to the opening. What is the best way to joint the top and bottom of the front drawer face to fit?

I don't want to risk blow out on the dovetailed sides by planing across the tops. Should I roundover those edges first?

Should i use a shooting board?

[David Weaver]

You can use a shoot board or just clamp something to the back side of the cut to take the blowout (that would be my choice). It doesn't have to be anything large or good, just a small piece of offcut that can support the back of the cut

I'm not sure if I'm understanding exactly what the issue is (I think I do), but if you need to trim something to fit, hopefully you can mark what you're doing, or you can do it little by little and fit the drawer as you're making progress.

[Sean Hughto]

It's hard for me to picture what exactly you are referring to. The drawers openings get narrower from from front to back? So you are trying to take a 1/6th off each side at the back and achieve a straight line taper to the full width at the front?

Or is it that the drawer opening is itself not square such that you need to fuss with the drawer front to get an even reveal? If that is the problem, I don't really understand your concern with blow out as the usual precautions will suffice.

[Prashun Patel]

Sorry, Sean; I should have taken a picture before I left home this morning.

The distance between the upper and lower front rails is 2.75" at the front leg.

I cut the dividers between the drawers, however, at 2.75+". This means that the leg-abutting openings are slightly out of square.

I have planed the sides' bearing surfaces, so everything slides fine. However, because the leg-abutting runner is now a shade higher than the runner at the first divider, the square drawer front is now skewed in its opening.

I therefore need to essentially scribe and cope the drawer front to its opening... Clear as mud?

[Sean Hughto]

Does the drawer front overlap the opening or flush fit with a reveal? Assuming the latter, I think scribing is going to be difficult. I would sneak up on it by planing away the most gross overlaps and working my way until it fit, with only the last light passes to "joint" things straight.

[Pat Barry]

Sorry, Sean; I should have taken a picture before I left home this morning.

The distance between the upper and lower front rails is 2.75" at the front leg.

I cut the dividers between the drawers, however, at 2.75+". This means that the leg-abutting openings are slightly out of square.

I have planed the sides' bearing surfaces, so everything slides fine. However, because the leg-abutting runner is now a shade higher than the runner at the first divider, the square drawer front is now skewed in its opening.

I therefore need to essentially scribe and cope the drawer front to its opening... Clear as mud?

So inset drawer fronts by the sound of it. Now you have the drawer sides sliding. The tops of the drawer fronts should be OK then? If so, you just need to plane a slope on the bottom front of two of the drawers to remove the material that is causing trouble, so I think Sean is right on with his approach of sneaking up on the finished dimension.

[Prashun Patel]

Here are some pix of the desk so far.

I think the gaps can be made even by a combination of shaving and shimming. I'll use a plane. What is your preferred method to shim?
Also, how do you remove the wiggle; despite a fairly tight fit, all the drawers wiggle a little. I imagine the opening can somehow be tapered to allow a snugger fit, but how? Is it even advisable or is wiggle to be expected and accepted?

[Prashun Patel]

I am able to rabbet off even slivers quickly and consistently at my (gasp) router table to make the gaps a little larger.

However, for tapered tweaks, the shoulder plane was a revelation. In fact, I can shave the tops of the drawers without removing them, by just pulling themout a smidge and registering against the upper rail. My results are not perfect (yet!).

It's a pain on the ends because I have to come in from both sides to avoid tearout.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for the help, Guys. I finished. Not perfect, but I learned a ton, and will be better next time! Measure twice, cut once may lead to better results at first, but I find a lot of the fun is in the fixing.

Thanks for looking:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?222177-Cherry-Writing-Desk-Completed&highlight=

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Prashun

I like that piece very much. The lines work, the joinery is right, I love the bookmatching of the top, and the drawers (which you fretted over) look like they should. I'd be happy to have it in my home.

Did you mention what wood you used on the top?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks, Derek. That means a lot. It's cherry. I love how cherry finishes.

[Jim Koepke]

It looks nice Prashun.

From the pictures it seems your error may be one of the kind only the builder notices.

jtk

[Gary Muto]

It looks really nice. Good Save on the drawer fit.