I have to make nine drawers to complete three closets in my house. I built each closet organizer with an identical space so that I could make the drawers production style. I've decided to try making the drawers with a lock-miter shaper bit in order to 1) get a reasonably strong joint 2) have a mitered corner that won't show plywood end grain 3) speed things up.
Here's how I went about it:
First cut panels to the width of the drawer fronts and width of the sides.
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Next mark the drawer heights, accounting for saw kerf.
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Next I drilled 4" holes centered over the line between 2 drawer faces -- these will be half moon hand holes once the faces are ripped.
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Now run the drawer faces horizontally through the lock miter bit. This orientation will produce a lock miter with more mechanical strength in the drawer pulling direction.
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Now run the drawer sides vertically.
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