Fitting Drawers

[AHill]

Same as the others. Carcase first, then fit the drawers. I remember at one woodworking show, a hand tool worker saying it often took him longer to fit the drawers than to build the carcase. One thing to consider is the moisture conditions for fitting vs. where the piece will live after it's done. If you're fitting in a humid workshop then take it inside where it's drier, the drawers will get a little looser. Vice, versa, and you're subject to a drawer that gets stuck due to expansion. When I moved from the Southern California desert to St. Louis, I had one cabinet where the drawers expanded so much, I had to remove the back and knock them out with a mallet.

[Paul K. Murphy]

I’m in agreement with the other members. The case (table) would be best if assembled and glued first. Fit the drawer fronts and use them to size the remaining pieces of the drawer boxes. If you run the grain downhill, from front to back along the sides, the construction will take readily to a few strokes of a plane if needed. This will be even easier if you have the back of the drawer box elevated to the top of the groove for the bottoms. You can slip the bottom in after the drawer has been fine tuned to the opening. Why do that? You can do that so that holding the drawer while planing it (or belt sanding it) is just a matter of laying it on a board overlapping your bench. (Drawers have a work holding device built in intrinsically if you let ‘em.)

[Don_M]

For me the “sequencing” (i.e., carcass or drawer first) is not so much the issue and as most have said, one would typically want to start with a fully completed drawer pocket (or carcass as you have stated ) and then fit the drawer box to this opening. However, as for the drawer itself, here is/are my $.02 re: drawer fitting:

First, as far as the drawer pocket; it goes without saying, it is critical to ensure the components are as square and true as possible. Runners and kickers need to be parallel to each other and square to the front dividers. If using doublers to guide the drawer sides (instead of the side rails of the cabinet) – they too must be parallel and square to the front drawer dividers. One trick I have used during glue-up is to insert a square piece of plywood (the same size as the drawer bottom) as a template during glue-up to position the runners/doublers and front dividers to ensure they are parallel and square.

As for the drawer itself – I am a bit of a stickler when it comes to the fit of the drawer. My basic criteria is that total side-to-side gap for drawer box be no greater than 3/64” and the top to bottom gap is around 1/16” for drawers less than 6’ – greater for taller drawers. And all drawers must pass the “picky push test” (right-hand picky pushing the lower left had corner of the drawer and closing with very little effort).
Of course, these tolerances are effected by humidity, material choices, moisture content, etc.. I live in CA – so pretty low humidity here and I also typically use quartersawn wood for drawer sides which is more stable across the grain.

Assuming  you are going with HBDT’s for the drawer side to drawer front connection – or some other connection where the drawer front is the front of the box (i.e., the drawer front is not separate and subsequently attached to the box) I first start by fitting the drawer front into the drawer opening. The fit I initially look for is what I would call a snug fit (no side-to-side or top-to-bottom movement or gap). I use traditional construction methods for the drawer box; HBDT’s for the front connection and blind-dado rabbets for the rear of the box. Also, I almost always use a raised panel for the drawer bottoms (no plywood).

After the box is constructed, I make an initial check of  the fit. Odds are even if you did everything perfectly, the drawer box will probably not slide in on the first attempt (if it does it will be a VERY snug fit). This is when I start slowly hand planning the sides until the drawer just barely slips into the drawer pocket. Once I get it in all the way I start to adjust (i.e., plane) the sides, top and bottom to insure the “gaps” are parallel to the carcass frame – BUT, working slowly so as not to remove too much material and exceed my tolerance objectives (believe me – it’s  easy to do!).

Bees wax on the runners and kickers makes thing operate smoothly. Good luck

[Edwin Hackleman]

+1
Gary

+2
Edwin