Saturday, May 17, 2008

Tall Chest of Drawers - Drawers

To center the drawers from side to side in their spaces, I improvise a small guide and locate it in the middle of the stretcher. I make a tongue that will fit into the guide.

Drawer Guide, 2 1/2″ deep by 2 3/4″ wide (6.4cm x 7cm), oak

Tongue Glued to bottom of Drawer

Loaction of Guides

Slots in the drawer guides are made the same way as for the drawer rails. This time they allow for adjustment side to side, so that the drawer is centered in its space.
Posted by Chuck at 05:33:21 | Permalink | No Comments »

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Tall Chest of Drawers - Drawers


Drawer Parts

Here are all the parts of the drawer before assembly. The red oak rails will attach to the front and back stiles.


Drawer Joints

Four brass, flat head screws will hold the red oak drawer slides to the drawer sides. Screws will hold the rail to the stiles. (See the photo below.)  The slide is inset in a groove so that the load in the drawer bears on the slide and not on the screws holding it in place.  In the event of wear on the slides and rails, they can be replaced easily. I could have used manufactured self closing drawer slides instead of the wood ones, but my client, my wife, wanted wood ones. There will be a self centering bracket on the drawer bottom to assure that the drawer is centered between the stiles in the closed position. I’ll show that detail later. Please be aware that there are several variations on drawer construction.  Any design must have a way to keep the drawer centered and level.  Cheap commercial construction short-cuts this feature.  If you want to see a good example in the flesh, visit a Stickley showroom.

Rail Detail Showing Adjustment Hole

The rails on which the drawers slide must be adjustable up and down.  This insures that the drawer front and drawer are centered in their space between the stretchers. and the narrow space between drawer fronts is uniform. (Remember, each drawer front in my design closes against the stretcher, which I have carefully placed.)  I do this by drilling a 1/2″ (1.3 cm) diameter hole with a brad point drill, deep enough so that the adjusting screw head will not interfer with the drawer slide. Then I drill three 3/16″ (.46 cm) holes side by side. With a file or Dremel tool, I smooth the three holes into a slot, which will allow for adjustment up and down.
Posted by Chuck at 05:25:18 | Permalink | Comments (1) »