Drawer Size / 1 or 2 pulls

[BKHam]

Making a dresser that will act as a baby changing table. Drawers will be somewhere close to the 31.5 inches wide. The wife wants one handed opening ability. Let's assume that my drawers will run decently smooth. Is 31 inches too wide for a single pull? Most chest of drawers that wide that I've seen had two knobs/pulls. I assume because of weight? Thoughts or advice?

 

[JohnnyR]

That's pretty wide for one pull. Understand her need as her hands will be full. How about 2 drawers or use slides?

 

[fulldec]

You could also consider a single wide handle or even one that runs the width of the drawer.

Don

 

[ehpoole]

I agree that 31" is awfully wide for a single pull. However, if she expects it to open one handed then you may have no choice but to use a single pull (narrow or somewhat wide)...or three pulls. What you do not want, especially if this will be a heavily loaded wide drawer, is someone trying to regularly open such a wide drawer from a single pull,on a double pull drawer, where one is pulling the drawer open in an extremely skewed and off balance manner because they are pulling only from the left or the right as the forces applied to the drawer, and slides, will be very skewed.

However, if it is only a lightly loaded drawer and you use heavy duty ball-bearing drawer slides then she can probably get away with pulling it that far off of center without consequenc, but not if it is heavily loaded or lighter duty or higher friction slides are used -- the more rolling resistance and the greater the skew the greater the stresses on the slides and drawer frame (hence heavy duty ball bearing slides to reduce racking). Visually the application tends to demand dual pulls even though a single pull is more conducive to the intended one-handed operation, so you will really have to use your own judgement in a case like this...and sometimes you can not win if aesthetics and function clash with each other yet both are deemed equally critical by the "customer".

 

[chris_goris]

There are many things to consider when deciding something like this. Will you be using some sort of guides or glides for your drawers?. How tall will they be? Are the drawers inset fronts or overlay?. Drawer box material can also affect performance here. Aesthetics also come into play with the particular style. Even a single pull mounted on center with some sort of guide system can cause racking and binding of a narrow drawer if not pulled straight out from center. A single knob will act differently than say a longer, wider pull that the user can twist the drawer front to prevent racking as it opens as well. Personally, I would build the piece complete first, and see how well the drawers function to determine how many pulls. You can hot glue or double stick tape mockup pulls to the front and then decide.

 

[Rwe2156]

One bar type handle about 12" long in the middle.

 

[BKHam]

thanks for all the info so far guys. she even suggested that the top drawer be split into two drawers potentially. that may be the best solution. split the top drawer using a single pull for each and then use two pulls for the lower drawers.

not planning on using drawer slides. i've had good results in the past fitting drawer parts with my plane and shooting board and that is what i plan to do again this time. the drawers will be about 8 inches tall. all the dimensions (should have given that earlier) - 17 inches deep, 8 inches tall, 31 inches wide. top drawers to contain, at least initially, diapers, wipes, small baby stuff.

 

[tarheelz]

Bradley,

While the pulls may be a factor, consider construction ideas that might reduce the chance of racking such a wide drawer.

While I haven't used this myself, it looks right up your alley: http://woodworker.com/lateral-stabilizer-kit--563569-series-mssu-164-894.asp

Edit: I saw you just posted "no drawer slides." Yikes! For a drawer that big? Impressive.

 

[BKHam]

yes there is some amount of yikes in this undertaking but if the shakers can do it, i can too.....right? uhm maybe? oh boy.

 

[Jeff]

Making a dresser that will act as a baby changing table.

What will it be used for after Act 1?

The wife wants one handed opening ability.

Thinking about the implications of this statement along with your drawer design question.

1. Why is this feature so important? One hand on baby Ham for safety and a free hand for supplies? The safety factor can be improved with a good design for the top area. Browse around and look at some options; check out the "visually similar products" at the lower right of the page.

http://www.houzz.com/photos/3222865...le-Dark-Barn-Wood-traditional-changing-tables

...and a few design considerations from Consumer Reports.

baby changing tables/dressers, consumer reports

 

[Jeff]

Sorry I meant to include this one too.

http://www.houzz.com/photos/1446628...ble-in-Antique-Wa-traditional-changing-tables

 

[BKHam]

act 2 will be a normal dresser.

why is 1 handed so important.....she has it in her mind. if i can meet that request and still end up with a dresser that is functional after baby no longer needs changing on it, i'm picking different battles.

I'll probably create a molding / bracket that will slide down over the top of the dresser to keep the mattress in place.

in talking thru all this it has helped. i think that i'll divide the top drawers so they are smaller and can be one handed. then the lower drawers will get two pulls.

 

[farmerbw]

Not sure if this is your first baby or not, but I'll throw out our experiences. We re-purposed a dresser from a bedroom set we already had and planned to keep since it had been my wife's bedroom furniture from back when it was still made with "real" wood. We started out with a changing pad in the center of the top that secured to the back of the dresser with straps and it had a belt on top to hold the baby. Diapers, powder, wipes,.....etc were in top drawers. It very quickly was evident when changings became more frequent that it was cumbersome to use that method. Opening a drawer(s) and reaching/looking down for items while holding and trying to watch a sometimes moving baby was a major pain, especially if you were half asleep. We quickly decided there had to be a better way. The dresser was wide enough that we could move the pad off center which gave us room to fit a wooden tray at the head end of the dresser. The tray had 3 or 4 removable boxes with lids and removing 2 provided enough room to place the wipe container, one without the lid held the powder container while the other lidded one held cream tubes, q-tips....etc. The diapers were placed in a hamper that my mom sewed for us which had cardboard, later 1/4" ply, inserted into the bottom and an opening in the top that a cloths hanger fit into. We hung this from a series of shaker style peg boards that ran the length of the wall. It was much easier to reach things on the same level or slightly above the dresser than always having to reach and look down. Just some things to think about as you continue your planning.

HTH,
B.

 

[BKHam]

forwarded your response to the wife, let's see what she says.

 

[farmerbw]

Uh oh, now I'm in trouble!! :rotflm:

Our kids are all pretty long out of diapers, but I probably still have the diaper hampers around if you'd like a picture. I'm not sure if my mom bought a pattern for them or made the pattern herself, but they certainly worked well for us.

B.

 

[Raymond]

forwarded your response to the wife, let's see what she says.

Bradley, you only have to remember two things, "Happy wife, happy home!" and "If moma ain't happy, nobody is happy."

 

[bluedawg76]

1/2 drawer for sure. I agree with Ethan that unless you want some heavy duty precision guides, the drawers will be too heavy -especially when packed with diapers for a single pull. That said, I've built a number of drawers w/o guides which is my preference but 2 pulls or a long bar for sure. Also consider the bearing surface for the drawer i.e the thickness of the drawer sides. From the weight these can cut into the web frame bearing surface over the years. Drawer slips are an easy way to add a little to more wood to that bearing surface.

 

[BKHam]

well, wife has spoken. make the dresser in a traditional way. no split top drawer and i talked her into two pulls or a wide pull, style yet to be determined. however, with your feedback and sister in law's feedback, i've decided to create a wider platform that will sit on the dresser which will cradle the changing pad and allow space for all the junk i'll need to change a diaper. that stuff will no longer be in the dresser so the one handed approach is not needed.

dust frames sit in grooves in the case sides. side rails are mortised and tenoned into front and back rails. will glue the fronts and let the back float. top dovetailed into sides. looks like "we" have decided on salmon milk paint. pic below.

 

[farmerbw]

Glad you were able to settle on a design to suit everyone so quickly and it looks like you're off to a blazing start on getting it built!! :icon_thum

B