Opinions about Drawers.

[dbvilla]

Boxers or Briefs????

Just kidding. I have still yet to make anything with drawers in it... I am very curious about how much of a pain they are to install.

Dawn

 

[clowman]

I think you may get the big "It depends" answer here. If you just slide the drawers in, no runners, it can be very easy. Most are not that hard to do, as long as you have a square drawer, and square hole that matches, it's not that bad. The first one is always the hardest though. The problem mostly comes in when your drawer is not exactally square, or you have to start modifying the drawers to fit the holes.

 

[dbvilla]

What about runners????

 

[DaveO]

I've done piston fit drawers, without runners, and they are the hardest IMO, they have to fit tight to look good but not to tight so they don't open smoothly. Wooden runners are the next in difficulty because you have to build them into the case. Then there are metal drawer slides, as long as you account for the space they will take up in the drawer opening (you can always allow a little more, but never not enough:BangHead: :BangHead: ), they are pretty easy to use, and adjust.
I think that the type of drawer you used will depend on what you're making and the drawer's function.

Briefs BTW.....:lol:

Dave

 

[dbvilla]

Oh for heaven's sakes... I have searched the web and can not find a description of a piston fitted drawer....Please give me a brief explaination :cry: But on the upside briefs are sexy.

 

[McRabbet]

1st, briefs, too. 2nd, by "piston fitted", Dave is describing a drawer that fits into its opening like a piston in a cylinder, i.e., a tight fit. They are exacting to make because the opening (to its full depth) and drawer must be nearly the same size, like the cylinder walls in an engine to accept it's piston. The opening can use runners at the corners to keep the drawer aligned. For drawers with slides -- like kitchen drawers -- the drawer box width is usually 1-1/8" (+/-) less than the opening to allow 1/2" for the drawer slides. Opening is covered by a drawer front.

 

[cpowell]

I second Dave's order, although I've never done pistons.

The first dresser I made was Shaker style with traditional wooden slides. I made the drawer slightly narrower (3/32 inch or so) than the width between the slides. I should have made them a tighter fit. Any play gets accentuated as the drawer is moved in/out. Ended up adding a wooden center slide to fix it. One of the joys of wooden slides is I get to remove every drawer periodically to wax the slide and drawer mating surfaces.

Metal ball bearing slides (Accuride, etc) are so much easier to fit...and centering the fronts are a piece of cake. And they work soooo smoothly.

Chuck

 

[Travis Porter]

I have done a little bit of everything. Without runners and no slides to me is a pain. getting your guides a little high so that you have the right amount of reveal is trying and then it wiggles.

Metal slides to me are the easiest, but they show unless you buy the totally concealed and they are expensive. I recently built a cabinet with bottom mount metal slides and they worked pretty well. It had plastic square glides that went at the front on each side and I was pretty pleased with them.

For most furniture I make, I have started doing a center guide and a plastic thingy that has a T type opening to keep the drawer in line and use little plastic corner glides to help it run smooth. The plastic center guide thingy that attaches to the drawer is mediocre. They break after a few years so I am starting to make my own dovetail slides. Regardless, I recommend the nylon/plastic pieces that help the drawer slide smoothly.

 

[Joe Scharle]

If you're building a high use drawer i.e. kitchen drawer, you can't beat the metal slides. However, here's an example of wooden drawer runners on an occasional use drawer. One dado is in the drawer side and another in the case side. The runner itself can be any hardwood or composite. Here I used a square piece of oak runner on each side. These by the way, are floating so if the drawer is heavy, the runner will follow the drawer partially (3") out. The distance between the case dado's in this box were simply measured by 2X the first, then 2X that etc. and the fronts cut to fit. Another way, is over and under ledgers that capture the top edge of one drawer and support the bottom of the one above, as in a dust shield. I like this option, because when you close the drawer you can hear the runners 'click' like the doors on a Rolls Royce, when they seat home. Either way is simple because you don't have to make any allowances in the drawer width for the metal slide option. I've built a couple of boxes using sliding DTs as the runners, but they require more precision and mine tend to stick according to the recipients.
Joe

 

[Dutchman]

I think the first key as mentioned above, is to start with a square drawer. Any drawer guide you use will give you problems if the drawer is not square. You stand a better chance of having your drawer sit flush with the front of the case if it is square.
Next, you need to decide what type of guides you want. Most of todays wood furniture uses a undermount center guide - usually wood. Some of your less expensive furniture uses metal side guides. With these, you can attach them to the end panel and you don't need front and back rails like you do for undermount guides. Examine a couple pieces of furniture to get a good idea of how the different guides work. Pull out the drawers and take a look at the construction, guides, runners, glue blocks,...

 

[lwhughes149]

I found that the best way to learn about drawers is to find a pattern you like and follow the instructions in that pattern. You will learn from your mistakes then. I made a ten drawer chest as some of you remember. When it came time to glue up all ten drawers I thought they fit so good I glued them and didn't put clamps on all of them. Didn't have enough clamps and I was in a hurry. Christmas present you know. Yes that was stupid and I paid hell when it came time to get the drawers to fit. Lots of side sanding and sweat. Never again. It was a lesson to be learned. With the nightstand I am working on now you can believe I am paying attention to every detail. But I did learn a lot with that chest.
By the way guys, it took me six weeks to admit that stupid deed here on this site. :eusa_doh:

 

[Travis Porter]

About as stupid as some of mine. Buiding 14 drawers to find out they are all 1 inch undersized (very recent) or building a chest on chest to find all the upper drawers 1/2 inch underside. I did some creative rigging to make those work out. I called it designers touch, but it amounted to gluing molding into the openings to make them smaller so the drawers would work. 8 Cherry drawers with full dovetails is not an insubstantial investment in time and money.