Squaring a Drawer

[Shop Guy]

Hello all! I’m working on a project that requires my making a good number of drawers. The drawers vary in size from 16” to 24” wide X 18” to 24” in length and a depth range of 2-1/2” to 10”. I have the Milescraft corner bracket and clamping system and Woodpecker’s latest corner holding system. Both of these seem to require more hands than I have to keep everything aligned.
Do you know of any shop made jig that might allow the side and back to be assembled AND the other side and front to be assembled, then the 2 partial assemblies could be placed on a jig that has a flat surface with two 90 degree corners diagonally facing each other. The jig would have to allow the user to slide one of the 90 degree corners diagonally toward the other to square the 2 partial assemblies and then to fasten/glue them. I can visualize the jig, but I don’t know how to make it, and I suspect that others have already done so.
Any design thoughts and photos?
Since I am sure this won’t be my last project with drawers, I would like to see if there is a better assembly method.
Thanks for your thoughts and feedback.

 

[creasman]

It would help to know some details about your construction method for the drawers. Are you using dove tails, box joints, dados or some other method of joining the sides. Also, how are the bottoms being installed -- in a groove or nailed/glued to the sides?

I've made a lot of drawers, using a variety of techniques. For me it comes down to a few basic things.

• Use good material. Warped or twisted sides will cause no end of headaches.
• Make square cuts. Each pair of sides must be equal length. Same is true for the front and back. As a general rule, the only way to stay square is to start square.
• Do the assembly on a flat surface. Glue all four corners at the same time (and maybe the bottom as well). The bottom can be used to hold it square.
• Measure diagonally from opposite corners to verify the drawer is square. I find this much easier than fusing with a square. I've never used the corner systems you mention, so I can't comment on these.

Again, we can probably offer more advise once we know which method you're using for your joints, and how the bottoms are attached.
Making drawers can be tricky.

 

[Shop Guy]

Good morning Jim. Thanks for your response…. on a Saturday evening no less!
My current project is a simple dado corner design (glued & pin nailed), with a bottom attached to the drawer frame (glued & pin nailed). These drawers have 2-1/2” sides and will hold divided plastic storage boxes for all types of hardware.
I have been glueing the box frames then adding the bottom. They are usually square or very close to square and easily installed into the draw slides. I just feel as if it is taking more time and effort to square the drawer than necessary, especially if I had a more complicated corner design.
Your suggestion to dado a track inside the drawer and install a square bottom to force it to be square is noted.
Thanks
Frank

 

[bob vaughan]

Making drawers can be tricky.

That's it in a nut shell.
No two shops have the same resources and processes.

For me, ends of the fronts and backs are a little proud of the sides for later flush sanding so I have to compress the sides. This compression, even though I'm using 5/8" thick sides, still distorts the sides as shown in the awful illustration below. I just use a square inside to get an equal offset. This usually results in a square drawer when the clamps are removed.

 

[McRabbet]

I am in the process of making 10 drawers, all with 1/2" high quality birch plywood and 1/4" plywood bottoms. All of the sides are ripped to their planned height and cut to full planned depth. After an allowance of 1/2" each side for the drawer slides, I make the fronts and backs an additional 1/2" narrower than that (i.e., opening less 1-1/2" when using full extension slides). A single table saw setup with a 1/4" dado (or the Freud Box Cutter Set) blade with a 1/4" gap to the fence and set to 1/4" blade height is used for all of the joinery. Sides, false fronts and backs are all grooved along their full length for the bottom; the fronts and backs are rabbeted on each end facing out (opposite side from groove and held vertically against the fence for the cut); and the sides then get a dado cut across their ends on the same side as the groove. The bottoms are cut 1-1/2" less than the opening in width and 1/2" less than the drawer depth. This is the same method used by Stumpy Nubs in his YouTube video, but I've used it for years.

The five components of each drawer fit well and square, with the bottom in the groove keeping the entire drawer box square. A little glue in the dados in the sides and a few brad nails yield a solid, square drawer box. I add a finished drawer front during final assembly.

 

[creasman]

My current project is a simple dado corner design (glued & pin nailed), with a bottom attached to the drawer frame (glued & pin nailed).

That's a pretty common way. In that case I would do the basic things I mentioned previously. Since you are nailing these I probably wouldn't bother with clamps. The nails should hold everything until the glue sets. If you do clamp, use light pressure just over the joints (i.e., so as not to distort the sides).

Begin by gluing and nailing each corner. You have several minutes to work at this point if you're using standard yellow glue. Work on a flat surface when nailing so you stay aligned in the plane. After all four corners are nailed, measure the diagonals and adjust (by hand) to make them equal. When you have the drawer square, then glue and nail the bottom in place. Set that drawer aside to dry (on a flat surface) and move on to the next on.

I think you will find that you quickly get into a rhythm. The jigs you mention are not really necessary IMHO, and may even hamper the work.

 

[Shop Guy]

Sounds good. Will work at “getting the rhythm” as you suggest. Also looking forward to doing some more complicated drawer designs once I start making furniture for family and friends.
Thanks for your comments.
Frank

 

[Rwe2156]

First off, you assemble the whole drawer at once, not half and half like you're doing. That is a sure recipe for problems. You can use the bottoms and a measure corner to corner to square up the drawers during assembly.

If the bottoms are in a groove, you seat the front edge first, lay the drawer on its top, measure corner to corner, and secure the back edge of the drawer. This is assuming the bottom can be slid in after assembly (leave the back short)

If the bottoms are applied like you're doing, attach a side and the front flush with the edge of the drawer bottom. This will square the drawer. Some people leave the bottom proud and flush trim, in which case you either need corner clamps or a jig.

You can easily build a jig screwed to your assembly table. I've done it using long wedges to secure the drawer. An MFT top and PARF dogs is ideal for something like this.

 

[JimD]

I don't think this is different from what others are saying but you should just put the drawer together and check it for square. I like to measure the diagonals. If they are off, a clamp, or if the drawer is wide, two clamps (top and bottom) reduce the longer dimension to make it square. Usually this is not necessary but when it is, it increases the chance that the drawer will not be flat - will be twisted. If it is only one clamp for a shallow drawer you can still set it on a flat surface and, if necessary, weight it down to that surface (or clamp it down) as the glue dries.

My normal joint for furniture which I've also used on some of my shop drawers is a half blind dovetail. I use a very inexpensive HF jig with a Grizzly template guide (the HF one is cast and not accurate). I use the 7/16 template so the drawers have to be multiples of 7/8 tall. I often use Woodsmith plans and they often use these drawer heights. It takes awhile to get the jig set up the first time but if you make some little jigs for things like the bit depth you can re-set it quite quickly. I have mine on a wooden box with a drawer to hold the jigs so that it sits several inches above my workbench. That is a comfortable height for me. A big advantage of dovetails is you can just squirt a little glue in the joint, spread it with a fluxing brush and bang the drawer together. Check the diagonals and if they're good and the drawer is flat to a flat surface just wait for the glue to dry. If not, the tweaks are easy. I find assembly of dovetails to be easier than other methods of drawer construction. They are also strong and look nice, of course. I dovetail the backs on too. With the jig set up it is very fast to do.