Woodworking question: drawers

[OeldeWolf]

I am finally putting a proper bottom under my reloading top. I am making a bench with drawers and a cabinet to put all my presses and tools and other reloading paraphernalia in. My question is on making the drawers. I am thinking a basic drawer case, to which a separate drawer face is bolted. But which joint would be best for the frame, and which way best to install the bottoms? There will be two beep drawers for presses, and several shallower drawers for the rest of the stuff. I will be using heavy duty bearing slides to mount the drawers.

Thank you for your opinions.

Richard

[reloader28]

When I build dressers I dovetail the sides. Nearly indestructible then.
I used to use box/finger joints and that gives lots of glue surface area to, but you could get by with just plain old gluing and screwing for a reloading bench.

The bottoms I always dado in, but again, this is not a dresser for sale its a reloading bench so you could glue and screw it on the bottom and save time.

[labradigger1]

I feel your most economical and very strong joint will be to buy a Kreg jig.

[Wayne Smith]

Depends on your skill level. Dovetail is best, if you can do them. You are talking a lot of weight and possible lateral shifts - knees, if you are as tall as I am. If not than box joint or finger joints - one can be done on the table saw and the other takes a router bit. You want to maximize the glue surface. If you have one a mini bisket jointer will work.

LOML over the years has asked me to make many things. I told her years ago that she should expect that every project will cost a tool. Last three didn't!

[Andy]

If "strong and simple" is what you're looking for than you can make a really tough drawer with the following methods:

Option 1, very heavy duty: Dado a horizontal groove for the bottom panel (1/2"-3/4 ply) into all the sides/front/back (1/2-3/4 ply also) at least 1/4' up from the bottom of them. Dado or rabbet a vertical groove for the front & back pieces into the sides. Glue all dados with woodworking glue, spread with brush evenly and assemble. Use clamps or air nail or staple through the joints to hold them very tight while the glue dries. Once it is dry put a countersunk screw through the top of each vertical joint for insurance since that is the weakest link. Not fine woodworking but it is easy and very very strong. Only tool required is a table saw with a dado blade (or just a rip blade and a lot of patience).

Option 2, fairly heavy duty without dadoes: Buy a kreg jig and substitute it for the dadoing. You will need a ledger underneath the bottom drawer so that it doesn't bust out on you in the future since you would be putting heavy weights in it. This should be 3/4" wide so it costs you about 1/2" of drawer space vs the first method. You can glue the joints also right before you kreg screw them but it will be a pain in the butt and messy to do so.

If you haven't done this before pay very close attention to making sure that whatever you are going to mount your drawer slides to under the bench creates a perfectly square box. If you don't do this you're going to have a nightmare getting the drawer slides to work right. If you're not confident in your ability to do that, build it before you cut for the drawers and measure it for square, then make your drawers undersize based on how far off square you are. This would at least allow you to shim out the cabinet/frame to adjust for it being out of square, without altering your drawers.


It is very normal to add the visible drawer face to the front of this case as you are planning. This has the added benefit of letting you build the drawer and have it functional before you put time/energy into making a nice looking face. Also, with side mount drawer slides this lets you hide the slides from the front and gives the whole thing a nice appearance.

I would recommend making "full depth" drawer sides/front/back for a utility project like this, so that stuff doesn't fall out of them easily.

[44man]

My gosh, I hate drawers. But do them right for weight. The guys are right. You can consider open shelves too. I hate doors too.

[Plate plinker]

Box and finger joint is easier for non prolevel woodworkers like myself. Pocket screw are okay too.

[sparky45]

Box/finger joint for the case. No investment in a "jig", just make it to use on a tablesaw (I assume you have a tablesaw). Also, dado for the bottom and use a good cabinet grade ply (¼") for the bottom.

[dverna]

The Kreg Jig is amazingly simple and fast. I use a dovetailing jig for making drawers for furniture even though they are overkill..but they look professional.

Don Verna

[Andy]

He wants to store unused presses in the drawers so these will be large and need to be heavy duty, I think 1/2" on the bottom and a ledger or dado holding it in is an absolute minimum.

[OS OK]

I recommend the dove tail jig for large drawers...but the cheap jigs are too frustrating for me, I had to get one much larger and adjustable to any width up to about 18" in depth, the dove tails are adjustable also in size and spacing. It makes the coolest dovetails I've ever done. They fit together like a glove.
That option is expensive...here's an option I used before I bought a dove tail jig...

You can use a router bit to create a great glue joint...strong too.

187381
When you glue and clamp them up to dry be sure to use a framing square to get one corner perfect, if all the material is cut accurately you won't have to worry about the other corners...they will all be 90*.

As mentioned earlier, use a thick bottom, for heavy items 1/2" wouldn't be overkill and cut a groove in the bottom edge of the drawer sides the thickness of the drawer bottom, measured up from the bottom of the drawer sides. There would be 1/2'' space under the drawer bottom measured to the bottom of the drawer side.
If you shortcut on building drawers it'll always come back and bite you...it's just a matter of time.

[OeldeWolf]

Thankyou, everyone. I was planning on 1/2 inch sides and bottoms on the larger drawers, was just not sure if I needed to do box joints or dovetails. Drawers are always a bit of a pain, and I have repaired more than I have made from scratch. I will dig out the dovetail/box joint jig I have, and make sure I understand its use. Even make sure I use it on some scrap first.

I do a good bit of woodwork, but a lot of it is cabinets and shelving units. I am trying to be sure I do this unit as nicely as possible, as it is likely going to be lasting me the rest of my life, lol. So I am trying for sturdy and furniture grade appearance.

Again, thank you all for your recommendations. They have made a difference in my plans.

[Andy]

Given what you just said I would go for dovetails now for sure. If you have the tools/ability and want it to be a special piece there's nothing that compares to dovetails. You'll notice them everytime you use it and be proud you spent the time to do it right.

If you really wanted to highlight the drawers you could do heavy duty undermount slides (blum has nice ones) and then you don't need a false front so you can show off the dovetails a bit in an old-school style if you want. On a low thing like under a bench no one will even see the slides in the undermount location.

[OeldeWolf]

Andy: The request from my other half was that with this iteration I take the time to make not only something serviceable, but something that could be mistaken for fine furniture. The steel top will be a giveaway to its true purpose, but I will use a fresh coat of marine paint on it. So false fronts are pretty much mandatory, as will be edging the plywood used with clear lumber. My love is a keeper, who says I have made do with what will work for far too long. I appreciate it, but it does mean a bit more effort at times. :)

[blackthorn]

Quote " So false fronts are pretty much mandatory, as will be edging the plywood used with clear lumber."

On several things I have made, I used veneer of the same species as the hardwood plywood on the edges. I put it on with contact cement and the tiny joints seem to blend right in and are not really noticeable. One of the things I did was a little kids size table and two chairs, so I know the work stands up well! LOL.

[Andy]

Glad to hear you're going to make it really special, I love doing projects like that and it will be a great thing to pass on through your family when it is time. Don't forget to sign it somewhere so your great-great-grandkids will know who made it and what year you did it in. If you want to get creative and can solder or braze maybe you can even make the drawer pulls out of large rifle shell cases.

[Blanket]

weld them together out of 3/16 steel, no worries

[JWT]

The drawer in the picture is 29.5" wide. The containers are all full of boolits.

Sides and back are 3/4" ash connected with through dovetails. The front is 7/8" purpleheart connected to the sides with sliding dovetails. The bottom is 1/2" plywood in glued in 1/4" dados (all 4 sides). The slides are Accuride 30317.

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Pictures: front, side, bottom front, top

[OeldeWolf]

That is a good bit of weight in those drawers! It is good to see that the half inch bottoms will hold the weight. I was thinking half inch ply for the sides as well, but I may just increase it to the "almost 3/4 inch" plywood they are selling in my locality. That purpleheart wood is quite striking!

Veneer is an option, though I have rarely used it. I have mostly tongue and grooved a piece of clear lumber onto the exposed edge. But veneering may be easier, I will definitely look into it.

I will definitely remember to sign and date it. I am figuring this will get passed down, I am hoping for a few generations of reloaders to follow me. My son is just getting started reloading. And my son-in-law, well, I introduced him to reloading several years ago. My daughter's whole family are now shooters, and the reloading may well pass along also.

I have seen drawer pulls made out of dummy rounds. I am going to research the process, as those would be very neat on this bench.

Making the drawers out of steel is beyond my price range, and possibility beyond the tooling I have. It would certainly work well, though! :)

All of you on this forum have helped me a time or two, and I have occasionally been privileged to help others. My lady has finally realized that this is not just a forum, but a community. She actually Encourages me to visit, now. :)

[garandsrus]

I wouldn't think that cutting dovetails in plywood will work very well. Too much splintering. I made some very large drawers (32"x32"x12") out of oak plywood. I used a dado for the bottom and sides. The rabbet goes in the front and the dado in the side. That way the joint is not stressed at all when opening the drawer. In the bottom I also added a piece of solid oak in the middle to strengthen it and then cut two panels to fit. The oak fits into the same dado as the bottom, but of course is thicker.

There is oak banding that you can buy that has a heat activated glue on the back. You iron it on. Works great to cover the edge.

[Boolit_Head]

I ran across these videos from Sommerfield Tools. Very nice tools and methods of making cabinets.


https://youtu.be/kYhD_b7WU3s

[OeldeWolf]

Very nice tools, and their techniques fit their tools beautifully. that pivoting fence makes a great deal of sense. I have been thinking of upgrading my router table by either making a mounting point on my portable table saw, or converting the table of the little bench saw which died on me. a pivoting fence would make this a lot easier to do. I decided that a working table saw was more important than a better router table, so I may need to make something that improves on what I have, rather than buy a better router table. But we will see how far my resources will cover.

Dovetails are definitely the way to go, and I will see what type of wood I can use on the drawer sides.

[Boolit_Head]

Yup there were a lot of well thought out processes there and the tools enabled them nicely. I really like the router bit set all at the same height so they would just drop in and index.

[OeldeWolf]

I will take a look at my jig set as soon as I can. I might be able to get a better one from home depot, as I think I have a rather inexpensive one. And looking at the old bench saw, I think it will only need a few holes in the top, after I strip the innards out of it. I wonder what I can get to make a fence out of?

[Ickisrulz]

I would use rabbets reinforced with dowels for the front & back/sides and a dado for the bottom. Fast and strong.