Lock Mitered Drawer Tutorial

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

I’m more a cabinetmaker than a furniture maker. For me the only way to make a drawer is the lock miter. It’s strong and attractive and after you finish the one router table setup, it’s quite fast to make. Over the years, every time I got a kick out of seeing Norm make drawers with dovetails for cabinets. Not only that, but he used a tongue and dado for the rear joint….even more setup time. And when you go to a kitchen cabinet store, all of the high end drawers are dovetailed. I think that’s because people only associate quality drawers with dovetails. Now you traditionalists will tell me that dovetails are the best joint for drawers and I agree to some extent. For period pieces, dovetails fits the bill. But for any place a mechanical slide is used, kitchens, vanities, shop cabinets, try the lock miter bit.
Because of its shape, the lock miter has lots of glue surface and plenty of resistance to forward and backward motion. You might say there’s no resistance towards downwards shearing like with a dovetail. But I argue with a ½” (or even ¼”) drawer bottom locked into a dado in the sides, there’s plenty of resistance to downwards shearing.
I don’t want to argue the merits of either methods on this thread. Seeing Norm make drawers the way he did all those years made me think he’d never heard of the lock miter bit so maybe a lot more haven’t either. So I thought a step-by-step tutorial is in order. And maybe next time it comes time to making a drawer (or 10 or 20), give the lock miter a try.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

The Setup: 2 things involved: bit height and fence depth. The first step after you have your bit chucked and position roughly approximated, mill 2 pieces of scrap the exact thickness of the stock you’ll be using, in this case, ¾”. Mill these flat on the table as shown using a miter gauge to push them through.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Setup Cont.: Take the two pieces you’ve just milled, invert one of them and slide them together as shown. Raise or lower the bit until the test pieces are flush with one another. This may take several test cuts. If adjustment is needed, I cut off the profiles in my miter saw, raise or lower the router bit and start again. Once the height is correct, I take a fresh piece of scrap and mill it laying flat and save it as a template for future setups.
The fence depth is a little easier. Fence position is correct when the work piece is at the point where it doesn’t reduce the length of the stock.

[Tony Shea]

I agree in that the lock miter joint is great joint for quick, easy and solid drawers. I will say this, dovetails do produce a stronger joint but is not necessary in most applications. Mostly it's use should be focused on peices with large heavy drawers such as dressers and such. But I agree with you in that the lock miter joint is often over looked for its' durabiliy. I'll be looking forward to your tutorial.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

After setup is complete, it’s time to get started. Stock preparation is key to achieve tight miters and perfect squareness. I rip the sides an extra 3/8”- ½” wider than I need and I’ll explain why later. Use a stop block system of sorts to cut the sides to length. I use a sliding table on my table saw. This is what I like about the lock miter: if you need a drawer 18 1/4” x 24”, you cut your stock to exact lengths of 18 ¼” x 24”. There’s no math required for rabbet offsets

It doesn’t matter which you start on first, the fronts/backs or sides. But one thing is key, always mill the fronts/backs lying down on the table and the sides are milled vertically against the fence. The reason is the shape of the profile milled vertically is better suited to resisting the forwards and backwards forces of the drawer opening and closing. Here I’m milling the fronts/backs first. Notice I’m using one of the scrap test pieces as a backer to reduce tearout. All pieces are milled in one pass. If using a real hardwood, do it in 2 passes. For plywood and softwoods like poplar, 1 pass.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Next run all of your sides vertically through the bit. I made this simple jig out of 2 pieces of scrap and a toggle clamp to hold the work pieces solidly against the jig.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Once you are done its time to route or saw the dados. I use a stacked dado cutter on my table saw. If there are any dividers in the drawers, now is the time to crosscut the dados for them as well.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

To calculate the size of the plywood bottoms, I dry fit a drawer and measure the insides then do my guzzintas to account for the dado. I like to cut the plywood an 1/8” shorter than the inside depth + twice the dado depth. This gives me 1/16” clearance all the way around.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Before assembly, its a good time to finish sand the insides of the drawer and both sides of bottoms. Now for some assembly: I simply apply a thin layer of glue to opposing mating surfaces and put it all together. I also add a dab of glue in the middle of each dado to help keep the drawer from racking.
I use band clamps for clamping. One clamp is enough for a drawer this short. I use 2 clamps for any drawers taller. And when I do, I use those metal corner thingies included with the clamps. Some wax paper between the wood and the clamps simplifies cleanup.
When you have opposing sides cut exactly the same length and your miters are cut at exactly 45 degrees, it doesn’t take a whole lot of clamping pressure while the glue sets up.
Here’s why I rip the stock a little bit wider than I need: tear out. You sometimes can’t avoid it. I clean up the glue with a chisel and rip them on the table saw, top and bottom, to final height.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

The final product is a very clean looking and strong drawer. I've made drawers like this by the hundreds over the years and I've never had one fail. I hope you give it a try.

[Mark Bolton]

Great post Jim. One trick I read on another lock miter setup page was using the card trick to gauge your misalignment on the initial setup. That is to say, mill the two pieces flat, then slide the joint together, stack playing cards on the lower piece til' you find flush, then take 1/2 those cards, and use that height to adjust your cutter down. It seemed nifty.

I am awaiting shipment of a Freud 1 1/4" bore lock miter shaper cutter as we speak. Your tutorial will be much appreciated.

With regards to cabinet drawers is does seem the market has come to expect them in quality cabinets and that may be tough to over come.

Thanks again,
Mark

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Tony, The lock miter is plenty strong enough for dressers. I've made a few tall kitchen drawers for pots and pans. I'm talkin 18"+. They don't get much heavier than that. Over 15 years and still going strong.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

That is a good tip with the playing cards, one that I haven't thought of. Though if you have a router lift, it's real easy to make fine adjustments.

[glenn bradley]

Tony, The lock miter is plenty strong enough for dressers. I've made a few tall kitchen drawers for pots and pans. I'm talkin 18"+. They don't get much heavier than that. Over 15 years and still going strong.

+1. I use drawer lock joints on shop drawers with plenty of weight in them. Opened and closed every day for years; no failures. I'm sure the lock miter is as good if not better.

[Jim Eller]

Jim,

Thanks for the info and your time.

Jim

[Robert Boyd]

To go with what you wrote in your first post I believe Stickley use a very similar lock joint for his chairs.

Thanks for the great information.

Robert

[Glen J. Peterson]

Thanks Jim
I found this very useful. I just wish I had read it last night as I spent a while this morning struggling to set the height of the lock miter bit.

[John Thompson]

Some nice tips on lock miters Jim as I just ordered a bit yesterday. In my case to do quad-linear legs for A & C furniture. I've been doing them the old fashioned way for too long.. a machine boast would speed them up as I seem to being more and more often.

Again.. some nice tips on adjusting.

[Cody Colston]

Good write-up and pictoral.

I've never used lock-miters but they look plenty strong. I think they would be great for utility-type drawers or even kitchen cabinet drawers.

For furniture pieces, I still prefer the attractiveness of dovetails, especially hand cut dovetails. They just seem to shout fine craftsmanship.

[Abi Parris]

Thank you for a clear & concise tutorial. The pics were a nice plus for this visual leaner.

[Steve Rowe]

I really like your post and tutoral. Do you know what the minimum stock thickness is for this configuration. For drawer slides, I pretty much use the undermount slides which require a maximum thickness of 5/8".

I wonder how this compares to the drawer lock bits?
Steve

[Ed Peters]

I wonder how this compares to the drawer lock bits?
Steve

I use the Drawer Lock bit which some people confuse with the Miter Lock bit. They both perform great but I prefer the appearance of the Drawer Lock, and I find it easier to setup. Even though all I do now is adjust the fence position. This is one of the tools that stays mounted in it's own router because I use it so often.

Ed

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

I really like your post and tutoral. Do you know what the minimum stock thickness is for this configuration. For drawer slides, I pretty much use the undermount slides which require a maximum thickness of 5/8".
Steve

Steve, There are 2 sizes available. I have both but prefer to use the larger for 3/4" stock. More glue surface. I like Whiteside bits and found this website to have great prices, great customer service and free shipping over $29. There's a handy chart for stock thicknesses.
http://www.woodworkersworld.net/45_degree_lock_miter_router_bit.shtml

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

I use the Drawer Lock bit which some people confuse with the Miter Lock bit. They both perform great but I prefer the appearance of the Drawer Lock, and I find it easier to setup. Even though all I do now is adjust the fence position. This is one of the tools that stays mounted in it's own router because I use it so often.

Ed

Ed, I actually made the same mistake where I set out to buy a drawer lock bit but inadvertently bought the lock miter bit. I read about it in Jim Tolpin's book on Building kitchen cabinets in the mid 90's before I built my first kitchen.
Anyways, I like the lock miter bit better for the reason that I mentioned: that you don't have to do any math to determine your stock length, other than subtracting an inch for the drawer slides.
When I make mistakes in the shop, it's usually where math is involved so anytime I can minimize doing my guzzintas, the better off I am. :o

[Tony Shea]

Great Tutorial Jim. I guess I was a little too quick on the draw when I asked where it was...sorry bout that. Very clean looking joint. I will ask though, what do you think produces a stronger joint a lock drawer or a locked miter? I do find myself using the basic locked drawer joint more than the locked miter due to ease of adjustment.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Great Tutorial Jim. I guess I was a little too quick on the draw when I asked where it was...sorry bout that. Very clean looking joint. I will ask though, what do you think produces a stronger joint a lock drawer or a locked miter? I do find myself using the basic locked drawer joint more than the locked miter due to ease of adjustment.

No problem, Tony. I've never used the locked drawer bit so I can't speak from experience. The lock miter joint is extremely strong. You just need to hold one of my drawers with one hand to see how monolithic it is. I've never had a single drawer fail and in the early days, I was using polyurethene glue (eww!). I've since switched to Titebond III, but even those early drawers are still going strong. Just as seamless as the day I made them.

[Don Bullock]

Jim, thanks for the tutorial. It's very helpful and well done. I'll have to give your technique a try.

[Enrique Bava]

Jim: thank you very much for your tutorial on lock-miters. I have a 54 in. long table top to miter for a mitered, across-the-grain (the apron is made of a slice of the main panel cut off) the width is also important (44 in.) Can I attempt to lock-miter the miter cut instead in a regular size (smallish) router table? or should instead cross cut the miter in the table saw and then use splines or buiscuits?
thank you in advance. I am posting this question to the website at large too. (the wood is Jatoba, btw)

[Peter Quinn]

Never occurred to me to use the lock miter for drawers, good tutorial, I've only used them for things like columns, newels and such, long grain boxes. I do agree with your comments regarding the need for dovetails, i.e. there isn't one in plywood cabinetry. I like dovetails, I make them by hand for furniture (always with integral fronts), perhaps in an era where hot hyde glue with all its seasonal vagaries was the only option and before mechanical drawer slides the dovetails were the only sensible option. I've made tongue and rabbit joints, box joints on big drawers, and have a drawer lock cutter for the shaper that makes a pretty strong glue joint in short order with a little mechanical resistance to pull out. For the small shop the lock miter drawer seems like another sensible option. The shop I'm at now has a automated dovetail machine, in the time it would take to set up a shaper or router with lock miter I'd have all the dovetail drawer boxes milled. Granted there is a little math involved, but most of cabinet making involves a little math anyway. Plus this, minus that. The last shop out sourced all the drawers to a specialty drawer box manufacturer, give them the openings, they give you the drawers at a cost that was less than or equal to lumber plus labor rate to mill the parts. For the cost of lumber and milling we got beautiful finished dovetailed drawer boxes with all the slide accommodations cut into them. Hard to sell a customer on a cheaper option that costs more! I make simple baltic birch boxes with some type of shaped joints for value engineered drawers out of the home shop on side jobs, can you use the lock miters on 1/2" plywood?

[Michael Stockdale]

Jim... Thanks! Very nicely done! One question... Have you ever attempted to use this type of joint with high-grade plywood? Just curious if you think it would work with either 1/2 or 3/4 Finnish Birch ply...


Michael Stockdale
Lugoff, SC

[Robert Parent]

Jim, Thanks for the great post..... I bought a couple of these bits several years ago and forgot all about them until reading your post. Time to dig them out and give this a try.

Robert

[Michael Kellough]

You can use plywood but even high grade plywood can vary in thickness.

Therefore, try to use parts that are the same thickness.
If you crosscut the stock and re-assemble those parts perpendicular to each other you should be good.

If the stock varies in thickness more than .01" you have to adjust the bit height to the thickness
of the part that will be run horizontally. The bottom of the joint rides the table but you see the outside
and the veneer is too thin to "adjust" by sanding.

Run the thicker piece first (horizontal) then make the very slight adjustment needed to the fence to run the thinner vertical. If you skip the final fence adjustment that piece will be very slightly shorter and maybe curved because it won't quite reach the table surface as it gets overcut passing by the cutter.

[Alan Schaffter]

This thread is over four years old thread!

Since that time the patent pending and award winning Infinity Lock Miter Master (http://www.infinitytools.com/2-Pc-Lock-Miter-Master-Jig-Set/productinfo/00-LMM/) setup jig was invented. It makes incredibly easy work of setting up a lock miter bit- bit height and fence position. The Lock Miter Master also allows you to easily set up for making lock miters in stock of different thicknesses and offset lock miters where the miter line is relocated from the point of the corner to the side of the drawer (see pic) which, among other things, makes for neater corners.

http://www.infinitytools.com/images/00-LMM_Add_1.jpg

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2580/medium/Offset_LM.jpg

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2580/medium/IMG_4470.JPG

[Michael Kellough]

Thanks for that Alan. I especially like the way the jig eases offsetting the joint.

[phil freels]

sorry to dig up such an old post, but I'm trying to see the attachments and it keeps saying I dont have the rights. any idea why?

[Jim Becker]

sorry to dig up such an old post, but I'm trying to see the attachments and it keeps saying I dont have the rights. any idea why?
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