Long Dresser Design

[Larry Frank]

I am going to build a long dresser about 66 inches long. It will be 20 inches deep and about 36 inches tall with 10 drawers kind of like the picture.

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The question I have is about center support. With only legs at the ends, it would appear to have the tendency to sag in the middle causing drawers to bind. I looked at some in a store and some have a middle leg in the back that extends towards the front but is not visible from the front.

Does anyone have some experience with this? I would appreciate any help from someone who has built a similar dresser.

[Mike Henderson]

I've never built a dresser that wide, but I can see where it might have a tendency to sag. Why not put a leg in the middle about half way back. That would make it essentially invisible from the front.

I don't know if you plan to put dust shields between the drawers, but if you do, make them smooth on the bottom of the web frame, rather than on the top. The reason is that dust is not a problem any more, but if you make the web frame smooth on the bottom, when you pull an overloaded drawer out, the contents won't catch on the web frame and fall behind the drawer.

Mike

[Andy McCormick]

Just add 3 or 4 boards on edge 1/4 narrower than the face frame. No one will ever know.