Why Do My Drawers Stick Out On One Side?

[Derek Arita]

Why is it that almost every time I mount my drawers in a cabinet with slides, the left side of the drawer sticks out? I really thought I had squared up the cabinet and the drawers this time, but again, I had to shim the front or back of the slide to make the drawers sit flush in the cabinet. Am I missing something or am I just a lousy cabinet maker? Thanks for the help...be gentle...

[Matt Ranum]

I have this same problem myself. :rolleyes: Curious for the same answer.

[Derek Arita]

Yeah...adjusting the slides front and back, doesn't seem to help. Only thing that has worked for me is to shim out the rear of the left side and the front of the right side. Doing that makes the drawer front sit flush...but why? What did I do wrong in the first place? Good to know I'm not the only one.

[Matt Ranum]

Yup, we do the same things. :) I just attributed it to using cheap slides. :p

[Chris Fournier]

I think that out of square is the most likely answer. Careful "forensic" measuring will tell all.

[Derek Arita]

I do a corner to corner on all boxes, before the glue sets up, then I double check after. Seems like I'm all square.

[glenn bradley]

As mentioned, take out one of the offending drawers and see that it:

1. Sits flat on a flat surface with no teeter-tottering.
2. Measures the same from right front to left rear corner as it does from left front to right rear corner, check the top then flip it and check the bottom.

If all these measurements are true, your carcass is probably not square ;-)

If this is a recurring problem I would look at your clamping method(s). You may be introducing a shift out of square by some step that you are not aware of; always clamping some portion first or last for example(?). I know my gremlin is doing four out of five drawers fine and having one out of whack. If I do some forensics I undoubtedly find I have done something differently on that drawer. Making a replacement drawer teaches us pretty quickly to be diligent but, the gremlins are always waiting and they're hungry.

[Jim Neeley]

The other possibility is that the two drawer slides are not mounted evenly. More likely the carcass is not square so when you mount the slides...

[Ole Anderson]

Everything needs to come together to end up with good fitting drawers. I have resorted to using a sled for all of my crosscuts. A well tuned sled using the 5 cut method and some shims on the rear fence to get the offcut on the fifth cut within 4 or 5 thousandths over the length of a foot. That means about one thousandth over a foot on a single cut. I just glued up some raised door panels yesterday, and even with perfectly square ends on my rails, I still have the square up the frame at glue up. And then I still take a sliver off the top and bottom of the glued up frame in the sled to get the perfect square and flush frame. Same applies to drawers, although now you also have to deal with the whole thing not sitting flat as well as being out of square. I don't have a flat torsion box for assembly, so on critical glue-ups, I put a piece of 1/4" Masonite on top of my TS and use that as my flat reference.

[Lee Schierer]

More likely the carcass is not square so when you mount the slides...

Bingo....This it the number one problem in drawers fitting. Most people check the boxes carefully by insuring all the opposite sides are exactly the same length and the are glued up square by measuring the diagonals. So how do they check the carcase? With their trusty framing square, which truth be told may not be square at all. Have you checked your square for accuracy?

Here's how: The easiest way to check a framing square is to hang it on an edge of a piece of sheet stock with an edge known to be straight. Use MDF (medium density fiberboard) as the factory edges are usually cut very accurately. The most common framing square used in woodworking has one 16”-long leg and one 24”-long. To maximize the accuracy of this test, place the shorter leg on the edge of the wood with the long leg hanging down.

Using the edge of the square as a guide, draw a line (use a marking knife or extremely sharp pencil) down the full length of the blade. Turn the leg on the edge of the plywood to the other side and carefully align the blade with the line. If the line is parallel to the blade over its full length, the square is accurate. If the line angles towards or away from the blade, the square is deformed.

Note: This test can be used to confirm the accuracy of any square, including combination and speed squares. However, errors in those kinds of tools are built in and there is nothing reliable that can be done to remedy the problem.

[Derek Arita]

I know you guys are right about something not being square. That said, on this last cabinet, I thought I was being diligent about measuring carcass and drawers, corner to corner. I use a hollow core door on saw horses, for glue up and it seems to be fairly flat, but certainly not dead flat.
I usually measure tops or bottoms of boxes, but not both and maybe that's where the fault lies. I figured once I flip the box over, I've already thrown off the square by moving it. How do you measure corners accurately and consistently?

[Myk Rian]

When I build drawers, I use a drafting triangle to check them.

[Ray Newman]

You need a dead flat surface to do glue-ups.

If you can and have the storage space, fabricate a torsion box and store flat against the shop/garage wall as a glue-up surface. Have spacer blocks between the floor and torsion box. Liberally apply wax to both surfaces to prevent any glue build up.

“I figured once I flip the box over, I've already thrown off the square by moving it. How do you measure corners accurately and consistently?”

Probably your the biggest problem is disturbing the carcass after it is clamped and just checked for square.

These will work for inside corner-to-corner measurements: www.leevalley.com/US/wood/Page.aspx?p=32585&cat=1,43513,43553 (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/Page.aspx?p=32585&cat=1,43513,43553)

See also: http://www.leevalley.com/US/shopping/Instructions.aspx?p=44444

I shop-fabricated something similar -- without the heads -- by just ripping 2 wood strips.

Place corner-to-corner, make a thin pencil to mark the distance on the edges of the strips. Do the same on the opposite corner-to-corner. The difference -- if any -- between the two lines is how much it is “out-of-square”.

[Sam Murdoch]

QUESTION - what kind of slides? Blumotion undermounts perhaps?

[Derek Arita]

QUESTION - what kind of slides? Blumotion undermounts perhaps?

They are cheaper full extension, 100lb slides.

[Lee Schierer]

ROckler sells a little accessory for your tape measure that will help you get accurate diagonal measurements. It is called a Square Check 254487

Also, be sure to use one tape measure for every part of a project. Using different tape measures can lead to inaccuracies.

[Jim Neeley]

Hey guys,

Myk gave y'all a great suggestion. The lowly drafting square is a rather accurate 90* tool. It's weakness is that it isn't tough like a metal square. The good side is that if its in one piece it's good to go.

Jim

Greetings fro RF, Myk! :)

[William C Rogers]

Squareness is usually the problem. I did have one drawer where everything was square, but one side did stick out more than the other. Turned out to be the false front was warped when I attached it to the drawer. For cabinets I am using the Sommerfeld tongue and groove. Marc in his video says if the face frame is square, then everything behind it will be square. That has turned out to be true. I also use the Rockler clamp-its when gluing up almost anything that needs to be square and these have worked very well.

Bill

[Jim Matthews]

Do you make drawers in batches, or fitted to each opening?

I'm in agreement that the carcass is twisted out of square, which isn't hopeless.
The back of the carcass can be severed at a couple joints, clamped across the long diagonal to pull it square (done with the drawers installed, you can see where you are)
and reglued. There may be call for a plywood gusset at a few corners to maintain rigidity.

[Lee Schierer]

One thing I do when I make dressers is to make internal frames. I make the frames from 1 x 6 poplar ripped in half to make pieces about 2-1/8 wide. I cut them to length and cut lap joints at each end and in the center or other location so I have something to support drawer runners. By using lap joints, I am practically assured of getting square assemblies when I glue them up, but I check and recheck them by measuring diagonals and using my carpenter square both before and after glue up. Before attempting to assemble the carcase, I recheck the frames again with the square and by stacking them one on top of the other to insure they are identical size. Once I am satisfied with the frames, I can begin to assemble the carcase. Having square frames means that the carcase will be internally braced with square inserts and end up being square. I attach these frames to the carcase with pocket hole screws and glue where the grains agree. Screws only on cross grain situations.

I've had far fewer drawer issues since I started doing this.

[Carl Beckett]

The fact that it's always on the left, is a major hint......

[Derek Arita]

The fact that it's always on the left, is a major hint......
Of what, is it a major hint?