Trying to fit drawers and allow for growth...

[Kurt Swanson]

I'm building a cherry dresser for a client. The drawers will be curly maple and flush-fit to the front of the dresser. I'm trying to calculate how much space to allow for growth in the summer. One formula I used says 1/4" gap at the top of the drawer that is 8" tall. This seems a bit much to me, but is it? I live in Michigan and the humidity changes quite a bit from season to season.
How much gap should I allow for the sides of the drawers?

Thanks,
Kurt

[Dennis Ford]

The first step is to determine the current moisture content of your stock and then determine whether it will grow or shrink. Wood in my shop is normally a little higher moisture than it will be in the house so I allow for shrinkage. 1/4" in 8" width seems like a lot to me also.

[David Eisenhauer]

If you are going to apply a equal, full-coverage film type finish and the dresser will reside in an AC climate, I believe a sixteenth to an eighth (max) would work. I don't see any more than a sixteenth movement really with a primer-three/four clear top coat finish applied.

[glenn bradley]

I use shellac for cupboard interiors or other enclosed spaces. I normally leave drawer boxes unfinished. When I know a piece is going to a location with humidity swings I will shellac the drawer boxes as well; all surfaces.

[Kurt Swanson]

The cherry and maple have been sitting in my shop for the past couple of months, their moisture content is at 8%. The humidity in my shop (it's winter here) is right around 70%, so I'm thinking maybe Dennis is correct about allowing for shrinkage more than growth. I will be coating all surfaces inside and out with a polyurethane finish.

[Leo Graywacz]

My standard practice is 3/32" space in the winter (width) and 5/64th in the summer (length and width). This is for soft maple doors with stiles and rails at 2 3/8" I haven't had a call back since.

[Frank Drackman]

I keep boards of the species that I use frequently in my shop that I use as reference. I rip 12" wide and put the date that it was cut, along with the type of finish, and measure throughout the year. I only use a few species and types of finish so it is easy to manage.

I was surprised at the changes when I moved my shop from the Pacific Northwest to coastal New England. NW was temperate climate with low humidity in the summer and high in the winter. NE has wild temp swings with lots of humidity during the summer and lots of heat on inside during the cold months.


I'm building a cherry dresser for a client. The drawers will be curly maple and flush-fit to the front of the dresser. I'm trying to calculate how much space to allow for growth in the summer. One formula I used says 1/4" gap at the top of the drawer that is 8" tall. This seems a bit much to me, but is it? I live in Michigan and the humidity changes quite a bit from season to season.
How much gap should I allow for the sides of the drawers?

Thanks,
Kurt

[Brian Holcombe]

I build fairly tight tolerance and use quarter sawn or rift sawn material. The longer the material has been in my shop, the better.

My sides are probably .005" clearance and top about .040" in the summer, and more like .060" or .080" in the winter.

[John TenEyck]

The cherry and maple have been sitting in my shop for the past couple of months, their moisture content is at 8%. The humidity in my shop (it's winter here) is right around 70%, so I'm thinking maybe Dennis is correct about allowing for shrinkage more than growth. I will be coating all surfaces inside and out with a polyurethane finish.


Hoadley's book shows the calculations for almost your exact case on page 120 of his book. He has a 9" drawer opening and is using sugar maple drawer fronts at 8% MC. He wants to know how much the drawer front will expand going to 12% MC in the Summer, which would be a good approximation for where you live, too. His calculations show the drawer front needs to be built 1/8" less, so 8-7/8".

The rule of thumb I've often heard is to use a nickel. But that might underestimate how much space you need to leave if building in the Winter, and be way too much when building in the Summer. I prefer to do the calculations; takes 5 minutes. Christian Becksvoort had the same type of calculations in an article in FWW a few years ago.

John

[Robert Engel]

I will say 3/32" is pretty standard for me - at least thats what i want to end up with.

I make them tighter or looser depending on when/where its going.

Fortunately I have a climate controlled studio where I do all my ww'ing/acclimatization so there isn't going to be much movement moving the piece in the house.

If you don't have a controlled shop it can be very tricky thing.