Dresser not square - what about drawer faces?

[michael dilday]

I am building a bedroom set for my daughter. I started with the dresser. It all seemed square all along but now I am installing the drawer faces. I noticed I was not exactly square on the first drawer face bottom right. I checked square before cutting the bottom left drawer face and the left side is off 3/64" at 6" up using a 6" square. The square is a brand new Woodpeck 641 that is supposed to be accurate to .001 over 6". I had been using carpenter squares not realizing they are not quite accurate enough for building furniture so that might explain why it is not exactly square. When assembling the sides and top I did use a set of those plastic clamp-on squares from Peachtree. So my question is should I taper the drawer fronts to match the cabinet or just cut them square on the ends. I am using 3/32 gaps on the drawer fronts and this is a frameless dresser mid-century style.424998424999

[Paul F Franklin]

Michael, we've all been there!

I think the eye is much better at spotting an uneven gap than it is an out of square drawer front, especially so little out of square. So I vote for planing the edges to keep the gap even. That also means the the corner of one drawer will line up with the corner of the drawer above or below it; misalignment there is another thing that is easy for the eye to spot.

Truth is though....however you do it, no one but you will notice.....

[glenn bradley]

I agree with fitting the drawers to the opening. A nice even reveal will win out over a perfectly rectangular drawer front any day.

[Bill Dufour]

Or apply a overlay face that hides the gaps entirely.
Bil lD.

[michael dilday]

So it is better to plane the ends of the drawers than try to cut and trim/ease up on the width/gap with the miter saw?

[Patrick Walsh]

Are the other three corners square.

Did you put it on a flat surface and or shim it level and plumb and check that it’s really built out of square and not just racked.

Chances are it could be either.

If you dont level and plumb the unit prior to fitting the drawers you are in for a rude awakening if it gets put on a level plumb floor and racks to said floor. But chances are the floor will not be level so. In such a case hopefully the case is rigid enough to not rack but honestly it may not be and in such a case you will need to shim or scribe those legs to its final resting place to avoid racking.

In such a case imop that is slight enough as suggested you will be the only one that ever knows. Just fit the drawer front to the irregularity.

[Paul F Franklin]

You could do it on the saw; Use tape or business cards on the fence as a shim to make small angle adjustments rather than trying to set the miter angle on the saw. But planing has the advantage of letting you work slowly and sneak up on a good fit. Plus, if the fronts are already attached to the drawers you won't have to remove them to plane the edges and that takes one more variable out of the mix.

[Jacques Gagnon]

So it is better to plane the ends of the drawers than try to cut and trim/ease up on the width/gap with the miter saw?

...this is somewhat of a personnal choice. You are dealing with relatively small dimensions, which hand tools are very good at dealing with. On the other hand, a precise mitre saw is easily able to deal with end grain (crosscut).

Either will work; it depends on your comfort level with each approach.

[Frederick Skelly]

Michael,
Sorry if I missed it, but have you installed the back on this dresser yet? I ask because installing the back will sometimes square-up a cabinet.

Cut a piece of (at least) 1/4" thick plywood. Make certain it is square. Then attach it to the back. This works better if you designed the back with a rabbet to hold the back. But if you arent too far out of square, you should be able to make it work without the rabbet.

It doesnt work in all cases, but I have used it successfully more than once - on furniture I've had for years.

Fred

[Patrick Walsh]

Or a edge sander if you have one.

If not a sharp hand plane will do the job in a wise.

Just make sure to clamp a sacrificial strip of wood to outfeed side for lack of a better explanation to mitigate tear out.

[Mark e Kessler]

That was one of my fist big lessons learned at my first job, The work table was not plumb/level and I built like 6 cabinets out of square before I caught it. I never forgot that and neither did my boss...


Are the other three corners square.

Did you put it on a flat surface and or shim it level and plumb and check that it’s really built out of square and not just racked.

Chances are it could be either.

If you dont level and plumb the unit prior to fitting the drawers you are in for a rude awakening if it gets out on a level plumb floor and racks to said floor. But chances are the floor will not be level so. In such a case hopefully the case is rigid enough to not rack but honestly it may not be and in such a case you will need to shim or scribe those legs to its final resting place to avoid racking.

In such a case imop that is slight enough as suggested you will be the only one that ever knows. Just fit the drawer front to the irregularity.

[Lee Schierer]

I would cut the drawer faces to fit their opening. You also need to label the drawers and dresser for correct location. At some point, someone will remove all the drawers and will hate you if the drawers and openings are not labeled so the correct drawer can easily be determined before inserting it into an opening.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Glad I have never made something like that out of square (cough ******)

Mr. Skelly has a good point about attaching the back BEFORE you deal with the out of square thing.

However you do it, be sure to sneak up on the fit. I would be hesitant to mark and then cut exactly to fit on the first try.

[michael dilday]

Lots of great ideas. It is not racked. I put it on the table saw cast table and all 4 legs were solid with no rocking. I cannot get it to rack even if I try. I glad the joints so it is very solid. The back is on now but it would nor rack even before putting the back on. I will plane the ends to get them to agree with the cabinet. Great idea putting a sacrificial board on the outfeed side when I plane. Was worried about cracking the edge off. Thanks guys. This is my go to site for help when I need it.

[Larry Edgerton]

Glad I have never made something like that out of square (cough ******)

Mr. Skelly has a good point about attaching the back BEFORE you deal with the out of square thing.

However you do it, be sure to sneak up on the fit. I would be hesitant to mark and then cut exactly to fit on the first try.

What Andrew said. Also, is the floor it is sitting on level? That is not out of square, fitting is part of the process. Another trick, before you attach the fronts, put some weight in the drawer to simulate real world. I use ten pounds of gold, but lead or a rock will do in a pinch. Nice job!

[Eric Schmid]

With tall panels and no face frame, sometimes what appears out of square is actually a bowed panel; rather than out of square corner to corner. I didn’t look at the photos, so I don’t know what the cabinet looks like.

[michael dilday]

With tall panels and no face frame, sometimes what appears out of square is actually a bowed panel; rather than out of square corner to corner. I didn’t look at the photos, so I don’t know what the cabinet looks like.

I think you are correct Eric. 3 of the corners are outside of square and one is square. I think that maybe the top and bottom are bowed out that is my hunch. I guess it could have been the center vertical divider was a little longer. I guess I need to be more careful in the future. Luckily I was able to custom cut each drawer front and it looks pretty good.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Michael, don't be too hard on yourself. Most of us have made things and errors arose. Learn from your mistakes, consider what may have caused them and find new procedures to prevent the same mistakes in the future.

As I have aged, I have begun keeping a log for my shop projects. If I make a mistake, I log in the entry about the associated project. I reread the log periodically to refresh my memory.

Good luck!