Cabinet or Drawers First?

[fritz eng]

Curious as to which one to build first, cabinet or drawers. Should one size the drawers to the cabinet or vice versa? Always a dilemma for me. Easier to shave the drawer sides only if wider than the cabinet width obviously. Your thoughts and experience please. thanks

[Charles Lent]

I always make the cabinet first, usually because it has to fit somewhere. Then I make the drawers and doors to fit the cabinet.

Charley

[Randy Heinemann]

Cabinet first. Then you will know the exact of the drawers required depending on what slides you use. It's alway good to already have the slides when making the drawers. Then you know required clearance. Better yet, have the slides before you make the cabinet and incorporate the required clearances in the design of the cabinet if possible. I'm not a cabinet maker but have made enough to know how it works best for me.

[Kevin Jenness]

If you are using manufactured drawer slides and can work to the necessary tolerances it doesn't matter which comes first. You should always have the hardware in hand, or at least detailed specs and confidence that you can get the specified hardware in time. If you have any doubts about the openings coming out the correct size, make the cabinet first. If you're making traditionally hung drawers guided by the case members you will want to cut the drawer parts to fit the case.

[Lee Schierer]

I always make the cabinet first, usually because it has to fit somewhere. Then I make the drawers and doors to fit the cabinet.

Charley

That's what I do.

[Jim Becker]

Cabinet first with very, very few exceptions. I do not pre-design a lot of the internal details...the exterior cabinet is made to fit the intended space and all that other stuff is measured directly off the cabinet carcass once it exists. That takes care of any and all variances. Drawer boxes are almost the last thing that gets designed/built (other than rough measurements for material planning) as they have to fit in the space and accommodate any hardware associated with the drawers. The drawer fronts are indeed, the last step.

[Kevin Jenness]

Space is at a premium in my shop so when I build cabinets the flatwork comes first - face frames if any, trim, doors, drawer fronts and drawer parts,, then prefinishing, then carcass parts. Cases and hardware last, then out the door. Obviously it all has to be preplanned and accurately cut.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I do that same as you Kevin, in general, unless it’s only a few drawers / something tiny. I will do accurate pre-planning / cutting as well as sometimes dry fitting the case enough to verify those numbers (if it’s not an absolute PITA...), disassemble case, do all drawer, door, etc parts in order to have more space freed up for that work. I don’t do kitchen cabinets, though and am more doing ~ vanity sized projects in this realm.

I only have one assembly table and a roubo workbench (not that deep) and my shop is tiny so assembled boxes really clog up the space and workflow if they’re just sitting around while I’m making drawers, doors, etc.

Undermount drawer slides have a bit more tolerance than a piston fit drawer on runners. Depends on what you’re doing.

[Ron Citerone]

I only built one set of cabinets, but quite a bit of furniture. I always build the cabinet first.

[Ralph Okonieski]

While I do not build a lot of cabinets, I do make a number of things that have drawers (e.g., desks). I always build the main item first then the drawers. I do this as a hobby and sometimes change my mind during the build . For example, the original design may have included a Euro style slide but later decided to go with full extension. Changes may require a modification in dimensions or may not , but in any case the drawers are built to fit the opening and hardware.

[Derek Cohen]

Largely repeating what others have said ..

Unless you plan to use drawer slides, where the tolerances for fitting a drawer are more flexible, it would be nigh-impossible to achieve a good fit for a drawer if that is built first. I do not use drawer slides unless for a kitchen, and consequently always build the cabinet first. This allows for a piston fit mating.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Rich Engelhardt]

I now make the cabinets first.
It wasn't always like that.

(I just got tired of having to remake the drawers)

[Jeff Roltgen]

If you have a well-drafted plan, and can build reasonably accurately, you should be able to build in any order...

Constructed /delivered 54 drawers for a massive kitchen a couple weeks ago. Now finishing up face frames, doors/drawer faces for staining. Once they're in the finishing room and out of the way, I'll make the cabinets.
Seems a bit redundant, building cabs 100% complete on the bench, only to be dis-assembled and strewn about the residence during installation. Then, re-fitting them again to the now installed cabinets, which always need a little final tweaking once set in the home.

Why not just do it once at the jobsite? If your drafting is good and execution is accurate, drawers should fit just fine. Rarely have a problem in this regard, so decided to try out this theory for a more efficient workflow. Doors/drawer faces will be palletized, shipped flat, utilizing Hettich flip-lock cup hinges, so they don't need to be fastened to door until you grab each one for hanging.

Main goal is to get boxes set ASAP so countertop fabricator can template all the sooner, in hopes of compressing the time-line to completion. While he's fabricating, we can populate boxes on site.
This urgent need for time-compression is applicable whether you're building entirely for yourself, full on commercial production for a client as described, but most especially if you happen to outsource drawers.
We'll see how it goes.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Easier to sand, plane, shim etc drawers, so ... I make cabinet first.

Very hard to rework the box and partitions.

[David Zaret]

i make the doors, drawers, drawer fronts, and face frames - all inset - long before i consider making the carcasses. but, it's taken me a while to get to this point where i can confidently trust my design and process to know that my spreadsheets are perfectly accurate.

[Joe Calhoon]

That’s what we used to do also Dave. Never wanted to have boxes taking up space till the other parts were ready. It also took a lot of work with Cabinetware to get to this point. I just built my first kitchen in 20 years and because I had not used the program for so long I built the boxes first just to be on the safe side. Kitchen cabinets no problem but if fine furniture would definitely do the casework first.

[glenn bradley]

I know we've figured this out already but, cabinet first and fit the drawers.

[Warren Lake]

Machine all your parts at once to your drawing specs. You should be accurate enough that you can build from there and the drawers will fit.

I do case first but dont think they ever taught us that just seemed logical. Id never make doors and other stuff first as doors are made over their final size then cut and tweaked to fit the cabinet for the gaps wanted

[Alan Kalker]

Ditto on making the cabinet first. Same for doors. The one exception is when I make curved doors. Then I make the doors first and fit the front curve of the cabinet to the curve of the doors. But that is getting a little bit off topic.

[Tom Bender]

My current project is a dresser. I made the 7 drawers first so the fronts would be of the best grain matched wood, and because I felt like doing drawers. Now the cabinet is about done and it is working out well. It is fussy to go this way but I am on a journey, the destination is not the goal.

[Derek Cohen]

Just out of curiosity, Tom, do the drawer run on runners, or are they due to fit an opening exactly (no runners)?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tom Bender]

Accuride slides

Here with the drawers just sitting in the loose assembled case. Once gaps are added between drawers the top one will be contoured to the cloud lift.
484519

Aliginig front recess
484520

1/64" shims to make precise adjustments
484521

Similar process for height and to get left and right stops even

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Tom. I expected that you were using slides as these provide a little leeway, and ultimate fitting is not critical. Contrast this with drawers for a cabinet (in this case an entry hall table), where a piston fit is desired for wood-running-on-wood.

The drawer case is constructed carefully ..

https://i.postimg.cc/zBmfFCGf/5a.jpg

This is all solid wood - no laminated front. The drawer is built to fit this exactly …

https://i.postimg.cc/nL66sBBG/25a.jpg

Without close tolerances, it would rack and lack smooth adjustment.

The final fit looks like this …

https://i.postimg.cc/prgb6rPZ/5drawer.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/mZqsDX7H/6drawer.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/bNtj2xRF/7drawer.jpg

Hall table made for a friend. The drawer needed to be invisible …

https://i.postimg.cc/YCykmsDT/Ritas-table1.jpg

Much fun. :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tom Bender]

As always Derek your workmanship sets a high standard.