Which locking drawer bit?

[Bob Jones 5443]

I’m considering making some beginner-level drawers (well, easier than dovetails, anyway). I’m planning to use a locking drawer router bit to join sides to front and back. I need to decide if one form factor or the other would have advantages.

Whiteside and Rockler, among others, have stubbier ones — 1” overall width.

Freud and Infinity et al have bits with 2” overall width.

I can’t see any advantage with the 2” width, except maybe more mass and momentum leading to a smoother cut?

If you work with this joint, do you have a preference?

[Thomas McCurnin]

Maybe its just me, but I found just about any other drawer joint was easier than a locking drawer router bit set. It would help if I had two router tables so the male and female bits could be adjusted and then stock run through but I found getting them adjusted just right was a real PITA, even with a sample piece used as a set up for the height and fence depth.

My first preference would be a box joint which is super easy, once you have your sled adjusted, then a machine dovetail joint like Keller or Peach Tree, then a Porter Cable jig, and lastly a Leigh Jig. Don't get me wrong, I own and like the Leigh Jig, but it has a steep learning curve, one needs two routers to really do it right, and it is expensive, unless you look to the secondary market (eBay, Craigslist) where you can find D4s for under $500.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Very interesting feedback. My table has finely detailed height adjustment due to its Mast -R-Lift, but fence adjustment is made by my Biesemeier table saw fence with router fence clamped to it.

Now you’ve got me thinking about imprecise uniform thickness of the drawer parts and how that could throw off the fit. And I don’t want to use Baltic birch.

Hmmm

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have not tried any of those bits. I would like to and will most likely get a Freud when the time comes. I make a similar joint with the table saw. The table saw method is not a blind joint. It is OK for simple drawers where a separate drawer front is being used.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Yeah, sorta depends on drawers whether you want a blind joint. They are too much trouble for me, so I make a box with through box joints and add a false front. For fine woodworking and a blind joint, I'd want to use a half blind dovetail joint. A lock rabbet joint works well too, but is not terribly strong. For shop furniture or stuff I don't care about, I'll use a Kreig Pocket Screw joint and can make a drawer in about 5 minutes.

[glenn bradley]

I use both with good success. PLywood for shop cabinets . . .
509862

. .. or solid woods for furniture.

509861

I seem to reach for the 1" diameter ones more often although that just may be habit or that the smaller bit is closer at the time :confused:

[Brian Gumpper]

Whiteside has two, the 3360 and 3362. Be careful of the low cost options and stick with a major brand. When I used to import bits from Asia I had to throw away a couple hundred of lock miter bits because they weren't machined properly and the joint had wide gaps in it.

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[Stan Calow]

There is definitely a learning curve to them, and give serious thought on how you're going to support the vertical workpiece through the cut. I tried a few LM bits over the years as I would try and then give up on them. But get the set up block as it is very helpful.

[mike calabrese]

The locking drawer bits can be a real PITA to set up and get right. Additionally making drawers is not a complex process unless you want it to be. Common example is dovetails. They were invented for strength at the corners when glue was not so great. Today they have morphed into the measure of quality disjunct from the original intent.
FYI the videos here may help in your drawer construction efforts . Remember the KISS principle....................
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=strong+drawers
calabrese55


https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=strong+drawers

[Edward Weber]

You can make joints similar to what Glenn shows with just a table saw and a dado

[Jim Becker]

I have one of the locking drawer bit cutters. It's a nice tool but I found it very "fiddly" even with a setup block. Featherboards and a vertical sled is also kinda required for best results because you have to get an absolutely "perfect" pass on both pieces to get a clean, well cut joint along the entire length. So I pretty much don't use it. On the rare moment when I want a corner joint that interlocks, the table saw method that Edward and others mention would be my go do. Honestly, for many drawers I do butt joints with pocket screws and glue if there's an applied front. It's clean and very strong.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Edward, Glenn, and Jim: the table saw dado/rabbet looks manageable. I’m going with a false front, so there’d be no exposed end grain. I’d need to match the dado width on the side to the width of the tab left by the rabbet on the front. If I set this at just slightly more than half the part width, I could use a single dado width for all cuts. Plus, I could use the exact same dado depth on both parts! That’s appealing.

With the router bit, the cuts already fit into each other, as long as the depths of both cuts are tightly controlled. That means two setups. There’s a bit of end grain, but with a 3/4” drawer face overhang I’d never see it.

[Warren Lake]

If I understand you have a front going on the drawer then there is no reason to over complicate it. We were taught this before dovetails. You only need your table saw.

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[Rick Potter]

Plus one for keeping it simple and using the table saw.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have found this to be trivial to set because they mill a flat at the half way point and then you use another jig to just set it.

https://youtu.be/J18rUOWrf64?si=KA4vxMA8BjM8qdi_

I have used this for a carcas (3/4" thick) and drawers. Very happy with the result and the ability to set almost instantly. Very quickly I was hitting it right on with the initial setup.

Very happy with this bit and the jig that can also be used for things such as half laps.

I should have said that this is the MicroJig lock miter bit.

[Carl Beckett]

I have a drawer lock bit but do not use it.

Instead I most often cut box joints of some type. Or Warrens sketch (just a tongue into a groove)

[Jim OConnor]

The infinity tools set up jig works really well. I could never set up this joint until I got this jig. I have set up blocks, but, as someone else said, it was pretty challenging to set up. I did make a tall sled for the vertical cuts. That s solved a lot of issues.

[Bob Jones 5443]

If I understand you have a front going on the drawer then there is no reason to over complicate it. We were taught this before dovetails. You only need your table saw.

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After walking around this obelisk several times, I’ve decided to go with exactly that arrangement. Thanks to all!

[Derek Meyer]

If you're going with the dado joint in the picture posted by Bob, look up the 1/4 1/4 1/4 method. It allows you to cut both sides with one setup at the table saw.

[Steve Demuth]

It's interesting what works for different people. I've got a pretty good shop built box joint jig, but it's far easier to set up my Freud drawer lock bit, than to dial in a box joint, and way, way fewer operations. I love box joints, but I wouldn't bother with them for drawers, where they don't show, and they are not at all easy to do blind, whereas the drawer lock bit is always blinded, and easily recessed if you want lapping drawer fronts.

[Ron Citerone]

If I understand you have a front going on the drawer then there is no reason to over complicate it. We were taught this before dovetails. You only need your table saw.

509972

Yes. Blind dovetail for furniture drawers with no attached front. Table saw dado or lock dado for most drawers with attached front.