Attaching drawer front - 1/4" thick on 1/2" Drawer frame - fastening method?

[Cory filder]

I have a drawer front that is thinAnd flexible. Only 1/4 of an inch with a 1/2 inch backing. My handle has 2 Machine screws which is fine, but the door is wide and I think screwing from the inside will not work due to the end of the screw being tapered and not holding wellWith the potential blasting through the front. I can think of Several options. What do you think of each?

I should state that these are for shop drawers so as far as how good I wanted to look I would consider this a learning experience, but speed is important. It doesn't have to be perfect



18gauge Brad Nailer from front. Negative is that there will be holes that need to be filled with putty and then varnished.
18 gauge from back while clampedConcern is that the front will not hold well. I do not know long-term.
23gauge Pinner. I think this would be ideal but I don't actually have the size of nail gun. I probably would have gone with this
screw from the inside. Issue being that the end of the screw tapers with only 1/4 inch or purchase and possible screwing through
machine screw. Better control of of depth however still a risk


please let me know which ones sound okay and which ones not so much.I am leaning towards #2

[Cameron Wood]

Glue. (characters)

[Cory filder]

Glue. (characters)

are any of the other options okay?

[Michael Burnside]

Personally I would use epoxy and medium hardener to minimize any potential warping using any water-borne glues. With a long open time of epoxy it should be easy to get the drawer perfectly aligned before lightly clamping in place along with a couple dots of CA glue that will prevent moving. Pin nails would be my very distant, second option, still using expoxy as the real holding power. IMHO using just fasteners is sub-par in this application.

[Cameron Wood]

are any of the other options okay?

No, not really. A bunch of 1/2" brad nails from the front might work sort of.

[Randy Heinemann]

Pin nails wouldn't be a good idea unless it's just to hold until the glue dries. Pin nails don't really have much holding power.

Since the fronts are 1/4" (unless I've misunderstood), just glue them with regular wood glue, clamped until set or dots of CA glue in strategic areas in the middle and around the edges to hold in place till the wood glue sets.

Many drawer fronts are installed with screws from the inside of the drawer into the drawer front. However, if the drawer front is only 1/4" material that won't work (or at least not well).

I'd encourage you to make your drawer fronts from thicker wood and resize the drawer box to accommodate the thicker front. You have more options when the drawer front is at least 1/2" thick; 3/4" thick better yet. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a false drawer front from 1/4" wood or plywood.

[Tom Bender]

If these are overlay fronts that are also functioning as stops then nothing will succeed.

If inset then use screws from the front. Since they will be exposed make them a feature.

Glue is also a good option. Clamp with weights not clamps.