Drawer design for a newbie

[Amy Leigh Baker]

Hello everyone!

Can someone suggest a drawer design for a newbie? I would like a two drawer design to add to a table I am currently building. I want one drawer on top of another, equal widths. Taking into account my storage needs and space available for drawers, I'm thinking that the face of the top drawer be about 6" and the face of the bottom drawer be about 12", both about 10" wide.

I like the look of a fingerjoint, especially on a drawer. I think I can build the actual drawers though. It's the box around it and the slider hardware that I can't seem to wrap my head around. I would prefer a smooth sliding action, maybe even with a metal slider for each. And then there is how to attach it to the table frame as well?

Can you tell that this will be my very first attempt at building drawers? :o Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Amy

[glenn bradley]

Those are pretty deep drawers for their width. This is a fun calculator for customary width and heights: http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/drawsizer_hambridge.htm

I have pretty much standardized on drawer-lock joint construction except for places where I want something really attractive. You don't mention if this is in the living room or in the laundry room(?). What are the requirements? Strong and quick (1/2" BB ply and pocket holes) or beautiful to be treasured for generations (finger or DT joints)?

To your slide question, regular old euro slides (like in most modern kitchens) from the BORG will work fine and are inexpensive ($5 - $6 a pair), easy to mount and adjust. I don't care for them as I like full extension slides. The BORG has these too but they are cheaper by the dozen from McFeely's and others if you will use more in the future ($8-$9 per pair as opposed to $15).

Both slide types require 1/2" on each side of the drawer for mounting so scale your carcase 1" wider than your drawer or vice versa. Will the drawer fronts be integral or will they be false fronts? flush, overlay or other?

Sorry . . . so many questions. How about a pic of something that is sorta like what you're after? That'll help narrow it down.

[Sam Yerardi]

Amy,

If you are planning on using finger joints instead of dovetails I would suggest using the slides Glenn is recommending. I don't think you'll have a problem with finger joints but if the drawer tends to be heavy when it is full, it will put more strain on the joints. Again, for the drawer size you're talking about I don't think it will be a problem.

I would use finger joints front and back. Cut a small dadoe around the insides of the drawer to recieve the bottom panel. There is a lot of good information on building drawers on the net. Bill Hylton (Taunton) did a good writeup of drawer construction and it is located on the net as a pdf file.