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Thread: Musings on kitchen drawers

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    San Francisco, CA
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    10,304
    +1 on buying good drawer slides. That’s the thing that impresses most people.

  2. #17
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    Mar 2003
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    Y’know, when I’m looking for craftsmanship in kitchen cabinets, the big red flag is PVC iron-on edgebanding. The stuff does not look like wood. It looks cheap when it is brand new. And in a couple of years it starts to fray off. Yes, it is way less expensive than real wood. That’s an earmark of bad craftsmanship: do it cheap not good.

  3. #18
    I've got an automatic dovetailer. Makes generic dovetail drawers pretty easy to make.

    We use solid birch for drawer stock, and Baltic Birch plywood for the bottoms.

    We have about five drawer heights that we use on the regular. We'll sort a unit of birch by width next to the rip saw and cut up most of the unit. Then we size full length rips either to size of the finished drawer, or prepare the rips by getting them to the size we need as a glued up part, plus 1/16". After that the rips just go into inventory. We do a final sizing after machining the pins and tails have been cut to remove any tear out. So a 8-1/8" drawer side is machined at 8-3/16", then cut down to final size.

    We do our best to make the glue up parts as good looking as possible, but not as much time is put into them as it would be for a door panel

    Sometimes if we've got time we'll glue up 100 drawer sides for standard base cabinet sides, so when we're in a bind for time we can just grab and go. It's good to get ahead when you can.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Central WI
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    I'm just a hobby guy but hated using a dowtail jig due to the time spent and mess made. I found a fairly cheap used Omec 650, single bit machine with four size dovetail choices and pneumatic clamps. I use mainly one size that allows for 9mm ply bottoms to be hidden and seldom change the settings. The four drawer sides take 3-4 minutes. Makes drawers as much fun as they can be- which still isn't a thrill. Dave

  5. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by David Kumm View Post
    Makes drawers as much fun as they can be- which still isn't a thrill. Dave
    Do enough of anything, eventually it's like watching paint dry

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Central WI
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Wasner View Post
    Do enough of anything, eventually it's like watching paint dry

    I'm an accountant so familiar with dull. Dave

  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by David Kumm View Post
    I'm an accountant so familiar with dull. Dave
    Haha.

    I did so many drawers on a Porter Cable jig, I went through numerous routers and actually wore out the template on the jig.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Beantown
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    2,831
    My advice, sub them out if you can. Soooooo much cheaper than making them yourself. I still make them for projects that call for it, but most stuff I just buy them. They're clean and ready to install, just makes life a little bit easier. I won't use ply or mdf for a drawer box for a client though, cabinets for my garage or shop, sure, but not for a job. Everyone has to set their own standards of what's acceptable and what's not, and while many guys use them I personally won't.

    good luck,
    JeffD

  9. #24
    Buy them.

    $40 a piece on average for -refinished maple.

    Downside 5/8” from the width and 1’’ from your height from face frame opening for Blum soft close. Figure on 21” glides for standard 24” carcass.

    If I was to hand dovetail a whole kitchen. And I will my own I would not put a plied face on. I would make them half blind and inset.

    For what it’s worth I make high end custom kitchen cabinets. I hate the idea of machine made dovetails and applied drawer faces but it’s the industry standard and what the average consumer and general public expect and desire from a custom kitchen.

    I don’t much admire buying pre made drawer boxes but would prefer them over making my own drawer lock boxes.

  10. #25
    I don't see the appeal of the front being the front of the drawer.

    The finishing would be a nightmare on painted cabinets.

    I also like the entire drawer interior being the same color. I run birch interiors on my cabinets, having a white oak front with the rest of the drawer being birch would make my OCD bleed. Making the whole drawer white oak would make account hurt.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Bill, I like that Domino method...secure and quite attractive. Different, too.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #27
    Once you're moderately set up, and have a good system, you can make good money on drawers, and there's peace of mind controlling another part of the process.

    It does require a healthy capital investment though.

  13. #28
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    Feb 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Bill, I like that Domino method...secure and quite attractive. Different, too.
    Agree - I thought about trying that on my last vanity project but chickened out due to time constraints.

    Bill - do you get any small gaps or is it pretty much perfect after the flush cut?

  14. #29
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    Feb 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill McNiel View Post
    For drawers in both commercial and residential sheet good commissions I use 1/2" prefinished Maple ply that is edge banded and comes in 8' x 6", 8" or 12" widths. I use #4 dominos that I flush cut for the corner connections. I do offer dovetail connections but have yet to have a customer who is willing to pay the add on cost. I use full extension, soft close undermount slides.
    Yeah I've used the 1/2" prefin drawer sides - so handy that they are already edge banded. Unfortunately can't get 3/4" that way.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Victor, if I tried that Domino method, I'd probably create shop-made dominos that are normal, solid stock that somehow ties into the project since they would be exposed. It would also insure that the mortise was fully filled. The commercial dominos have edges that are "less than pretty", IMHO, and I'm not sure I'd want to expose them. But I'm also intersted in Bill's input on that.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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