Maple kitchen drawer box finishing help needed

[Brian Steeves]

I am in the process of remodeling my kitchen and one of the things I'm doing is building new doors and drawers from my cabinets. I have a few questions regarding the finishing of the drawer boxes. The sides are solid 5/8" soft maple and the bottoms are 1/4" maple plywood both of which are unfinished.


I am using Blum undermount slides which require certain dimensions, notches and holes for proper fit and mounting of the slides. As such I believe that the drawer bottoms need to be inserted into the drawer boxes during box assembly and glue up. They cannot be removed after since the back of the box captures the bottom in the dado all the way around the box.
So, I'm not exactly sure how to go about putting a finish on these boxes. The drawer fronts will be painted white so that's not an issue. I'm just trying to figure out the best way and order to do this?


I am also not sure as to which finish would best be suited for inside the drawers but it seems the general consensus is a water based poly? I have an HVLP so I can spray whatever finish I decide on.


Any help, experience or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[Jim Becker]

A waterborne finish or shellac are the best choices for drawer boxes because there will be no odor. Or...no finish at all.

[Paul F Franklin]

You don't say how you are joining the drawer boxes, but if your method allows, you can cut the back short so you can slip the bottom in after the box is glued and finished. A brad or two into the shortened back secures the bottom.

The mounting instructions for the undermounts show just notching the back, but there is no reason you can't just shorten it as I've described.

[Jamie Buxton]

Paul is right, and that's how I make all my drawer boxes. I use quarter inch plywood for the bottoms, and they slip in after finish is applied. When the bottom is a quarter inch thick, the hook on the slide engages the back of the drawer, above the plywood bottom.

I generally make drawers with baltic birch -- half inch for the sides, and quarter inch for the bottoms. I use waterborne lacquer sprayed with an HVLP.

[Brian Steeves]

I am doing half blind dovetails for joinery.

OK I understand the concept of what you're saying about cutting the back piece short so you can slide the bottom panel in after assembly and finish. But that said is there a reason that is preferred over finishing the box with the bottom panel in place?

Also how do you cut the back panel so that the dovetails still go all the way down the side of the box??

This was a test box. I'm aware of the mistakes I made with the dovetail offset.

[Jamie Buxton]

I am doing half blind dovetails for joinery.

OK I understand the concept of what you're saying about cutting the back piece short so you can slide the bottom panel in after assembly and finish. But that said is there a reason that is preferred over finishing the box with the bottom panel in place?

For me, yes. I generally finish drawers with waterborne varnish applied with a HVLP. The HVLP puts out so much air that it blows the finish out of any concave object, like cabinets with the back applied, or drawers with the bottom already included. The only way I know to use this sprayer on these objects is to attach the back or the bottom after finishing.

[Paul F Franklin]

Jamie sums it up; it's easier to finish a cabinet without a back or a drawer without the bottom; that's the advantage of arranging the drawer to you can install the bottom after finishing.

If you are doing machine cut dovetails, it becomes a tricky to do this, depending on your jig. If you can adjust the spacing or choose the size of the joint with your jig, then you can move the tails down so they aren't in the area of the bottom, and let the one pin on each side just run long since it will be trimmed off anyway.

If you're hand cutting the dovetails, you just move the joinery out of the way.

[John TenEyck]

As others have said, you can cut the backs of the drawers short and insert the bottom afterwards. However, the drawer will be a lot stronger with the bottom captured, and bullet proof if you also glue it in. I do this all the time with plywood bottoms in solid wood boxes and have never had a failure. Because that's how I normally build drawers it means I'm finishing the drawer with the bottom in it. I spray them with Sealcoat shellac and then a WB topcoat. I've never had any trouble getting a quality finish on drawers, even some over 10" deep. I dial down the air pressure as low as I can, do the outsides first, and then do the insides top to bottom, and then a couple of passes the length of the bottom. I used to do this with a gravity feed HVLP gun but since I switched to a pressure feed gun it's much easier since I can hold the gun at any angle.

John

[vince dale]

Another benefit of adding the bottom later is that you can square up the drawer if it's a hair out of square. I use #6x1" screws to fasten.