Attaching Side Drawer Rails

[Ron Fritz]

If not using purchased mechanical drawer guides, I have always built and used bottom drawer guides and rails (see drawing). However, I getting ready to build a small cabinet and really want to use side rails but since I have never used them before, I thought I’d get some advice from those who have. My primary question concerns how you attach and more importantly what’s the process that you use to get the drawer properly aligned and then attach the rails to the sides. Also, for a small drawer made of hard wood with flush drawer fronts, how much side clearance would you leave for a drawer front that is 2” x 9”? Thanks for your help, Ron

[Robert Trotter]

Hi Ron,

I am no expert, as I have not done tried it. but in my Cabinet making book by Andy .... by Tauntan Press he just makes up a spacer, then uses that to rest the guide on, and then screws it to the case side.

Robert

[glenn bradley]

I use two over-size holes to initially attach the glides that allow some alignment. Once I'm happy, I screw them down with the other holes that are sized to fit tight. I use pan head scews that are recessed into the glide.

If you're a subscriber, this is close to my method:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki.../011184052.pdf

Woodsmith Issue 186 had a good piece on the method I use.

[Craig D Peltier]

Also Kreg has two jigs to do this. There each around $10.They work good.

[Bert Johansen]

Ron,
I use a different approach. I cut and fit the drawer guides and rout 1/2-inch wide x 1/4-inch deep grooves on one side half way up, but don't install them yet. I then rout grooves 1/2-inches wide x 1/4-inches deep in the drawer sides, making certain they are evenly spaced from either the top or the bottom of the drawer. Next I machine hardwood slides--I believe you called them rails--that fit the grooves in the drawers (not tight, but no slop either). I plane them to about twice the depth of the routed groove (about 1/2-inch), and cut them somewhat longer than the drawer grooves. With the drawer inserted into the apron and the rails loosely in place, I temporarily put the drawer guides in place and tweak the side-to-side location of the guides. Once I'm happy with the fit of the drawer (again, no slop), I attach the drawer rails to the guides. Finally, I attach the drawer guides to the web frame with the same care to get a nice fit with no slop.

I attach the drawer guides against spacers at front and rear of the web frame. These don't show up in this photo. However, you can see the rails in place in the drawer guides in the photo. You can also see the stops glued to the guides and a keeper that rotates out of the way to remove the drawer.