Drawer Box Grooves

[bbarlage]

I'm wanting to build some new drawers for our kitchen that have the drawer bottoms nested in grooves in the drawer box.  What is the best way to make the groove in the drawer sides using any of the following: TS55, MFT/3, OF1400?  Drawer sides vary in height from ~3'' to ~10".  I've read the current rabbet thread and think my solution maybe similar but I'm concerned about putting the dados in these narrow strips.  And no I do not have a router table. 

Thanks for any advice!
Bill

 

[semenza]

One  method will be the router  with edge guide and straight or spiral bit that matches the drawer bottom thickness (1/4").  The bit diameter can even be slightly larger than the bottom thickness and still work fine.  The groove (dado) doesn't need to be very deep 1/4" - 3/8" . As long as it isn't more than half the side thickness  you will be all set.

Clamp the sides to the MFT with whatever works to keep the router  and edge guide path unobstructed. Clamping Elements,  Festool clamps, Qwas Dogs (to push against).

You could also set the router up on the MFT guide rail for quick piece change outs. You will still need something to keep the sides from shifting, especially the narrow ones. Qwas Dogs, or a same thickness board (drawer side) clamped to the table  in the right position under the rail will work to back up the drawer sides and automatically position them.

How thick are the sides and bottoms?
How many do you have to do?
How many are the same height?

Seth

 

[bbarlage]

Seth,
Thanks for the quick reply, I have;
(2) drawers that are ~3"
(2) drawer that are ~6"
(4) drawers that are ~10"

Was thinking about 1/2" sides with 1/4" bottoms for the 3" & 6".  Debating going thicker on the talls ones as the wife puts heavy pots and pans in them.

Bill

 

[builderbob]

If you're using any sort of tandem type drawer slide, you'll need a consistent dimension from the bottom of the drawer (Blum is 1/2"). So you can set your router for the same distancing for all of the drawer parts and that way you don't have to change your measuring method for each drawer size.

Bob

 

[mastercabman]

If you're using any sort of tandem type drawer slide, you'll need a consistent dimension from the bottom of the drawer (Blum is 1/2"). So you can set your router for the same distancing for all of the drawer parts and that way you don't have to change your measuring method for each drawer size.

Bob

Yes 1/2" from the bottom

 

[fshanno]

No table saw?  Any kind of table saw?  You don't need a dado blade, just a couple of passes with a full kerf blade on the table saw would do it.  Three passes, four at the most, with a thin kerf.

1/4" bottom should be fine if your using Tandem glides.  And if it's your own kitchen you certainly want Tandem with Blumotion or a good knockoff.  I've made drawers over 30" wide with 1/2 thick sides.  Tandem drawer glides are the key.  As a matter of fact, the maximum thickness is 5/8" with the under mount glides.

There is another option altogether.  Prefinished drawer stock.  Comes typically in 8' lengths and number of standard widths up to 12", already has the slot.  It's 1/2" prefinished ply that already has the top edgebanded.  I've made drawers up to 34x21 with it.  And these are drawers that are loaded not just with pots and pans but with dishes.  I've had good success cutting half blind dovetails in it, with a sharp bit of course.  To mask the ply in the the pins by applying a dark stain after assembly.  The stain won't adhere well to the finish on the tails. 

Yet another option would be just to source the boxes altogether.  I just bought 11 completed half blind dovetail drawers in various sizes and depths up to 8".  5/8" hard maple, sanded and ready to finish.  The joints look as good as I can do with my Leigh Super18 jig.  Paid less than $30 per drawer.  They even cut the two slots in the back for Tandem glides. 

How about getting a little portable router table?  You don't need much for such a non-demanding task.  A Ryobi from Home Depot would do it.  They have one for $99 that comes WITH a little 1.5hp router.  It even has above the table height adjustment.  It's a casual use tool but it would certainly make grooves for drawer bottoms. 

 

[Ken Nagrod]

No table saw?  Any kind of table saw?  You don't need a dado blade, just a couple of passes with a full kerf blade on the table saw would do it.  Three passes, four at the most, with a thin kerf.

1/4" bottom should be fine if your using Tandem glides.  And if it's your own kitchen you certainly want Tandem with Blumotion or a good knockoff.  I've made drawers over 30" wide with 1/2 thick sides.  Tandem drawer glides are the key.  As a matter of fact, the maximum thickness is 5/8" with the under mount glides.

There is another option altogether.  Prefinished drawer stock.  Comes typically in 8' lengths and number of standard widths up to 12", already has the slot.  It's 1/2" prefinished ply that already has the top edgebanded.  I've made drawers up to 34x21 with it.  And these are drawers that are loaded not just with pots and pans but with dishes.  I've had good success cutting half blind dovetails in it, with a sharp bit of course.  To mask the ply in the the pins by applying a dark stain after assembly.  The stain won't adhere well to the finish on the tails. 

Yet another option would be just to source the boxes altogether.  I just bought 11 completed half blind dovetail drawers in various sizes and depths up to 8".  5/8" hard maple, sanded and ready to finish.  The joints look as good as I can do with my Leigh Super18 jig.  Paid less than $30 per drawer.  They even cut the two slots in the back for Tandem glides. 

How about getting a little portable router table?  You don't need much for such a non-demanding task.  A Ryobi from Home Depot would do it.  They have one for $99 that comes WITH a little 1.5hp router.  It even has above the table height adjustment.  It's a casual use tool but it would certainly make grooves for drawer bottoms. 

Blum 562F Tandem slides handle 3/4" thick material.  Maximum weight per Blum's Tandem slides are 75 lbs./pair for the different 562 series.

 

[mastercabman]

No table saw?  Any kind of table saw?  You don't need a dado blade, just a couple of passes with a full kerf blade on the table saw would do it.  Three passes, four at the most, with a thin kerf.

1/4" bottom should be fine if your using Tandem glides.  And if it's your own kitchen you certainly want Tandem with Blumotion or a good knockoff.  I've made drawers over 30" wide with 1/2 thick sides.  Tandem drawer glides are the key.  As a matter of fact, the maximum thickness is 5/8" with the under mount glides.

There is another option altogether.  Prefinished drawer stock.  Comes typically in 8' lengths and number of standard widths up to 12", already has the slot.  It's 1/2" prefinished ply that already has the top edgebanded.  I've made drawers up to 34x21 with it.  And these are drawers that are loaded not just with pots and pans but with dishes.  I've had good success cutting half blind dovetails in it, with a sharp bit of course.  To mask the ply in the the pins by applying a dark stain after assembly.  The stain won't adhere well to the finish on the tails. 

Yet another option would be just to source the boxes altogether.  I just bought 11 completed half blind dovetail drawers in various sizes and depths up to 8".  5/8" hard maple, sanded and ready to finish.  The joints look as good as I can do with my Leigh Super18 jig.  Paid less than $30 per drawer.  They even cut the two slots in the back for Tandem glides. 

How about getting a little portable router table?  You don't need much for such a non-demanding task.  A Ryobi from Home Depot would do it.  They have one for $99 that comes WITH a little 1.5hp router.  It even has above the table height adjustment.  It's a casual use tool but it would certainly make grooves for drawer bottoms. 

Blum 562F Tandem slides handle 3/4" thick material.  Maximum weight per Blum's Tandem slides are 75 lbs./pair for the different 562 series.

Blum has glides for 5/8" and 3/4" thick drawers

 

[Julian Tracy]

We buy Festools because they are the best made tools.  Always strikes me as odd when all these smart people (Festool users) try and use the wrong tool for the job...

Drawer side grooves: router table. 

JT

 

[BobKovacs]

We buy Festools because they are the best made tools.  Always strikes me as odd when all these smart people (Festool users) try and use the wrong tool for the job...

Drawer side grooves: router table. 

JT

Agreed.  I don't understand the idea of "I've got all these fancy tools- I've got to find a way to use them for anything and everything, even if they're not the easiest or smartest way to get the job done."

Depending on whether I felt like dragging out the router table or not, I'd either do the grooves with the router table, or with the OF1010 and edge guide.  That would probably depend on whether I was doing one drawer or 20.  In the OP's case, I'd probably use the router table, since it's easier to run the pieces through quickly than to have to keep shuffling pieces to run the handheld router over them.  I don't think I'd ever consider trying to use the MFT, or use the router mounted on a guardrail- too much of a PITA for such a simple operation.

 

[builderbob]

No table saw?  Any kind of table saw?  You don't need a dado blade, just a couple of passes with a full kerf blade on the table saw would do it.  Three passes, four at the most, with a thin kerf.

1/4" bottom should be fine if your using Tandem glides.  And if it's your own kitchen you certainly want Tandem with Blumotion or a good knockoff.  I've made drawers over 30" wide with 1/2 thick sides.  Tandem drawer glides are the key.  As a matter of fact, the maximum thickness is 5/8" with the under mount glides.

There is another option altogether.  Prefinished drawer stock.  Comes typically in 8' lengths and number of standard widths up to 12", already has the slot.  It's 1/2" prefinished ply that already has the top edgebanded.  I've made drawers up to 34x21 with it.  And these are drawers that are loaded not just with pots and pans but with dishes.  I've had good success cutting half blind dovetails in it, with a sharp bit of course.  To mask the ply in the the pins by applying a dark stain after assembly.  The stain won't adhere well to the finish on the tails. 

Yet another option would be just to source the boxes altogether.  I just bought 11 completed half blind dovetail drawers in various sizes and depths up to 8".  5/8" hard maple, sanded and ready to finish.  The joints look as good as I can do with my Leigh Super18 jig.  Paid less than $30 per drawer.  They even cut the two slots in the back for Tandem glides. 

How about getting a little portable router table?  You don't need much for such a non-demanding task.  A Ryobi from Home Depot would do it.  They have one for $99 that comes WITH a little 1.5hp router.  It even has above the table height adjustment.  It's a casual use tool but it would certainly make grooves for drawer bottoms. 

Blum 562F Tandem slides handle 3/4" thick material.  Maximum weight per Blum's Tandem slides are 75 lbs./pair for the different 562 series.

Blum has glides for 5/8" and 3/4" thick drawers

That's correct!  The 562F is for 3/4" drawer box construction and the 562H is for 1/2" or 5/8". I order 5/8" solid boxes for my clients, so I usually order the H's!

Bob

 

[semenza]

Please note that  Bill, the OP, does not have a router table. Hence the other methods.

Seth

 

[fshanno]

Blum 562F Tandem slides handle 3/4" thick material.  Maximum weight per Blum's Tandem slides are 75 lbs./pair for the different 562 series.

Thanks for the correction, I would have led the OP astray.  But I'm glad I posted my "mistake" and I'm glad somebody read it because I never knew this.  I never even looked at the F's.  I just type 562H in the search box.  Starting with 4/4 material you would certainly have less waste if you stopped at 3/4".  

 

[sancho57]

I had the same question not to long ago. I have a table saw and router table but I wanted to make the rooves entirelt with festoons. I used 1/2" baltic birch for the drawer boxes. Clamp elements wouldnt work, when cut to width I could use the 101 because it kep hitting the clamps.

So I got the edge guide for the 1010.

Still hit the clamps. So what I found was the easiest way was to take th sheet of baltic birch.(ya dont need the full sheet.)

Clmap it to the mft, route the groove, rip to width with paralell guides, and repeat. Once yer set up it goes pretty quick.

 

[ccarrolladams]

Hi, Bill, Seth and Everyone,

Decades ago, my own approach to making drawer grooves was to use a router with an edge guide and either a 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" bit depending on the thickness of the bottom. To prevent those old fashioned routers tipping, I screwed a long piece of scrap the thickness of the sides to my work surface. That scrap was ripped parallel half the width of the router's base plate. I would then place the side of the drawer inside up with the bottom against that scrap. If the side was less than 4" I would place a second drawer side against it on the other side and clamp that. My router edge guide was set for the width of the scrap plus the width of the solid part of the drawer below the groove. At the end of this assembly away from me I screwed down another piece of scrap to prevent tear-out at the end of the groove.

It did not take more than a couple of minutes to set up that fixture. Once set up I could groove all the sides for a dozen drawers of different heights in an hour or so.

When the MFT, with guide rail, came out, I used an OF1010 with a guide rail plate and the appropriate up-cutting bit. I still used a piece of scrap near the outside of the guide rail to work in connection to the adjustable support foot of the OF1010 to prevent tipping. That was set in such a position  that the groove was the correct distance from the lower edge of the drawer side. I kept a scrap at the far end to prevent tear-out and used another piece of scrap under the rail to pinch the side I was routing firmly in place.

For those of you who do have a router table with a convenient lifter, I suggest using a slot cutter set appropriately above the table. Use a feather board to ensure the work on edge is in solid contact with the router table fence. The advantage to using a slot-cutter is that both sides of the groove are smooth.

Like so many cabinet shops, for decades I ordered my drawer boxes from vendors. Fortunately here in California I have many drawer makers very close to me. That way I could obtain exactly the quality of drawer called for in the client's specs at affordable price points.

Of course I have always enjoyed drawer making. So early in 2011 I decided to add a drawer-making department to my shop. We took delivery of a brand-new Alexander Dodds Co. CNC drawer dovetail machine, along with their automatic assembly clamp system. We mostly machine our own solid wood sides from raw lumber as we do for face frames, doors and drawer fronts. To create enough grooves in a lot of drawer sides, we dedicate a molder. It has sets of knives ground to make 6mm and 12mm grooves. Think of this as being like a dado head coming down from above. Both sides of every groove are clean and neat.

Please remember that there are many brands of drawer slides besides Brand B. When designing cabinets it is important to consider the weight of the expected load in every drawer. Then you must select appropriate part numbers for the slides, and those might not all be the same on a given job. Each slide must be appropriate for its drawer. Selection of the slides informs the details of a given drawer. The load in the drawer informs selection of thickness of the sides and bottom.

There are so many ways to construct drawers and only so many hours in the day. I make most of my own drawer boxes now because I enjoy doing so, I have the space and enough cabinet makers in my shop I have the time. I know a lot of very fine cabinet makers who only order their drawer boxes. They know how to make drawer boxes but do not have the space or time to do so. I personally believe everyone who aspires to build cabinets take the time to learn how to build drawer boxes from scratch. Then if you must order your boxes, at least you will better communicate with your drawer box vendors!

 

[tiralie]

I personally believe everyone who aspires to build cabinets take the time to learn how to build drawer boxes from scratch. Then if you must order your boxes, at least you will better communicate with your drawer box vendors!

Couldn't agree more.
Well put ccarrolladams.
Tim

 

[sancho57]

thank you very nicely written and very good info

 

[Brandon]

I would suggest a table saw with a dado blade if that's an option? Router setup takes much longer. 1/2" bottoms are the way to go. If you opt for 1/4" bottoms you may want to put some 1/2" rips on the bottom to add some strength with glue and staples from the bottom, hot glue would be easy and effective also to attach them. Obviously avoid putting the rips where the undermount glides will be.