Hi Scott, Well Dale described making drawers several great ways. I did see a set of drawer locking router bits. I accomplished the same by using my table saw and using a 1/4" stacked dado blade. I first made a 1/4"x1/4" dado cut around the bottom of the front and side pieces of the drawer. While the saw was set up this way I also made a front and rear dado cut on both side pieces. I then moved the fence so that I could make a 1/4x1/4 rabbet cut along the height of the front and rear panels. For the front panel this cut is on the opposite side of the dado cut. I then made the rear panel 1/2" shorter than the other pieces. On the inside of the front panel, same side as the dado I drilled 2 holes with a pocket hole bit and made the pocket 1/4" deep. This is really not necessary, I just did not want the screw heads to show. For assembly I used glue on and inside the vertical dado cuts and slid the back and bottom pieces in place. I was careful to make sure that the rear panel was not lower than the 1/4" dado in the sides. I used a band clamp to hold all of the sides together and used a tape measure to make sure it was square. If square the opposite diagonals will be the same length. when the glue was dry I slid in the bottom of the drawer and tacked it in place at the back panel. I left the drawer bottom float in the front and side panels. Incidentally the drawer sides were all made from 1/2" stock. I cheated in mounting the drawer front. I put the drawer in place and made sure it could go back about 1/2". I placed two small pieces of double faced tape on the front of the drawer. I then carefully held the drawer front over the opening and centering it. Holding it in place I reached under and pulled the drawer until it made contact with the tape. The tape temporarily held the drawer front in place. Using two F clamps to hold it tight I used two 1" screws to hold the front on. If I would have used 3/4" stock, I would have used a 1/4" dado for the bottom and 3/8" dados for the drawer construction. This is just one other way to make the drawer and add to your confusion.
Lenny ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Howell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 7:32 PM Subject: Re: [SPAM][BlindHandyMan] making a drawer Tom, that is a fine idea and I think that would work quite well. Appreciate the plans. I already know that the counter top I got has a rounded edge that hangs a little low from the actual top. So basically I'm going to add some wood to make up for that for my keyboard tray and also for the side pieces when I mount the drawer. Hey, this is going to work great. Btw, in case anyone wants to know, you can purchase the counter tops in such a way to already have those 45- degree angles which is what I meant, but I kept saying 90-degree so just ignore me. grin On Jul 19, 2008, at 10:15 AM, Tom Hodges wrote: > Scott, I recently built a workbench and made the top from a piece of > scrap > kitchen countertop with Formica on it. I will just address building > the > drawer, because the way I built it was very simple. > > The face plate on the workbench below the front edge of the > countertop was a > 1" x 6", which is 5 ½" high. I built the drawer by cutting the > opening the > face plate before I assembled the workbench. The opening for the > drawer was > 3 ¾ high and 18 ¼" wide. Here is the simple method I used for > building the > drawer: > > I bought an 8 foot piece of 1" x 4" pine relatively clear of knots. > The > first thing I did with this board was run it along my fence of my > table saw > and cut a groove in the bottom about 3/8" deep, 3/8" from the edge > of the > board. Since the saw blade isn't quite a ¼" wide, even with the > carbide > tip, I moved the fence over slightly and ran the board across the > table saw > one more time and ended up with a grove 3/8" deep and ¼" wide. Then, > I cut > the board into two 18" long pieces for the sides of the drawer, and > two 16 > ½" pieces for the front and back of the drawer (when assembled, I > have an > 18" by 18" outside dimension drawer). I bought a ¼" thick piece of > plywood > and cut it to fit into the slot all the way all four sides of the > drawer. > So, with an 18" by 18" drawer, the inside dimension will be 16 ½" by > 16 ½", > and if you could measure inside the slot you cut all the way around, > that > dimension is 16 ½" plus 3/8" plus 3/8" in each direction, which 17 > ¼" . So > I cut the ¼" plywood 17 1/8" square so it will fit inside the > grooves with a > 1/16" tolerance all the way around. > > I drilled and screwed the front rail to the side rails, making sure > that > slot is lined up all the way around these three pieces. Then I set > with the > face down and slid the ¼" plywood into the slots. Then I added the end > piece and drilled and screwed it on. After that, I built a face plate, > which is about ½" larger than the front of the drawer, or 4 ½" by > 19", and > screwed it to the front of the drawer from the inside. That is > basically > how I built the drawer - very simple, and you don't have to worry > about > tongue and grooves or anything like that. > > I won't go into the mounting except to say I bought metal and roller > guides > that attach to the sides of the drawer and allow you to pull the > drawer > completely out without it falling out. These are available at Lowes, > Home > Depot, etc. and mounting instructions are included. > > Good luck, > > Tom > > _____ > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected] > ] > On Behalf Of Scott Howell > Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 8:23 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [SPAM][BlindHandyMan] making a drawer > > Hey folks, I am finally relocating in the house to gain additional > space. I've got a plan for a desk/work surface, but I was trying to > figure out how I could make a good solid drawer. I guess I could > figure some of this out like making a groove in the sides to fit the > bottom into and if I did this, what router bit would be best suited > for making that type of groove and I imagine I'd have to find one that > is the same thickness as the board I want to fit all the sides on too. > Now as far as getting all the sides connected. I guess I could just > run some screws into the ends and that would work, but is there a > better way or a way that might not necessarily be better, but might > make for a stronger drawer? I did a little reading on dovetail joints, > but I suspect this is way out of my skill level at this point. I > believe those joints are like fingers that interlock at a 90 degree > angle and are I imagine either glued or just pressure fitted. In any > event, any thoughts appreciated. > If anyone is interested, I'm going to take two counter tops and use a > piece of melamine (however that's spelled) and use that to make the > corner piece of the l which will keep me from having to rip the edge > of the counter top partially off or trying to rip a 90 degree angle on > both halves. That is how it looks like they did the counter tops in > our kitchen. They cut the two tops at a 90 degree angle and slapped > them together. Nothing wrong with this but gee I got this nice scrap > lying here, might as well try to put it to good use. Well actually > this does bring up one other question. If I wanted to cut the top at a > 90 degree angle, how would I use the miter cross cut tool on my table > saw? I know that might seem like a silly question, but I haven't used > the gage yet so not sure exactly how I would use that while pushing > the wood through. > > tnx > > Scott Howell > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:s.howell%40verizon.net> net > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > Scott Howell [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Send any questions regarding list management to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 Or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: http://www.jaws-users.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Groups Links __________ NOD32 3281 (20080718) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com
