WOw, you guys are filling my head with all kinds of interesting stuff. So, it seems the one advantage of a dado cut is you can use the saw and keep stuff really straight. I assume you can do this of course equally as well with a router and an edge guide. Of course I don't have a dado stack or the proper throat plate yet for my saw, but you did give me yet another idea and I'll post on that shortly. Thanks for the additional info, I'm filing these away. Maybe I can consolidate the various ways and Dave could put them on the site. Might be helpful to some folks in the future.
On Jul 19, 2008, at 9:20 PM, Lenny McHugh wrote: > 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 > > > Scott Howell [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
