Drawer front installation

[tablesawtom]

I am going to be building a new kitchen for my daughter. The bottom cabinets will be all drawers, no doors. I am going to use blum drawer slides and the drawer fronts will be applied with a 1/2 inch reveal.

There will be a lot of drawers and I would like on what to use or tip that will make it faster and easier to apply the drawer fronts. Appling draw fronts is easy. Appling the fronts and getting all of them to line up and be where they need to be is not. 

Blum has several different locking devises. Some adjust sideways, some adjust vertically and I don't know if any adjust in both directions. I am sure that there are other ways of doing this out there on the market. I am not locked into any method at the present time. And I would be happy to hear from anyone with experience on how they handled their situation. O what is out there that will handle the situation.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

[museumguy]

What we used to do, drill for the hardware before installing the fronts. Use a pocket hole screw with a small head to temporarily attach the front. Open the drawer and attach it from the inside with appropriate screws.

[barnowl]

...
... Appling draw fronts is easy. Appling the fronts and getting all of them to line up and be where they need to be is not. 

....

Thanks in advance.

Tom

Install the drawer boxes with their slides, stops, etc.

Realize from the beginning that the fronts and boxes do not have to be at all symmetric. One has nothing to do with the other.

The boxes are dependent on the framing, etc, where the drawer fronts are installed to be the most eye appealing.

Then, use spacers, blue tape, and playing cards to "stack" the drawer fronts in front of the drawer boxes so that they look the best.

Take a picture, and count the playing cards/spacers/etc for each space between the fronts, so that they can be re-installed perfectly. Of course, making sure they are plumb, and equally spaced on each side as well.

Then, use either double sided tape, or a hot glue gun, and rebuild your stack exactly the same, so that this time, the fronts stick to the boxes.

Now, from the insides, use a staple gun, or screws, and then install your pulls.

Hope that helps.

[KLaz]

Perfect timing for your question, as I'm finishing up our master bath this morning.  Good time for a break anyway!

I use Fast Cap's drawer front jig.  It drills a 3/16" hole at a 15* angle through the drawer box so it allows the screw to grab into the stile of the front

   

Here you can see the holes in the drawer box

   

I'm using Blum slides and the clips that allow adjustment both vertical and horizontal

   

Since this is the top drawer I'm working on, I use double stick tape to temporarily hold the front on.  For the others I just reach inside the cabinet to mark the holes.

   

1/8" spacers

   

Using a centering punch I mark the location of the holes in the drawer front and using the dimple I can pre-drill a hole for the screw

   

   

These boxes are maple, but no need to counter sink.  Set the drill on torque 1 and they suck right into the maple with ease

   

Ready for pulls and any adjustment you need with the Blum clips

   

[tablesawtom]

Perfect timing for your question, as I'm finishing up our master bath this morning.  Good time for a break anyway!

I use Fast Cap's drawer front jig.  It drills a 3/16" hole at a 15* angle through the drawer box so it allows the screw to grab into the stile of the front



Here you can see the holes in the drawer box



I'm using Blum slides and the clips that allow adjustment both vertical and horizontal



Since this is the top drawer I'm working on, I use double stick tape to temporarily hold the front on.  For the others I just reach inside the cabinet to mark the holes.



1/8" spacers



Using a centering punch I mark the location of the holes in the drawer front and using the dimple I can pre-drill a hole for the screw





These boxes are maple, but no need to counter sink.  Set the drill on torque 1 and they suck right into the maple with ease



Ready for pulls and any adjustment you need with the Blum clips

If I understand you correctly you are applying the front and then using the adjustment of the clips to move the drawer around so that the sides of the drawere are in alignment, as well as top to bottom.

I read that some clips have horizontal adjustment and some have vertical adjustment but I didn't  know if some con do both and you do happen tho have the blum number for them?

[KLaz]

T51.1901

These allow both vertical and side adjustments

[lift mechanic]

The Blum slides have 3mm of adjustment horiz. and vertical. There is another add on adjuster that will allow for in and out adjustment, mostly for inset drawers. When I make the drawer fronts I allow for 3/32" in between drawer fronts. I start at the bottom and work my way up. Try to get them as close as possible as 3mm is not much, but normally enough. Double sided tape is your friend.

[cme4dk]

I made the holes oversized in the front of the drawer boxes for adjustment purposes and the screws for the handles finalized the position for the drawer fronts at the very end.

Also do not put the backs on the cabinets until the drawer fronts are in place.

Jay

[tablesawtom]

I thank all of you. I got the information I needed, plus some other good tips. This is my fourth kitchen, but the first with rail and stile and panel construction on the drawer fronts. Usually I get the drawer fronts on with a coupe of screws and use a router with a 1/4 rabbeting bit and run the router down the side Then I know where both drawer ends are. Eedge the drawers, Apply the  finish and one is ready to go. But if the stiles and rails aren't even all way around it would sure stand out like a sore thumb it the fronts were out of balance.

So thanks again

Tom

[Cooler]

I pre-drill for two mounting screws using undersized pilot holes.  I then drive in the screws from the inside so about 3/16" of the point is exposed.

I then press the drawer front onto the front of the drawer (while in the cabinet).  That will reveal t marks on the back of the drawer front. 

I then drill pilot holes in the drawer front where the screw marks appear.  That will get you a nearly perfect fit.

Then I  enlarge the holes in the drawer itself to 3/16" diameter to allow some additional adjustment.

Then I screw the front onto the drawer just tight enough to hold it in position.

After all the  drawers are installed I can make adjustments up/down/right/left because the drawer hole is oversize. 

I tighten the screws once all the drawers are aligned and properly spaced.

Then I add the drawer handles.

Using the washer-head cabinet screws you can even go to 1/4" diameter for the drawer holes allowing greater adjustment, however I never found that necessary.  You can enlarge the holes after the fact if you need more adjustment.

I have had good experiences using this method. 

And all drawers is the way to go.  It makes for much more efficient use of space.  I suspect that the only reason that doors are so much more popular is that the cost of hardware for two doors is far less than the cost of hardware for four drawers.