Drawer Front Install Help

[illegalsmile]

Hoping to get some advice to make this an easy task !

I am building a dresser that has 4 rows of drawers, two drawers per row for three rows and 4 drawers on the top row.

The drawer fronts will be QS White oak 3/4 thick attached to the front of my already completed drawer boxes. Drawer boxes are mounted with full extension side mount ball bearing slides.

The sides of the dresser are frame and panel construction with the top and bottom rails set back 1/4 inch from the edge of the leg. The idea is that the drawer fronts will be set back this same 1/4 inch from the face of the legs on the front elevation of the piece.

I was very careful in mounting the drawer slides and the alignment of the front face of my drawer boxes is pretty good... but not perfect.
For this piece to look right, the drawer fronts that I will be adding to the boxes need to have a very precise vertical alignment. More precise then I have been able to accomplish with adjustment of the drawer slides.

I plan to attache the drawer fronts to the boxes by screwing thru from inside the box. Any suggestions to get the perfect vertical alignment of the drawer fronts? I planned to add small washers between the front and the drawer box as needed... but I suspect this will be very tedious and difficult to get the precision I seek.

Sure someone here has an innovative idea !

Below is a pic of what the front elevation of the piece.

Thanks !

[BobbtheEE]

I haven't done this but.....align with spacers, while drawers are closed and in place, and use double stick tape to maintain position until fronts are fastened ?

[John Mihich]

Similar except I have been using hot glue lately. I don't have luck with tape. The other thing you can do is enlarge the inside hole a bit so you can adjust the fronts. Use the screws that have large heads.

[David G]

Position the drawer front with the drawer closed. Use 1-2 screws through the drawer pull holes. Open drawer and secure from the inside of the drawer front. The drawer pull covers the screw head indentation.

Next time consider Blum undermount slides with the three way adjustment (in/out, up/down, tilt). Expensive, but they make adjustments a breeze.

[Paul K. Murphy]

Quote:

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Sure someone here has an innovative idea !

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I do.
I'm not going in to detail, sorry.
I've just got to get my blog going! This very question is one I plan to address. Maybe when I get home from work I'll post a photo. My opinion: this is, and should be, easy.
Maybe you should PM me, I might be able to share something with you. Posting photos is still a wee bit of a challenge for me. Long posts are tough too. I've been very busy.

[illegalsmile]

Thanks you everyone so far. Just want to clarify.. the problem I anticipate is not getting the reveals equal between the drawers.. but with getting a perfect vertical plane on the drawer fronts (horizontal as well but I think that will be a touch easier). To screw attach the drawer fronts means you have to take the upper drawers out... so you cant see when you have a perfect alignment. I plan to take a straight edge scrap and clamp it in the vertical plane and adjust to it. Even considering using a small flat bolt threaded thru the drawer box front to ask at a "set screw" to move the drawer front in or out as needed.

But sometimes... I overthink things !

[jteneyck]

You have a web frames or at least rails behind the drawers, right? If so, this should work. I try to use 4 screws per drawer. I predrill the holes in the front of the drawer box. OK, start at the bottom. Makes spacers the size of the gap you want. Set the 2 lower drawer fronts on those spacers and insert more spacers between them and between them and legs. Clamp the drawer fronts to the rail. Put 10 lbs or so of something in the two lower drawers and install 2 of the 4 screws, in opposite corners. Unclamp, remove the weights, and check. They should be perfect, but if they aren't you can either enlarge one or both holes in the drawer box front or use the one or both of the other holes. If you need to move up/down a lot (but you shouldn't) you should be able to move the slides in their slots. Get the bottom two drawer fronts perfect, then repeat the process working your way up. You can make tiny adjustments in the gap spacing to help visual alignment and you won't notice the actual difference. A piece or two of paper with the shim often helps a lot.

If the top is already on and you can't remove it to clamp the top drawers you'll have to use double stick tape, etc.

If you use Kreg screws or larger washer head screws this works great. But you can use regular screws, too, just get the alignment correct first with Kreg type screws, then install your regular screws in the other two holes, and then replace the Kreg screws with regular ones.

John

[illegalsmile]

John
There are no rails or dividers (stiles) between drawers, other then of course a center divider vertically to mount the drawer slides to (and of course at quarters for the top row of 4 drawers). The only rail is between the top row of 4 drawers and the lower rows, and it is set back and not exposed on the front elevation of the piece. The lack of rails between drawers is a major reason I have great concern to get that vertical alignment of drawer fronts spot on.

[Ken Vick]

illegalsmile said:

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John
There are no rails or dividers (stiles) between drawers, other then of course a center divider vertically to mount the drawer slides to (and of course at quarters for the top row of 4 drawers). The only rail is between the top row of 4 drawers and the lower rows, and it is set back and not exposed on the front elevation of the piece. The lack of rails between drawers is a major reason I have great concern to get that vertical alignment of drawer fronts spot on.

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Without rails or stiles between drawers what is to prevent looking directly into the chest through the reveals? Maybe I am missing something here. Ken

[Earl Kelly]

OK. Here's how I do it.First measure very carefully, side to side and top to bottom. Then figure how much spacing you want and cut drawer fronts to fit within spacing parameters. Make sure to have some shims or whatever the correct spacing thickness.

Before trying to mount drawer fronts lay them out on the work bench or plywood with the correct spacing to double check the fit. If everything looks correct then take all drawer boxes out except the bottom two. Mount those two and work your way up, two at a time. This way you will not need to hot glue or dbl tape the drawer fronts until you hit the top ones.

I use 5-6 screws per front depending on size. Another tip that may be obvious, but use sq drive screws, 'cause they stay on the bit and makes it much easier to install.

Another tip - keep some business cards, credit cards or veneer handy in case adjustments are necessary.

You don't have to get them perfect, but they should look like they are. Step back and take a look periodically because a 1/64-1/32" may not show from 3-5' away.