Piston-fit Drawer Question

[Joel H.]

Hi all, I'm building a George III 9-drawer dresser.  Here's a pic of it:



Here's where I am so far:



The lower three drawers will have Blum under mount slides, but the top three drawers - because they are only 3 1/2" high - will not use slides.  My question is, how close to the actual width do you build the drawers for a good fit?  The openings are 25" wide on the outside and 17" on the middle drawer.

Joel

[TomFromStLouis]

If you want a piston fit then less than 1/16" total gap in width is your goal. make the box right at opening size and plane to fit.

[YSU65]

And keep it in a humidity and temperature controlled room.  I see lots of difference between winter and summer here in upstate NY.  If you live in a place that has more extreme swings in T & H you may have problems with a very tight fit.

[Joel H.]

Thanks Tom, that's exactly what i needed to know.  YSU, the dresser is sitting  in my non-climate controlled garage and won't see A/C until after fully finished.  No choice in this.

Joel

[rwe2156]

Thanks Tom, that's exactly what i needed to know.  YSU, the dresser is sitting  in my non-climate controlled garage and won't see A/C until after fully finished.  No choice in this.

Joel

This may be a problem.  I would make the drawers tight and plan on final tune up a few weeks after moved inside.

Nice looking project.

[Hank Knight]

Joel,

The traditional way to get "piston-fit" drawers is to cut the fronts, backs and sides of each drawer and size them individually to fit the drawer openings exactly. You can be very precise sizing them with a hand plane. Then dovetail the sides to the fronts and backs, being careful to get the alingment of the sides to the fonts and backs right and suare. Assemble the drawer, then hand plane the sides to get the fit you're looking for.

Here's a photo of a simple planing jig to hold the drawer while you plane the sides:



Here's a photo of planing the sides with the drawer in the jig. Actually, I think he's planing the drawer font in the photo, but the sides are planed the same way. The holding jig has two sets of slots to accommodate both the width and the length of the drawer.



You'll probably have to plane the tops and bottoms to take care of any slight alignment irregularities that occurred during the glue-up:


Photo credits: Craig Vandall Stevens at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in about 2005. He's using a Japanese plane.

I agree with the suggestion to wait several weeks after the piece is moved inside to do the final sizing. It will probably lose moisture and shrink a little, so you may find that very little planing is needed, if any.

That's a nice looking piece. Please post photos when you're done.

Hank

[Bibliophile 13]

I aim for drawers that are the exact dimensions of the opening, then plane them to fit. It's tedious sometimes, but worth the fussing. I've known guys to cut the backs just a little shorter than the fronts--maybe by 1/16"--so that the drawer isn't perfectly square, but tapers very slightly toward the back. Makes it easier to fit the drawer, and makes it less likely to stick except in the very front.

[Joel H.]

More excellent information guys - thanks!  

Everything is coming along great.  I've applied the stain - my grandson wants it that way - SW Classic Cherry Oil Stain.  I've glued up the drawer box pieces - not planed or cut to size yet.

After the stain I'll topcoat with Arm-R-Seal Satin.

And yes I'll be sure to post pics when done.

Thanks for all the help.

Joel

[Steve N]

And keep it in a humidity and temperature controlled room.  I see lots of difference between winter and summer here in upstate NY.  If you live in a place that has more extreme swings in T & H you may have problems with a very tight fit.

We have a piece in our home, and even with climate control most every day of the year it has days through the Summer where you just can't get into 2 drawers. I think the real answer is going to be wholly dependent on where you are at geographically. Unless you are willing to just leave it be if you get those few days when even with the air on, it's too humid for the gap you choose, I'd always opt for a looser fit.

[AHill]

"Piston fit" to me means you're gonna have issues if you make the piston fit in a lower humidity than what you'll experience when it's hot and humid.  I built a really nice tool cabinet here in the Mojave Desert.  The drawers fit nicely, but they were not a "piston fit".  When I moved to St. Louis, I couldn't open up two drawers to save my life.  I had to remove the back and use a mallet to extract the drawers, then plane them down to fit.

Several years ago at one of the WIA's, Mario Rodriguez gave a class on fitting drawers.  He said he spent far more time fitting drawers than he did making them.  Essentially, you fit the drawer to the carcase by planing the sides and/or tops until they fit.  Go slow and you won't end up with a drawer than looks like a bad haircut.