Frame and Panel Drawer Front?

[R. Sam]

Hi all, constructing a freestanding pantry and plan on building drawer fronts using frame and panel construction and am curious how you may attach them to the drawer boxes.

I'm using Blum Tandem slides and will be building the drawer boxes out of 1/2" BB ply. I intend for the drawer fronts to be partial overlay.

I'd like to use 1/2" BB ply for the panel and 3/4 hardwood (1x from the hardware store) for the frame. My concern is that there will be a gap between the panel and the front of the box, so I'm bouncing around a couple of ideas to mitigate that.

1) Rabbet the edge of the drawer front panel and recess the dadoes in the frame slightly so that the back of the panel is flush with the back of the frame.

2) Leave the plywood full width and dado down the middle of the frames. Then place a small spacer strip (or two) inside the frame and against the panel that is flush to the back edge of the frame to take up the extra space and attach the drawer front through that.

By problem with 1 is that, aesthetically, the panel will be set pretty deep inside the frame leaving about a 1/4" vice the smaller lip with option 2.

Would option 2 be sturdy? My challenge there is I'm working out of my home shop vice the large hobby shop I normally use so I don't have a planer to get the spacers to thickness. I'd be slicing them off of the edge of 1x that I bought at the hardware store.

What do you guys think?

Sam

[jteneyck]

If you are using Baltic birch panels life got easier since you don't have to worry about seasonal expansion/contraction like with solid wood.  I would go with option 2 so that all the panels are set the same depth when viewed from the front.  Shim out on the backside by slicing shims off with your table saw a little thicker than needed.  Glue them in place, and then use a hand plane to bring them flush with the frames.  Not hard at all.  

John

[tablesawtom]

If you are using Baltic birch panels life got easier since you don't have to worry about seasonal expansion/contraction like with solid wood.  I would go with option 2 so that all the panels are set the same depth when viewed from the front.  Shim out on the backside by slicing shims off with your table saw a little thicker than needed.  Glue them in place, and then use a hand plane to bring them flush with the frames.  Not hard at all.  

John

I am going to do a kitchen build for my daughter and she wants the same thing. I am going to use a shaker stile rail and style set I have, and rabbit the back of the plywood panel. She wants the kitchen painted white so I will finish the inside of the styles and rail and the front face of the plywood. Assemble the door and send it through the drup sander I have. A drum sander has a way of flattening stile, rail and panel doors. 

I will mask off the door panel and spray finish the rest of the door and drawer fronts that way there will not be any finish build up in the corners.

I like the shaker cutters because they have an angle to the inside lip making dirt and junk build up easier to clean up.

Tom

[R. Sam]

Thanks for the replies guys. After almost doing it the exact opposite of what you suggested John (and soliciting advice from a couple of buddies with pictures of mockups) I went with the panel more or less centered on the stiles and rails. I’m currently sitting in front of the (mostly) done cabinet (needs some touch up paint and pulls installed) and drinking a beer.

I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. This project has a lot of meaning to me in that, for quite some time, while I’ve considered one of my hobbies to be woodworking for quite some time, I’ve also suffered from perfectionism. I’d start a project, come to a point where I couldn’t figure out how to execute a particular step to my standards, and move on to the next project. There was an impetus for personal growth in my recent past (read: break-up), and I decided this project will be different. I’m going to finish it.

Perfectionism can suck. I got a good laugh out of reading the recent thread on sharpening the chip breaker vice the blade. In the past that kind of mistake would’ve panicked me. I’m glad I’m getting to the point that I know I could laugh about it. So I’m updating this and sharing my struggle and my project.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, perfection is impossible and pursuing it can be a real road block. All the best to you guys and thanks for the advice.

Sam

[R. Sam]

Trying to add a picture...