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I'm no expert and will be doing dovetails for only the second time ever. The drawer opening is pretty large, little over 12" horizontal. I was going to make the drawer boxes 7" tall. Can I glue a false front to the front of this and be ok? That would leave about 5" where the false front and box aren't touching. I was really hoping to make the false front thickness 5/8". (And the box 3/4", unless I can get away with 3/8 there as well)
Can that work?
Box is poplar
False front is Sipo (Mahogany)
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Drawer fronts are usually screwed on using pan head screws and a slightly oversize hole for adjustment. Thickness should be the same as the cabinet doorz.
Unless I misunderstood....
Ed
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I've always done 3/4, same as my doors
Steve
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08-21-2020, 05:29 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-21-2020, 05:32 AM by fredhargis.)
Did you mean that to be 12" vertical???? If so, what you want to do will work just fine (maybe) but as pointed out above you want to screw the drawer fronts on...no glue. To me, the thickness question depends on the type of construction. If it's a solid wood panel, the extra 5" might be a problem (with horizontal grain) but frame and panel or plywood with edging should be fine, though I would want 3/4" for the extra strength. If it's solid wood and the grain direction is vertical I also think you'll be just fine. Most drawer boxes I make are 5/8" thick....mostly because I usually start with 3/4" poplar and don't want to plane them down any further. So I suspect that regardless of what you do with the drawer fronts the 5/8" (here you said 3/8.. I'm guessing that's really 5/8") drawer boxes will be fine.
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Yes sorry, 5/8 is correct. And yes to 12" vertical. Wife wants to be able to stack pots and pans in the drawer. The entire island is mahogany with the interior drawers being poplar. And I was going to make the drawer fronts solid wood. The grain would run horizontally. (The width is almost 2 foot, they are big drawers.)
Why is a drawer front grain running horizontal bad?
Why is gluing the front to the box bad? (Because one day you might want to replace them?)
Should I plane these poplar boards down to 5/8" or even 1/2" instead ?
Thank you for replying to me.
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08-21-2020, 03:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-21-2020, 03:58 PM by iclark.)
(08-21-2020, 03:34 PM)themoon Wrote: Yes sorry, 5/8 is correct. And yes to 12" vertical. Wife wants to be able to stack pots and pans in the drawer. The entire island is mahogany with the interior drawers being poplar. And I was going to make the drawer fronts solid wood. The grain would run horizontally. (The width is almost 2 foot, they are big drawers.)
Why is a drawer front grain running horizontal bad?
Why is gluing the front to the box bad? (Because one day you might want to replace them?)
Should I plane these poplar boards down to 5/8" or even 1/2" instead ?
Thank you for replying to me.
I would guess that the answer to horizontal grain and glue are both the different expansion and contraction of poplar and mahogany.
For those more experienced than me, would a thin mahogany veneer glued to the poplar be stable? This would assume actually making the poplar drawer front 12" high.
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One uses screws on drawer fronts because there is no way in he11 you'll ever get them straight without adjustment.
Not doubting your accuracy, but there is a tolerance stack in the cabinet build up that needs to be accounted for, the screws and oversize holes do that.
There are special screws for them, they have an oversize pan head.
I would also use full extension slides for ease of use.....
Ed
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08-22-2020, 05:47 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-22-2020, 05:56 AM by fredhargis.)
(08-21-2020, 03:34 PM)themoon Wrote: Yes sorry, 5/8 is correct. And yes to 12" vertical. Wife wants to be able to stack pots and pans in the drawer. The entire island is mahogany with the interior drawers being poplar. And I was going to make the drawer fronts solid wood. The grain would run horizontally. (The width is almost 2 foot, they are big drawers.)
Why is a drawer front grain running horizontal bad?
Why is gluing the front to the box bad? (Because one day you might want to replace them?)
Should I plane these poplar boards down to 5/8" or even 1/2" instead ?
Thank you for replying to me.
As mentioned above the screws will allow you to accommodate the alignment issues you will undoubtedly have. They also allow for wood movement. As for the grain direction, you'll have 5" of board exposed that someone might choose to use as a handle, the horizontal grain will be much more prone to break versus a vertical orientation. Of course pretty much no one wants a vertical orientation on drawer fronts, so just be aware of what might happen. I have seen one piece drawer fronts/doors made with a solid board and they had what's sometimes called "strongbacks" on them. This is just a cross grain cleat designed to strengthen the board. It also helps prevent cuppping, but you do need to plan for wood movement. The pic shows some on cabinet doors that are solid panel. One more thing, since these are pot and pans drawers, it might be worth while to leave the drawer boxes at 5/8" (or more) to give the drawer a little more robust construction.
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(08-20-2020, 08:35 PM)Stwood_ Wrote: I've always done 3/4, same as my doors
+1
Jim
Jim
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Thank you everyone for replying back to me.
I'll go ahead and make the boxes at least 5/8" as suggested.
And I'll screw the front face on. I could see trying to glue them on would be a big hassle from them moving all over there place.
I went ahead and purchased full extension slides. KV brand.
Thanks again guys.
