Befuddled: how to get a precise wedge?
#21
Take the drawer apart and make it out of square. You could avoid this by moving the rails out of parallel to the cabinet sides. It appears that you have the room to do this. Glue and brad nail shims to the cabinet where the rail screws attach. I think shortening the right side rail and cutting the bottom out of square is the best way.
mike
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#22
(11-03-2018, 03:36 PM)jgourlay Wrote: Okay, here are some photos to make clear.  First, an overall view where you can see the gap.
[Image: c00ea854-6428-4d51-b8ca-7d3f42ae0ca3-ori...fit=bounds]

The Gap is measured...about 1/4"

[Image: 84f8dae5-2524-4b91-b8ce-5a1cacfab0ab-ori...fit=bounds]

See the scribed line?  The thick (outside) part of the face that in this photo is 'above' the line is what I would have to plane off to fix this problem.  It's a LOT of material, and would leave that corner of the drawer structurally compromised.

If you look at scribed line, it goes off to the right, eventually trailing to the opposite corner.  I need to make a wedge this shape:  3" wide, 20" or so long, with this taper.  I'll glue that to the front, and it will make the drawer front parallel to the apron front.

The problem is making this wedge.

My thought is to scribe a line on your wedge material and work down to the line with your joiner - starting with a fairly thick piece, or course. Then I would rip the wedge side off on the tablesaw using the opposite side against the fence.

Hope that makes sense...

Dave
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#23
Seeing the photos helps. 

I would either rack the drawer box or rebuild it out of square if needed. 
With the top on the table no one will ever notice the drawer out of square, but any jury fix to the drawer front or box (such as a wedge) will be visible each time the drawer is opened.
Ralph Bagnall
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#24
(11-03-2018, 12:50 PM)jgourlay Wrote: Gentlemen, after nearly cutting off my fingers on the bandsaw twice this morning, I'm calling for help.  I'm trying to fix a problem on a piece of furniture where "starting over" or fixing the 'real' problem is simply not an option.  The problem is that a corner of a table base is not square, and so when I install drawer slides and the inset drawer, the drawer face is not parallel to the apron--and it's very noticeable.  Fixing the 'not square' is totally out of the question, so let's not go there.

The drawer faces are actually "false" fronts.  So, unless you all have a better way (which I hope you do), what I intend to do is glue a wedge between the drawer front and the false face.  This wedge would then bring the false front parallel to the apron.

The width is just under 3".  Looking at the triangular face of the wedge, it's about 1/4" "rise" over 20" of "run".  My Starret protractor is measuring it at a little over 1 degree.  As you can imagine, both wide faces need to be smooth enough to glue.  I can get the bandsaw to cut a large angle, 15 or 20 or 45 degrees on a short piece no problem.  But my attempts to cut this wedge with such a shallow angle with a long length turned out to be both very dangerous and unsuccessful.  Note that my 'run' is longer than the length of the miter slot on the bandsaw an the wedge is wider than the height of a table saw blade.  Unsuccessful in that instead giving a wedge, it just gave a more or less straight piece with a wavy cut face.

What do you think I should do?  Maybe some super tricky way to use a thickness planer?
If your fronts are applied to the drawer box. First get the drawer box front parallel to the apron. You may have to use shims or reposition interior mounting points. But, I would not recommend using wedges or tapering drawer front unless it's only a 1/16" or less. Anything more than that will look bad every time the drawer is opened.
Furniture...The Art of a Furnituremaker

Earl Kelly
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#25
I agree that what ever you do to the drawer front or false front will not look good no matter how neatly it is done. I would do what ever is necessary to adjust the rails so that the front is flush. I'm assuming that the drawer on the other side is OK. So, what ever you do will involve making sure that end is secure and stable before cutting the rails. It looks like your work will involve cutting the rails at the midpoints, between the drawer backs, and moving the cut ends for the front drawer to the left about 1/4". Once done, this work will never be seen and the drawer front will look and function as it should.
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#26
Photo 
Gentlemen, thank you so very much for all of your good help!  As you can see from the pictures, success!!!  It's not perfect perfect, but when next I find 45 minutes with a handplane, it'll be dead nut!

[Image: 934f39bf-c88b-420d-b8b8-2ada8e679d12-ori...fit=bounds]

[Image: 4cefc455-5768-4aaa-82f5-8c0e5b72688e-ori...fit=bounds]

[Image: bb427216-cfa6-48af-a58a-0bbf4a61805a-ori...fit=bounds]
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#27
I would do it with a jointer. Either hand or power operated. Assuming you use the powered type start with a rectangle the width of the maximium width of shim you want. Set your depth of cut to whats comfortable to you. Not real important until the last cut. Then set the end that will remain full width just onto the outfeed table just past the cutterhead and run it through. Repeat until you hit the narrow width you want. You will end up with a perfect taper.
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#28
My thinking would start with shimming or mortising the slide attachment points.
Thanks,  Curt
-----------------
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
      -- Soren Kierkegaard
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#29
I would never cut my own shims.  Those are cheap and available at the big box stores.

If I am making a wedged motise, then I would have to cut my own:

[Image: Wedged_2D00_MT_5F00_71.jpg]

Here is how to cut wedges accurately up to about 2-7/8" long:

[Image: Wedged_2D00_MT_5F00_61.jpg]
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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#30
(11-04-2018, 04:52 PM)handi Wrote: Seeing the photos helps. 

I would either rack the drawer box or rebuild it out of square if needed. 
With the top on the table no one will ever notice the drawer out of square, but any jury fix to the drawer front or box (such as a wedge) will be visible each time the drawer is opened.

I agree, make a parallelogram drawer.
Bruce.
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