Simplified Drawer Construction

Drawer box sizes are determined by the drawer opening in the face frame, the depth of the carcass, and the drawer slide hardware used.

When laying out the face frame for your project it will look better using “graded drawer sizes”. Starting with shortest drawer at the top and increasing the height of the drawer as you move down the face frame.

The drawer sides are usually 1/2- to 1-inch shorter than the drawer opening up to a maximum of 8-inches high. There are exceptions in height, such as file drawers and special purpose drawers.

The depth of the carcass determines the maximum length of the drawer. My preference is 18- to 20-inches in length. The usual extension of an open drawer is around 16-inches, and a 22-inch long drawer is just 6 more inches of clutter.

Selecting the drawer slides:

Center Mount Drawer Slide

The center mount drawer slides are mounted under the center of the drawer.

These are the lightest duty 35-50 pound rating, which is usually adequate for residential needs.

The advantages of this type of slide, is that it is usually invisible when the drawer is open, and the drawer is wider than those with side mount slides. The cost is less than heavy-duty slides.

When installing center mount slides, install a 1 x 4 along the vertical centerline of the drawers, especially if the cabinet has a 1/4-inch back. This gives more material for the back plate hardware to be secured to.

Side Mount Drawer Slide

These are usually medium to heavy-duty slides 60- to over 100-pound rated. Some are especially designed for the Euro-style cabinets (frameless). They can be epoxy-coated with nylon bearings.

Example 1: Building a Traditional drawer box

There are many ways to build drawers and a whole book could be written on the subject. I even read an article once about hand cutting blind (invisible) dovetail joints, just in case someone repairing the joint two hundred years from now would be impressed with the craftsmanship of the builder, and it was beautiful craftsmanship. If I’m going to hand cut dovetail joints I want to see them.

These instructions will only cover two ways, the traditional drawer box and a simplified box.

Side / front / back assembly.

a. The drawer sides, front, and back are usually 1/2-inch thick. You can use just 1/2-inch plywood for a utility or shop drawer. For a nicer drawer you can use 1/2-inch plywood with the exposed top banded with solid stock. For the nicest pieces

Lowe’s has stock already sized to 1/2-inch thick.

b. Rip enough stock for the (01) drawer sides and the (02) drawer box fronts to the height desired. It is easier to rip all of the stock to the tallest side that you will be building. It saves set up time to rip them back down after making the grooves in the sides and the drawer box fronts.

c. Using a 1/4-inch dado blade or a 1/4-inch straight cut router bit, starting 1/4-inch from one long edge cut a 1/4-inch wide x 5/16-inch deep groove into the ripped stock as shown in Example 1.

d. The length of the (02) drawer box front equals the drawer opening less the space for the drawer slides (see manufacturers directions) less the thickness of the two (01) drawer sides. I usually add 1/16-inch extra. When using side mount slides, if there is an error and the drawers don’t slide smoothly it is much easier to shim behind the drawer slide than it is to remove material from the (01) drawer sides.

e. Using a squaring jig, glue and nail the (01) drawer sides to each end of the (02) drawer box front.

f. To determine the size of the (03) drawer box back. The length will be the same as the (02) drawer box front. The height will be from the top of the groove in the (01) drawer side to the top of the (01) drawer side. The (03) drawer box back will be installed flushing the ends of the (01) drawer sides and flushing the top of the (01) drawer sides using glue and nails.

Add the bottom.

a. To determine the size of the 1/4-inch plywood (04) drawer bottom. The length will be the length of the (01) drawer side less 1/4-inch. The width will be equal to the width of the drawer box assembly less 1/2-inch.

b. In the past when there were wood boards wide enough to make 18- to 30-inch-wide drawers the bottom was left to “float” in the grooves to allow for expansion and contraction. Since plywood is stable and has very little movement I like to apply a bead of hot melt glue to the junction of the groove and the bottom. The hot melt glue is flexible enough to allow any movement that might occur, yet strong enough to keep the drawer square. Apply the hot melt glue with the drawer clamped into the squaring jig.

Build the Simplified Drawer Box.

a. The sides, drawer box front, and the drawer box back will be the same height with no grooves. The sizes will be determined by the same rules that apply to the traditional drawer box.

b. Rip the stock for the sides, front and back to the desired width.

c. In a squaring jig assemble the four pieces as shown in Example 2.

d. Cut the 1/4-inch plywood bottom to match the width and length of the side/ends assembly. Clamp the assembly into the squaring jig. Using glue and attach the bottom to the side/end assembly.

e. This type of drawer is useful in shop applications when you don’t have heavy loads in the drawer, or in utility storage areas. It’s quick, easy and when side mount slides are used, the plywood edges are barely seen.