Drawer construction question

[fobos8]

Hi all and Happy new year.

I'm about to build the drawers for this project

The runners and kickers are built like this

The table is built from Oak. The drawer front is also from oak and I intent to make the sides from oak aswell.

I'm a bit worried that after repeated use the bottoms of the sides of the drawers may wear gooves into the frame directly beneath (shown by arrows on the first image).

Should this be a concern or not? If it is a concern what can I do about it?

Best regards, Andrew

 

[Chems]

People always seem to say this. How many times are you planning on opening the drawers, like hundreds a day? Because if you are it might wear. Oaks pretty hard and people normally use it over softer woods to prevent such grooves should you should be fine.

 

[jasonB]

You can always make the draw sides say 5mm shorter than the front and have the runners 5mm taller, that way the draw sides will not come into contact with the rails.

Jason

 

[Steve Maskery]

Have you seen this problem on any piece? I don't think I have. So I think you can adopt this traditional construction and still sleep soundly.
S

 

[Jacob]

....
I'm a bit worried that after repeated use the bottoms of the sides of the drawers may wear gooves into the frame directly beneath (shown by arrows on the first image).

Should this be a concern or not? If it is a concern what can I do about it?

Best regards, Andrew

Just do what everybody else has done for 100s of years - fix the drawer bottom with drawer slips which effectively double (or more) the width of the bearing surface. Make the runners wide enough to match, obviously.
The kickers are not so important - in fact can be shorter - it's only when the drawer is half way (or more) out, that it tilts up to bear against the kicker.

Yes eventually it will wear grooves in the frame beneath but this could take 100s of years to be really noticeable.

 

[woodbloke]

Have you seen this problem on any piece? I don't think I have. So I think you can adopt this traditional construction and still sleep soundly.
S

Seconded - Rob

 

[fobos8]

many thanks for the replies.

Do I really need to use drawer slips(to double bearing width) or will it be okay just with sides with grooves in (for bottom)? The sides will be around 18mm thick.

Cheers, Andrew

 

[mtr1]

many thanks for the replies.

Do I really need to use drawer slips(to double bearing width) or will it be okay just with sides with grooves in (for bottom)? The sides will be around 18mm thick.

Cheers, Andrew

You wouldn't need to fit drawer slips if your drawer sides are 18mm, however your drawer sides are going to look very clunky at 18mm. For the record I have seen oak to oak wear(very slight) in drawer sides and runners, but this was on furniture 200+yrs.

 

[woodbloke]

many thanks for the replies.

Do I really need to use drawer slips(to double bearing width) or will it be okay just with sides with grooves in (for bottom)? The sides will be around 18mm thick.

Cheers, Andrew

In the best work the sides should be around 8mm thick, not 18 :shock: and even with 8mm sides you can still put a groove in them. Despite what others will tell you, drawer slips are not absolutely necessary - Rob

 

[fobos8]

yeah you're right 18mm is too thick. But 8mm seems to thin to me.

What thickness do others use for sides?

 

[Jacob]

.......
.....and even with 8mm sides you can still put a groove in them.

Oh no you can't! The whole weight of the drawer ends up being supported on 4mm of wood (matchstick thickness). OK for a tiny little jewellery box but nothing bigger.

Despite what others will tell you, drawer slips are not absolutely necessary - Rob

Just normal standard good practice.

 

[OPJ]

I'm assuming that your drawers are going to be between 500-600mm wide so, I'd go with 12mm thick sides, if you're fronts are 18mm thick (which sounds fine).

On slightly smaller scale work (a small cabinet or side table, say), I might have 16mm thick fronts with 10mm thick sides - it's all about proportions and getting something that looks 'good' in relation to the thickness of your fronts.

 

[mtr1]

Whats wrong with drawer slips?

How about making your sides like this.

Visually they look better than the more common drawer slip, but more work. You can go down to the 6mm(which is right for your furniture proportions) for fine work, and still have enough strength. This is just IMHO of course.

 

[jasonB]

I'm with Jacob, when it comes to kitchen draws you need something functional as they get crammed with all sorts and abused in general. Most I do are 14mm sides and they are often on runners where the weight is taken by the metal runner not the side of the drawbox. I've made an almost identical unit to this, I'll dig out the photo tonight and scan it in.

Are you having a draw box with added front or will the sides be DTd into the front?

J

 

[woodbloke]

yeah you're right 18mm is too thick. But 8mm seems to thin to me.

What thickness do others use for sides?

As others have said, it really depends on the loading that goes onto the drawer, for more utilitarian stuff then thicker sides would be useful...a drawer full of heavy kitchen cutlery and assorted cr*p that intevitably accumulates would probably need a thicker bearing surface and slips then (and a thicker bottom) would be used.
However, as I said earlier, in the best work (ie fine furniture where drawers aren't going to get a hammering) 8mm (or thereabouts) is fine. If you have a quick peek into Joyce's tome I think you'll find that's what he mentions (iIrc) for drawer sides. Slips can be fitted if needed (and I've done so in the past) but aren't really required for lighter duty drawers - Rob