On cabinet work what is the accepted gap between the carcass and doors /drawer fronts. The door thickness and the width will determine the minimum gap without having to bevel the edge, but I just would like to know if there is a design aim. I assume that as the piece goes down in size so should the gaps (within limits). The shakers seem to have minimal gaps with their flush fitting drawers.
Drawer/Door gap
- Thread starter newt
- Start date
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Anonymous
Guest
The gap on the opening side of the door will be dictated to some extent by the thickness of the door if the edge is left square. I like to chamfer the leading edge so that the door will close leaving a gap of only about .5mm.
The minimum that can be achieved without chamfering is more like 2mm.
Cheers
Brad
The minimum that can be achieved without chamfering is more like 2mm.
Cheers
Brad
woodbloke
Established Member
I always aim for a shadow gap of the thickness of a piece of standard veneer for doors - 0.6mm as a shadow gap and much less than that when fitting drawers. DC recommends 0.1mm clearance, on my current project I'm getting around 0.12mm clearance which ain't too shabby. The trick is to shoot everything the merest fraction too big, the critical thing is to make the shoulder line on the drawer front again a fraction of a mm thinner than the drawer side, so the tails are slightly proud when glued...oh, and drawer d/ts only fit once - Rob
David C
In Memorium
Rob,
That sounds a very good fit at the sides.
Height of drawers must have much more clearance than that, depending on their height and the dryness of timber and workshop.
A deep bottom drawer of a chest of drawers might need at least an eigth of an inch, 3-4 mm clearance. We need to anticipate maximum expansion across the width in warm damp thundery weather, or worse still damp storage.
I have an article coming out on wood movement disasters in Christmas edition of F & C magazine.
best wishes,
David
That sounds a very good fit at the sides.
Height of drawers must have much more clearance than that, depending on their height and the dryness of timber and workshop.
A deep bottom drawer of a chest of drawers might need at least an eigth of an inch, 3-4 mm clearance. We need to anticipate maximum expansion across the width in warm damp thundery weather, or worse still damp storage.
I have an article coming out on wood movement disasters in Christmas edition of F & C magazine.
best wishes,
David
AndyBoyd
Established Member
There was a nice Fine Woodworking article recently by Christian Becksfort on this very subject, he measures the change over the seasons of his wood and plans that into the gap for drawers and doors in cupboards.
Don't forget to do that otherwise they will stick when the moisture content is high
Don't forget to do that otherwise they will stick when the moisture content is high
David C
In Memorium
Newt,
Not in my mind.
Drawers are guided by their sides.
Excess clearance here causes racking (Twisting) and sticking.
The top gap is hidden in shadow and drawer fronts are best set back from the carcase edges by a 1/16th " or so, to add to the shadow effect.
David C
If it has not been edited out I refer to Chris Becksvoort's excellent article in mine. Bruce Hoadley is also very good on this subject.
Not in my mind.
Drawers are guided by their sides.
Excess clearance here causes racking (Twisting) and sticking.
The top gap is hidden in shadow and drawer fronts are best set back from the carcase edges by a 1/16th " or so, to add to the shadow effect.
David C
If it has not been edited out I refer to Chris Becksvoort's excellent article in mine. Bruce Hoadley is also very good on this subject.
woodbloke
Established Member
David - the drawers I'm making have a max height of 80mm or so and are from quatersawn oak that I've had for years in a warm 'shop as with the burr elm fronts. My workshop is heated, tho' not to the same degree as a house at this time of year and I also run a dehumidifier all night from a timer, so conditions inside the 'shop are as favourable as I can make them. That said, when I bring the piece into the house when its finished, I do anticipate a little shrinkage tho' hopefully, not much - Rob
Sgian Dubh
Established Member
Rob, you're more likely to experience a little expansion as the summer approaches. RH in heated buidings in the UK is lower in the winter than it is in the summer. Higher RH leads to wood absorbing water (vapour) and expansion.
However, if your wood is now at about 12% MC because you keep your workshop at an average RH of about 60% then there will almost no change in the wood size between now and the summer when your piece is in your house. When RH inside the house drops to an average somewhere between 40% and 50% next winter then the wood will shrink as it falls from about 12% MC to around 8% or 9% MC. Slainte.
However, if your wood is now at about 12% MC because you keep your workshop at an average RH of about 60% then there will almost no change in the wood size between now and the summer when your piece is in your house. When RH inside the house drops to an average somewhere between 40% and 50% next winter then the wood will shrink as it falls from about 12% MC to around 8% or 9% MC. Slainte.
