How deep should the housing joint (?) be for a drawer base

[el_Pedr0]

That is awesome.

<hurries off to research quadrant and flush slips>

 

[el_Pedr0]

OK. Getting a bit more up to speed with drawer making history from the 1700s onwards.

My original proposal was for drawer sides of 15mm and movento undermounted metal runners, which I'm still happy with. As such I don't need to worry about a groove on the outside for the runners, and only need to concern myself with a groove on the inside for the bottom. I'm working on the assumption that 15mm walnut can happily accommodate a 6mm groove for the bottom and that I won't need slips. (I suspect Slainte mentioned slips in reference to the style, rather than necessarily suggesting that I would need them?)

So now it comes to the muntin, which by the sounds of things I won't be able to avoid on a 800mm wide drawer. As I understand it, the need for the muntin has nothing to do with the thickness of my drawer sides (unlike the need for slips), but is simply a function of the width of the drawer and the thinness and material of the bottom. My build is contemporary in style, so I think a flush muntin would suit it best.

As I undertand it:
* MDF base will be ok because it'll be supported by the muntin
* Base will be grooved into the front, sides and back (a muntin removes the possibility of cutting the back short and simply screwing the base up into the back.)
* Muntin should be made of solid wood and ought to come up at least to the surface of the draw bottom to be effective
* I need to acquire a router table and appropriate bits (and skills)

Any corrections welcome.

 

[Cabinetman]

No, fitting a muntin doesn’t remove the possibility of cutting the back short and screwing up into the back, if I was at home I could find you a pic from a 1950's woodworker, they used to do really good exploded drawings of construction details.

 

[John15]

Sketch for a typical drawer muntin, this being of the quadrant pattern that matches quadrant style drawer slips rather than the flush pattern that matches flush slips. Slainte.

View attachment 117469​

Many thanks for this detail of a muntin - much clearer than most I've seen.

John

 

[recipio]

OK.
* I need to acquire a router table and appropriate bits (and skills)

Any corrections welcome.

Decisions Decisions. Even experienced woodworkers like to use the optimum method of construction and that comes down to the tools available.
If I may offer one last tip - profile and scribe bits come as a single bit or a double bit kit. The single bit does it all and is much easier to use. You will need a 1/2" router in a table of course.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I'm designing some drawers for my wardrobe - about 800mm x 500mm x 140mm deep. The sides and back will be made from 15mm thick solid walnut, front from 19mm walnut, and the base from 6mm veneered mdf. How deep should I router the channel in the sides, front and back to slide the drawer base in?

Outside the fact that I provided you with a sketch of a muntin just to let you know what they can look like, I really don't think you don't need a muntin in the drawers you're planning to make. You can include one if you like just for the challenge, and for aesthetic reasons perhaps, but for a drawer only 800 mm wide to carry the load that clothes are likely to impose the need for a muntin isn't there. I've made many a drawer longer than that, up to just over a metre long, that didn't include a muntin, and they've all worked fine without appreciable sagging of the 6 mm thick MDF bottom faced with maple on both sides. The only weight such drawers carry is folded up clothes, e.g., T shirts, socks, underpants, and the like.

Now, if you were planning to make drawers of that width by perhaps 500 mm deep and 150 mm high to carry a heavy load, such as, er, hmm(?), I don't know, CDs, metal parts, cans or jars of food, and anything else heavy you can think of, then perhaps a muntin would be beneficial. Slainte.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

<hurries off to research quadrant and flush slips>

Regarding slip forms, you might find this link useful. There's no mention of muntins in the link, but below is a better, reworked doodle of a typical muntin form, in this case, a quadrant form - it's basically the same as the last one, but a bit less smudged, and perhaps slightly prettier, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[Cabinetman]

Regarding slip forms, you might find this link useful. There's no mention of muntins in the link, but below is a better, reworked doodle of a typical muntin form, in this case, a quadrant form - it's basically the same as the last one, but a bit less smudged, and perhaps slightly prettier, ha, ha. Slainte.

View attachment 117562​

Thank you Richard, that’s quite a masterclass on drawer construction and will be very useful to many on here, I feel though that it would be better utilised in a more permanent easy to find reference section. Ian

 

[recipio]

As Sgian Dubh says if the width is 800 mm and will only be used for clothes then you probably don't need a muntin. I tend to be over cautious and assume someone will drop a dumbbell into anything I make. ! Don't forget that if you double veneer some 6 mm mdf it will end up at 7.2 mm thick and you have to have some way to machine a groove for it. Pre veneered mdf/ply finishing at 6 mm will make life easier.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Richard, that’s quite a masterclass on drawer construction and will be very useful to many on here, I feel though that it would be better utilised in a more permanent easy to find reference section. Ian

That's very kind of you to say that. To be honest I don't really think of it as being masterful because as far as I'm concerned it's just a round up of some common drawer forms and some thoughts and observations on the subject. It omits a lot that I suppose could be aired, but then the document would get pretty large. Permanent and easy to find? I suppose those qualities sort of exist already, just so long as the document is available at its current location which of course could change in an instant, the internet being what it is, ha, ha. Slainte.