under stairs pull out drawer sag

[Matty]

Hi, I'm not sure if this post should be here or general woodworking but here goes. I have just done an under stairs pull out storage for my own house as a practice before doing one for a customer who wants one as I hadn't done one before and thought it would be a good idea.
I cut almost all of it using the CNC and it went together and fitted perfectly. It slides in and out as it should and holds in. I used Accuride 160kg runners at the bottom and a 3rd 100kg stabilising one at the top. I used 18mm ply for the whole build including carcasses, I now think that 18mm for the drawer elements is OTT and 12 or 15mm will be better but any advice on which is best would be appreciated.
The only issue I have is that the drawers seem to sag a tiny bit so that the drawer fronts have about a 1-2mm gap between the inside face of the drawer front and the front face of the carcass which just bugs me and I'm not sure how to fix it.
The only solutions I can think of are to cut the drawer weight down by using 12 or 15mm and to angle the runners a few degrees backwards to sort of pre tension them (if that's the right expression!).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Matt

 

[paulrbarnard]

Hi, I'm not sure if this post should be here or general woodworking but here goes. I have just done an under stairs pull out storage for my own house as a practice before doing one for a customer who wants one as I hadn't done one before and thought it would be a good idea.
I cut almost all of it using the CNC and it went together and fitted perfectly. It slides in and out as it should and holds in. I used Accuride 160kg runners at the bottom and a 3rd 100kg stabilising one at the top. I used 18mm ply for the whole build including carcasses, I now think that 18mm for the drawer elements is OTT and 12 or 15mm will be better but any advice on which is best would be appreciated.
The only issue I have is that the drawers seem to sag a tiny bit so that the drawer fronts have about a 1-2mm gap between the inside face of the drawer front and the front face of the carcass which just bugs me and I'm not sure how to fix it.
The only solutions I can think of are to cut the drawer weight down by using 12 or 15mm and to angle the runners a few degrees backwards to sort of pre tension them (if that's the right expression!).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Matt

Picture?

 

[Matty]

Picture?

The top one was macro mode as it blurred on standard mode, the gap looks larger in macro but its only 1.5-2mm. The trim is all flush with the doors so it doesn't hide the slight difference in levels.

 

[Matty]

another pic with the larger drawer out, Runners are a hidden design of mine and are at the bottom on the inside rather than the outside.

 

[johnnyb]

very nice! as always some feature either on the edge of the timber the edge of the door can help to disguise. don't know how these runners work tbh. soft close? like blum?? check and double check alignment and finish position.

 

[johnnyb]

I see it the long bits of the triangle stick out and the short bits are flush.
have the ply sheets remained flat? they normally dont!

 

[Matty]

I see it the long bits of the triangle stick out and the short bits are flush.
have the ply sheets remained flat? they normally dont!

yeah they may have warped a tiny bit but they are directly fixed to the drawers and only overhang by a small amount, that could be it.

 

[Matty]

very nice! as always some feature either on the edge of the timber the edge of the door can help to disguise. don't know how these runners work tbh. soft close? like blum?? check and double check alignment and finish position.

I was wondering if to add a solid edge feature to the drawer fronts, maybe a simple 10mm solid edge with a little chamfer or cock bead to hide any minor alignment issues.
Need to get the spindle moulder set up now, been putting it off for a while as I'm not hugely experienced with it, then I can do some mouldings and try it out.

 

[johnnyb]

I was wondering if to add a solid edge feature to the drawer fronts, maybe a simple 10mm solid edge with a little chamfer or cock bead to hide any minor alignment issues.
Need to get the spindle moulder set up now, been putting it off for a while as I'm not hugely experienced with it, then I can do some mouldings and try it out.

I would do those mouldings with a router tbh. the follow any movement in the ply better( and the ply seems a decent size.

 

[Doug71]

People often comment what a nice feature the cock bead is on cabinets etc that I make, they don't realise one of the reasons it's there is to hide any misalignment issues

I always think it's much harder making something in a modern style where everything is flat because everything needs to be perfect or it catches your eye.

 

[AndyP]

Matt they look good, I have something similar to do for my daughter, what is the construction of the drawers? I too was going to use 18mm ply with pocket screws.
I practiced on my workshop drawers all be it a much smaller scale and used the chamfer Idea to good effect. These drawers are 12mm with rebated joints.

 

[Matty]

Matt they look good, I have something similar to do for my daughter, what is the construction of the drawers? I too was going to use 18mm ply with pocket screws.
I practiced on my workshop drawers all be it a much smaller scale and used the chamfer Idea to good effect. These drawers are 12mm with rebated joints.

Hi Andy, the drawers are half tennon joins on the CNC with a little glue and screwed front and back with confirmat screws

 

[Matty]

Matt they look good, I have something similar to do for my daughter, what is the construction of the drawers? I too was going to use 18mm ply with pocket screws.
I practiced on my workshop drawers all be it a much smaller scale and used the chamfer Idea to good effect. These drawers are 12mm with rebated joints.

Pocket screws will work OK, just use glue too, if you have a domino joiner then glue and dominoes will work too, or dovetail if u have the inclination, I don't dovetail at all anymore. I find what works for me when I do standard drawers is a blind tennon the whole height of the drawer, stopping about 15mm from the top so u cant see it, but I cut it all on the CNC so that may not be suitable for you too unless u have a CNC.

 

[AndyP]

Pocket screws will work OK, just use glue too, if you have a domino joiner then glue and dominoes will work too, or dovetail if u have the inclination, I don't dovetail at all anymore. I find what works for me when I do standard drawers is a blind tennon the whole height of the drawer, stopping about 15mm from the top so u cant see it, but I cut it all on the CNC so that may not be suitable for you too unless u have a CNC.

Matt, thanks for that. I have used dominos but using the router which can be a bit fiddly. I was thinking of adding dowels after the event for a little extra strength. I appreciate the advice.