Cutting drawer openings

[farmerbw]

Was wondering what the best way to cut drawer openings from solid stock is. I'm going to attempt to build my first complete small (40lx30wx21h) coffee table and am trying to get an idea for what I'm going to be getting myself into and what tools or tool accessories may be required. I've got a PC circular saw, a decent (I think) Skil router, a so so jigsaw that I've almost replaced several times, and a Delta 10" table saw.

Top is 3/4 BB, table skirt is going to be 13/16 poplar and legs are going to be lodge pole pine logs.

My question is, what is the best way to cut the drawer opening in the front skirt? Can I mark it out, drill the corners and cut with a jigsaw or would my best bet be using a router and some type of template? I'm sure the router method would probably come out cleaner, but my problem with that is my present router doesn't accept guide bushings without a proprietary adapter which I might not be able to get in time to do me any good. Not to mention the couple of places I've found that have it are charging $10 and up to ship the $2-3 part :thumbs_do

Also, if I use a 4" high drawer should I shot for a minimum skirt height of say 5.5 or 6"?

TIA,
Brian.

 

[McRabbet]

The straightest and most accurate drawer cutout is made by selecting a board at least 1/4" wider than your finished size for the full apron and ripping the stock carefully to remove a section the exact height of your desired opening (the apron is now in three pieces). Then crosscut the center of those pieces to remove the drawer opening and glue the apron stock back together. This works even with figured wood as the glue joint causes a minimal offset. Remember to trim the apron to the final width if you started extra wide.

 

[DaveO]

Yep, I would 100% agree with Rob. That is the method I used to make the apron and drawer face on this table -

The only gotcha is to make sure that you allow for the saw kerf in your sizing of the original board. I would add at least ¼" to the width and ½" to the length. It is always easier to trim or plane it down to size later.

Dave

 

[farmerbw]

Rob, thanks for the response.

I can picture what you're describing and it does sound like it would produce great results if done properly. I'm a little worried though that the "additional" steps may be a bit above my current skill set and provide more opportunities for me to muck up and create scrap instead of an apron!

Brian.

 

[farmerbw]

Dave, thanks for the reply as well. Looks like I was typing away while you were responding as well!! :gar-Bi

That's a very nice job on that table and I can certainly see what Rob meant by not being able to tell it was done that way. Maybe I can pull it off without sacrificing too much good wood since I only plan on doing 1 drawer. Definitely food for thought.

Thanks guys,
Brian.

 

[DaveO]

Brian if your TS or BS is well tuned you should be able to cut a good glue line and not lose anything but the saw kerf. Even if not a few swipes with a plane or a run across the jointer will clean that up and you will still have a nice reveal on the long grain. The reveal for the sides of the drawer front can be adjusted by moving the corresponding apron sides a little to avoid dealing with the end grain fitting.
It's as easy as ripping and cross cutting a board.

Dave

 

[nelsone]

I think your least opportunity for error is the way Dave and Rob described. Trying a cutout with a jigsaw will really be tough to get a straight line.

 

[Bigdog72]

Creating scrap is how we learn!!!:eusa_danc Go the rip/crosscut route and see how you underestimate your capabilities.

 

[Joe Scharle]

Cutting a well defined rectangle from solid stock is tricky and will certainly remove too much stock. Only pic in my album I could find to show ripping/crosscutting a drawer front is below.
The top stretcher in this pic is from another piece of stock, but the drawer front, end fills and bottom stretcher are from a single board.



Here's what it looks like finished.

 

[Nativespec]

Dave-I built that same table just now-how funny. I drill four holes and use a jigsaw. I then use hand tools to make it square and finally with sanding. The advantage to cutting the hole on the tablesaw is that you can use the cut out for the drawer-especially good for flush fit drawers. The disadvantage is the seam that shows in the apron.

David

 

[farmerbw]

Thanks everyone again for the input. I guess my concern was since I'm going to be doing butt joints (which I forgot to mention) will the end grain look noticeably odd if I go the rip/crosscut way? I guess I could just switch it around and have the end grain of the short sections show.

Also, regardless of which method I end up doing would 1/2" above and below the opening be adequate?

TIA,
Brian.

 

[DaveO]

Thanks everyone again for the input. I guess my concern was since I'm going to be doing butt joints (which I forgot to mention) will the end grain look noticeably odd if I go the rip/crosscut way? I guess I could just switch it around and have the end grain of the short sections show.

Also, regardless of which method I end up doing would 1/2" above and below the opening be adequate?

TIA,
Brian.

Brain now you have me confused, which is fairly easy to do :icon_scra. Where are you going to be using butt joints, on the drawers or the apron to legs???
If you use the rip/cross cut method you need a minimum of ¼" wider board than your desired apron width to allow for the two saw kerfs. A ½" + additonal length is good also to allow for good grain matching and kerf loss.

Dave

 

[farmerbw]

Dave, sorry dude I'm not really relaying what I'm trying to do worth a diddley dang. :BangHead:

I just ran down a picture that might help better explain what I'm trying to accomplish. The difference between the pic and how I plan to build is my legs will attach behind the corners of the aprons, not notched into them. So that's where my butt joints will be. I'm also only doing 1 drawer in the center of one side of the apron.




Does it make more sense now or did I muddy the water even more? Sorry to have been so vague, I should have found a pic or drew out my plan to show it. A novel ideal huh?

Thanks again,
Brian

 

[DaveO]

OK that makes more sense now. I would definitely show the end grain of the long apron side as it will be less seen. Or you might consider using a mitered joint to hide all the end grain. I don't think you will see much of a difference in the end grain with a rip/cross cut drawer method. Personally if it was me and I wanted to keep it simple, I would use either a double biscuit joint to the leg or use pocket screws. You could reinforce those with screwed corner blocks if you wanted to make it bomb proof.

Dave

 

[jeff...]

Yep, I would 100% agree with Rob. That is the method I used to make the apron and drawer face on this table -

The only gotcha is to make sure that you allow for the saw kerf in your sizing of the original board. I would add at least ¼" to the width and ½" to the length. It is always easier to trim or plane it down to size later.

Dave

oh now that nice - when did the elves make that?

 

[DaveO]

During one of their sober periods a couple years ago.

Dave

 

[farmerbw]

Dave, sorry to have made this so drawn out. I swear it seemed like a simple and straight forward inquiry!!! :gar-La;

Definitely going to be using pocket screws for apron to top attachment. That way I get to try out my newly acquired (indirect Gloat here) Kreg kit. Picked it up from Rockler with a 15% off coupon and also got in on the $20 mail in rebate!!:eusa_danc



Was considering making it a little more sturdy by doing something like this as well.




And the last thing I think that I still haven't cleared up is this. I understand your suggestion to allow extra width and length to make up for kerf and such. But the 1/2" that I was asking about is the min amount of material above and below the drawer opening. I assume I don't want to go too thin or I'll have something that's not very strong and could possibly break out under maybe not so normal use, say a kid opening the drawer and leaning on it. Then again I suppose most of that stress would be transfered to the internal drawer support frame work and therefore might not be an issue at all.

Thanks everyone,
Brian.

 

[DaveO]

Brian, using your Kreg jig for the anchoring of the top is an excellent use. While you have it out I would recommend using it for the apron to leg joint also. I have built a set of table using the method you are thinking of, and looking back at them, they look quite amateurish to me now. By joining the aprons to the legs with pocket screws you can have a nice reveal on the legs and have a much more traditional look. I don't really think that you need the block support under the top inside the aprons.
You do have a good point about the amount of material left in the apron above and below the drawer opening. In that table I posted earlier I have about ¾" on the top and 1" on the bottom. The drawer is supported by wood runners and a top kicker to keep it from tipping forward as it's opened.

I thought I had taken a pic of the underside for another thread but I can't find it now. If you're interested I can shoot it again.

Dave

 

[farmerbw]

Dave, thanks for the follow up and offer of the picture but I think I'm got it pictured well enough to get started. Granted that could change mid construction! :wink_smil

I'll have to figure out my drawer opening once I finalize drawer size and material. I've got some off cuts of 1/2 ply which I'm considering using instead of going with the 4" pre-finished drawer sides as originally planned. I'm beginning to think that a 4" drawer may be overkill for this particular table and am leaning towards something around 3" instead.

Since we're presently only doing craft shows, mobility and compactness are really important, and maybe shipping later if we're lucky. With that said I'm not planning on attaching the log legs to the apron. Instead I'm going to have an attachment block/plate of 3/4 ply on the table top and a matching plate attached to the top of each log which I'll pre-drill and screw to it's mate on the table top. This will allow us to remove the legs for transporting.

Thanks again.
Brian.