Building Drawers Boxes

I finally decided to make the drawer sides out of laminated pine. I planned on using plywood, but didn't want to go through the work of edge banding all the pieces. Also, if they get damaged (we have 4 kids...), the ply shows through.

I bought the pine at Home Depot at $12 for a 18" x 48" x 5/8" piece. The drawers took 8 pieces so far. I think I will need about 12 more pieces for the island drawers and all the pull out shelves. I'll tally the costs once complete.

Here are all the rough cut pieces:



Process steps to get drawer parts:

• Cut the pieces to width and length plus at least an inch
• Use a jointer to plane off the saw marks
• Route 1/8 round-overs on all for corners (along the length)
• Use dado blade to cut in the recess for the drawer bottom
• Cut the pieces to final length
• Drill holes for assembly screws
• Sand with 220 grit

Below are a couple of pictures of the the drawer assembly table I use. It allows me to clamp the drawer parts while screwing them together.

I used 1 5/8" sheetrock screws and a good bead of wood glue on the corners. I found that lubricating the screws before driving them makes a big difference. They go in much smoother and rarely strip. I have used liquid soap, Carmex, and grease - and all work well. This time, I tried dipping the tip of the screws in polyurethane glue, which also allowed for easy driving. I am assuming this will bond the screws in place as an added bonus.

I used the acbinet face-frame stain for the drawers to match the cherry. It looks a bit different on the pine, but should blend in well. My simple drying rack is a rope tied across the garage. The hooks are peices of 12 gage wire with a twisted loop on one end and wrapped around the rope on the other.

Once the stain is fully dry (tomorrow), I will spray these with three coats of polycrylic, lightly sanding in between.