More Drawer

There was more activity on the side-hung drawers for the mahogany buffet last week. I've been busy fine tuning the fit. Below, I'm taking a shaving off of the face of one of the runners to increase the distance between opposing runners.

I also shaved off the top and bottom of the runners, where needed, to assure freedom of movement for the drawer without letting the drawer action get sloppy. Here's a close-up of one of the runners fastened in place with brass screws.

Most of the drawer load will be carried by the tongue-and-groove on the backside of each runner, but I laid out a screw pattern that provided added strength in the front of the pocket where it is needed when the drawers are in their fully-open position.

Next, I fit the drawer fronts to the face of the cabinet. I had previously left the drawer front extra thick. That allowed me to cut the dovetail pin sockets with less risk of breaking through the front of the drawer.

And so, following some invigorating hand planing, the final thickness was achieved.

When completed, the drawer front will be recessed approximately 1/8" behind the partitions at each side of the drawers.

Finally, in keeping with the design of the client's existing pieces, I apply a layer of pommele sapele veneer to the drawer fronts. I guess a good way to test the strength of the dovetail joinery is with the weight of the clamping cauls and twelve heavy f-clamps!

The week came to an end with the glue-up of the finished top to the cabinet. I should pause here to thank my trusty freelance glue-up buddies (two of them this time) for their generous support of my work and for making the glue-up go as smoothly as ever. A lot of fun, too. Well done.

Next time, after wrapping up the drawer bottoms and applying the last bit of finish to the drawers, it will be time to attach the pulls that I made earlier.

Hej då!

Craig