Drawer bottoms: Is this cheating?

[dadiOH]

I'm making a bunch (10) of drawers for the pair of his and her vanities I am making. Easy to make because each of us (me/wife) get five in a stack which means they are all the same width and length, only variation is in the depth (6 - 3 1/2", 4 - 7"). (I have five more to make later but the size is different as is the manner of construction.)

Normally I like to make joints, including drawer grooves, an easy fit; by that I mean I don't want to have to use a hammer to get things together but I don't want any wobble or rattle...I want to be able to press them together with my hands. For bottoms, I normally make the grooves VERY slightly over the material thickness, ease the bottom's edges slightly and all goes together well.

Not this time. The 1/4" ply - which is actually 3/16" - was slightly warped and I knew it would be a bear to get everything together so I made the grooves 1/32" over. All goes together well but naturally there is a gap between the bottom and the groove. I fixed that by ripping off a strip of stock with the saw blade at 4-5 degrees; that gets me a strip of wedges. Cut off a bunch so they are about 3/4" square, dab of glue, slide them into the crack on the bottom side forcing the bottom up and no more crack, no more rattle. Is that cheating?

And while I'm on the subject, does anyone else use a wedge to fill in a gap in other imperfectly fitting joints?

[Swingman]

Absolutely ..... NOT! ;)

Don't do wedges, but I do use a method that makes the whole enchilada a bit stronger, particularly on wide drawers where a heavy load may warp the 1/4" bottom slightly due to width, however, your method will suffice nicely.

I span that bottom with a brace, glued to the bottom, and brad nailed to the side (where the nail hole will be hidden by the drawer slides), which you can see in the drawer sitting on its side in the photo:

Either method will the keep the drawer bottom firmly against the interior side of the groove for the bottom, neither one is "cheating".

[BenignBodger]

Whenever I've faced a situation like that I've usually just glued in a bit of veneer. Depending on the gap and what veneer was on hand one or two layers would take care of it and done well it is invisible. I've always figured that part of 'craftsmanship' is not making mistakes but the rest is covering the invevitable gracefully.

[Swingman]

Not wedges (tapered shim?), but shims.

Occasionally a loose tenon may fit loosely in a routed mortise.

In that case I'll cut a thin shim, the same size as the face of the tenon, and glued to same.

Wedge wouldn't work in that situation, for obvious reasons.

[Leon]

Nope, not unless yo have some one else build the drawers. ;!)

Probably as Swingman indicated, quarter rounds glued on the bottom on each side, this will ad a lot of strength. Or you could squirt some glue down in the crack.

[woodchucker]

I will use hot glue to stop the rattle. It's flexible enough. You can also use caulking if you prefer. I try to keep my groove right on the money plus a hair.

As far as filling the bottom, that's not cheating. I would strive to avoid that, seems like more work, but correcting imperfections is part and parcel for what we do.

I don't use a wedge.

[DerbyDad03]

Just cut another slightly smaller bottom and drop it on top. No more gap.

Kidding!

[John McCoy]

"dadiOH" wrote in news:n18449$epu$ [e-mail]:

Sounds fair to me. I'd probably have made a strip as long as the groove, rather than the 3/4 squares, so that in the unlikely event of anyone looking at it it didn't look quite so much like an unplanned fix.

I have seen drawers made by rabbetting the sides, rather than grooving, and glueing square-sectioned strips into the rabbet to trap the bottom. Which seems like a lot of work.

Traditionally the bottom would be thicker than the groove, and would be tapered along the edges to fit.

John

[-MIKE-]

That's what I've done, too. It dries right away and if there's any expansion, one side will give a little but still keep it from rattling.

[Michael]

I did not know this. What is the thinking behind this approach?

Thanks.

[John McCoy]

Michael wrote in news:e320ffc6-86c5-429c-975f- [e-mail]:

That when you only have a handsaw it's a pain to resaw a plank down to make a thin bottom. Easier to just plane down the edges to fit the groove.

John

[woodchucker]

It gives you a raised panel bottom. One that can shrink and expand into the groove. Also it provides a thicker bottom, which can be real nice , it feels nice, holds heavier items too.

[Michael]

Thanks John and Jeff. Sounds good.

[GeneT]

No-not cheating. But I prefer the thin piece of veneer technique. BTW, I think you meant 8 drawers for your wife and 2 for you.

[Lew Hodgett]

-------------------------------------- If you don't get caught, it's a construction freedom,

Lew

[Bill]

My first thought was that it wasn't that many years back that most people had dirt floors in their houses.

[Leon]

I recall about 40 years ago a hamburger chain, Hamburger by Gourmet, had a location in Port Aransas, Texas. The dining area was not much more than a lean-to on the side of a small building. The lean-to was enclosed, air conditioned, had lighting, and a dirt floor.

[Electric Comet]

it is improvisation not cheating

[Electric Comet]

or maybe 1 but possibly 1/2 a drawer with a small partition and not split down the middle front to back but from left to right and his in the back

[dadiOH]

I remember a place like that in Veracruz when I lived there in the early

90s. An Italian from Venice set up a tent in a vacant lot and started cooking. Dirt floor, rustic tables, great food. Best Italian food I have ever eaten.

Returned for a visit 4-5 years after moving back to the US. Tent was gone, rustic tables gone, dirt floor gone. The food was as good as ever but it was now being served in a substantial two story building, very attractively decorated, owned lock, stock and barrel by the Venetian. Hard work and good food paid off. If anyone is ever there, go to "El Venustiano" (The Venetian).