drawer making advice

[gwoodwork]

I want to make three drawers for the inside of an armoire, about 9" in height, 28' wide, and 20" deep. I was looking and have been considering getting a drawer locking bit. I have a dove tail jig but dont want to set it all up just for three drawers. I do want them to be strong. Should I even invest in a drawer locking bit? I do plan on using it for another project later (cigar box) but is it a good technique? I also saw a reversible glue joint for drawers bit at Arizona Woodline:

or could someone recommend the way to go? I guess Im looking at three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint for drawers bit, and dovetail.

Thanks in advance,

[marton.czebe]

If it's only 3 drawers, I wouldn't spend the money on jigs. Dovetail joint is the way to go. I had a chance to see Klausz do dovetails at the weekend, the joint was _extremely_ strong without glue on it. It's well known that dovetails are the strongest type of joints for boxes.

Invest in Klausz's "Dovetail a drawer" video, after you've seen it, drawers are a piece of cake...

Marton

[Swingman]

There's always the old standby, a drawer rabbet joint. Easily cut on a table saw, it can strong and attractive if, besides gluing, you pin the sides to the drawer front with a contrasting wood dowel.

You can also do a "lock rabbet joint" on the table saw. As luck would have it, there is even a site with a four step process and illustrations"

that big of a drawer, I would probably go with the latter, and maybe a pin for both added strength and looks, but it may take as long to set up as your dovetail jig.

[dadiOH]

A sliding dovetail is very strong and easy to make.

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dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[dgadams]

I agree, dovetails are the way to go. Setup always take some time, but it's worth it. Question, are dovetailed drawers really the strongest? Sliding dovetails would seem to me to be as strong, and the box joints I've done are rock solid. Anybody have any data?

DGA

[Mark & Juanita]

In a lot of cases, there's not a lot of difference between drawer lock bits and glue joint bits. I've found the drawer lock bits to be fairly fussy to set up and performance is very dependent upon having very uniform thickness stock, very flat stock, and making sure that you are very precise running the material through the bit. I used the drawer lock bits for my shop workbench drawers and was not totally satisfied with the appearance. YMMV. Setting up the dovetail jig, or doing sliding dovetails may be just as quick.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Prometheus]

If you don't care to dovetail, locking rabbets are fairly common and easy to make. I've used them on a couple of projects, and they work pretty well, but they have a tendancy to break in old cabinetry, esp. if the drawer sides are made of plywood.

[Tim Mueller]

For furniture, get the video, learn how to hand cut them and you'll never look back. That's what I did after router-butchering a half-blind drawerfront for a blanket chest wedding present.

The really great thing about hand cut dovetails is that the the more you do the easier they get. Plus you have much more flexibility in the layout and sizes of pins.

Now, if you had to produce all the drawers in a medical office suite (which we once bought a Multi-Router to do), I would suggest contacting some of the drawer box manufacturers who advertise in FWW etc. You probably have better thngs to do than mill a hundred drwaer boxes.

[charlie b]

If you go the Frank Klausz video route you may find this useful

each page is an image file you can download, print at your leisure and take to the bench. Do what you see and turn the page.

He covers a lot of ground and when the tape's over you'll be sure you know what you need to know. You'll be wrong. You can watch the tape four or five times or just use the instructions you can take to the shop.

BTW - he's right - butt chisels, because they're shorter than bench chisel,. are easier to control when chopping/ chiseling out the dovetail socket waste.

You didn't say if you're doing to do applied drawer faces. If so, the miter lock router bit is pretty good. All your final dimensions are what you start with. If you get the bit, get the setup block with it and save some trial and error .

charlie b