Oak end table drawer - wooden slides and M&T questions (Long) Repost due to crazy ISP/net problem

[Bay Area Dave]

1) Every drawer I've made I've used full extension slides. Now I want to make an end table with a single drawer; all wood. If I have oak on hand, do I make a single center runner (and btw, HOW?? :) ) or do you use two runners, or runners on the side, from oak? I also have maple, but the table will be oak. In other words, how do YOU make a drawer slide with all wood components?

This is going to be a country styled oak end table with a drawer near the top, and I'm leaning towards, but not committed to, a full width shelf near the floor. Thinking about tapered legs, which I suppose I'd have to start by gluing up 5/4 or 6/4 material to make the legs thick enough. At what point do you make hollow legs (not that I'd imagine that would be the case for the size I'm gonna make)?

2) I saw a picture of fluted legs that are taped only near the floor, starting about six inches up. The flutes taper off to a point, like I had asked about a while back. Still can't quite envision how to bring the flute to a sharp point while routing it. If I use a router table to flute, do I just practice at lifting the leg up near the end of the cut, and set a reference mark, so that all 3 flutes have the same ending contour. Seems like that would be hard to pull off with uniformity, so I'm expecting someone has a better way.

3) I think I'm going to finally make mortise and tenons. (MAJOR CRINGING! I have the mortising attachment for the DP, which should work in oak, I hope.) Mortise first, and then make the tenon fit it, correct? What level of smoothness does a decent M&T have to have for a long lasting joint? I can't imagine that the mortising attachment is gonna leave the walls of the mortise all that smooth. I've only gone general purpose chisel for now. Do I just got at it with sandpaper or do I need to buy more tools (aaargh! I can't get something new every week!)

I don't have a tenoning attachment for the TS, but could rig up something, albeit kludgy to run a board thru vertically. Is using a BS not a good way to do it? I have one blade that gives a reasonably smooth cut; a 3/16 Pro olsen 10 TPI, raker set. Should I just use the TS for ALL the tenon cuts? I'm expecting that if it's all done on the TS, I won't need to smooth the surface, but to make a tiny adjustment, do you sand or what? My new smoother is the only plane I've got. Or would I be better off milling this on the router table, using a 1/2 straight double flute bit. I could make precise depth changes to the bit for a very precise fit. Would you use or TS or router?

Please tell me I can accomplish these tasks without buying more stuff! :) Eventually I'll get a bunch of chisels, and perhaps a tenon jig for the TS. But for now, is this doable with a BS, TS, router table, and no Neander tools but one basic chisel and a smoother.

How do you set up a router to do a deep, carefully positioned mortise, without buying the Leigh jig, or other expensive jig? Like I said, I have a router table, but I also have a 2 1/4 HP handheld router.

dave

[Swingman]

Take a look at my website for a way to do a drawer in an end table using all wood slides.

Page 3 of the projects journal, Wooden Drawer Slide Details.

[Bill]

Dave,

I have made several tables for the house, all with M&T and had no problems. I use a dedicated M&T, and thru trail and error learned a system that works for me. Fist make up your leg blanks. DO NOT taper the legs yet. Pick your best looking leg sides to face front and mark the legs. Layout the mortises on the legs and measure twice.

Cut your mortises an eighth deeper than needed. Clean up with the widest chisel you can.

I cut my tenons on the table saw. I cut the thickness first on a scrap until I get a tight fit. I lay the boards flat on the table, standing the boards up is awkward for me. Clean up the boards with a rasp, gently now. Final fitting with a palm sander, again gently. I go for a snug fit. Not loosey goosey, not so tight you have to hammer the tenon in with more than gentle tapping with a rubber mallet.

Try it with some scrap and it will build up your confidence. I built my workbench first with M&T and the thing is solid as a rock. I built it out of 2x4s with a 2x table top covered with a sheet of particle board which is disposable with use.

Bill

[George M. Kazaka]

Maybe I am missing something, why does anyone want to make a tenon on the table saw with a stick going straight up in the air as with any tenoning jig.

I have always made them with the dado blades,the wood is laying flat. use the mitre gauge to hold the wood and the fence as a stop Sometimes it takes several passes depending on the length of the tenon

Cut the mortise first with a router, A mortise machine, trained termites or whatever then cut the tenon to fit

Good Luck, George

Crap, Bay Area Dave. Is it too much of a challenge to google? Or, to check the archives? This wheel has already been invented, you don't have to reinvent it, just take advantage of what's already been done. That is you typing, isn't it? On a computer? With access to the world wide web? Tenoning jig plans have been posted before. But, even if not, they aren't rocket science.

It makes my teeth ache, to read some of the questions you ask. So here's plans. Free plans. Normally, I would have said this was about a

30 second search, but the system is extremely slow tonight, and this took closer to two and a half minutes. tell me I can accomplish these tasks without buying more stuff!

Apparently not.

JOAT I love cats, but I can never eat a whole one.

- John Wamsley

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 4 Dec 2003. Some tunes I like.

[Leon]

Suppose you don't have a dado set.

[Bay Area Dave]

:) like me. I can't get EVERYTHING for a fully equipped wood shop all at once. Not that I wouldn't LIKE to!

dave

Le>>Maybe I am missing something, why does anyone want to make a tenon on the

[Jerry Gilreath]

Well, since it's only a couple tenons, ( and here I go ASSuming ), why not use the regular blade and nibble it away? I've done that a time or two, getting distracted and forgetting to do a piece or two after taking the dado off. Takes a bit longer, but does the same thing. I would want to do a wholes house full of cabinet doors that way. Guess it's just laziness not wanting to put the dado back on.

[George M. Kazaka]

Then do it on the router with a atraight bit,

I know suppose you don't have a router

[Mo' Sawdust]

[Brian]

Side runners of HDPE that fit into the grooved drawer sides with 1/16" play and tapered at the front to make insertion user friendly.

I wouldn't go hollow.

Not sure if I get the picture, but if I do then I'd try setting and marking the leading edge of a stop block such that it defines the "point". Then I'd drop into the route at the stop block, carefully remove the block, and route away from the point.

Why?

Don't need it, but it should do. Forstner bits in the DP and a little chiseling works equally well.

Not necessarily. I did it the other way around before I made my TS tenon jig because when I freehanded tenon cuts on the TS, one or two would slip, resulting in different sized tenons from piece to piece. So I'd always want to measure my tenons and use the dimensions to outline for the mortising. Now I still do it that way, but just out of habit.

Smooth enough.

I don't sand mine. Don't see the need.

Don't need a commercial attachment. Make your own in an evening that does the same thing. Mine sleeves over the fence and holds the clamped workpiece upright. Very simple and effective.

You could do tenons on the BS with a fence and miter guage. Sure, why not? Probably quicker in overall setup time than on the TS.

Use the handheld router and make another jig to hold the workpiece. My jig is just basically an open top, open ended MDF box that I clamp the work into. It has a wide, flat lip on the top and I use a fence attachment referenced to the lip's edge to position the bit inside the jig.

After mortising with a router, you can either chisel the corners square, or chamfer the tenon corners. I tend to prefer the latter, especially with a floating tenon.

Brian.

[Brian]

Yeah. Norm uses the nibble method on tenons all the time. I wish I could nibble is fast as he does. :-)

Brian.