Drawer locking bits

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I was debating whether or not to invest $40 for a drawer locking router bit. I decided to take the plunge and see if it really does do a good job, so I ordered on from Infinity Tools on Thursday. It was in the mailbox on Saturday. FWIW, Infinity gives a $3 discount for web orders.

The instructions are simple on how to do the setup. For some reason though, it took a few tries for me to get the fence set properly to do drawer sides. I finally took a break, looked at the picture and DUH, it was really that simple.

I cut 20 pieces of wood. Four to house the drawers, then 8 deep and 8 shallow for the two sizes of drawers I'm going to make. I did all of the fronts and back, then the two sized of the cabinet. Moved the fence and did the rest of them. It was quick and easy. Best part though, was assembly. The drawers lined up square. It is, by far, the most accurate setup for drawers I've ever done.

Only thing I'd do different is to leave the shallow drawer parts wider to make it easier to push through against the fence. Rip them to size later. Though called a drawer locking bit, it can be used most any time you want to join wood at right angles.

[Norman D. Crow]

Ed, is this one like this?

have one, just haven't used it yet.

Or one of these?

have used this one, worked well, can also be used like T & G joining bit.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Similar to the second one.

is the part number.

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 06:54:05 -0500, the inscrutable "Norman D. Crow" spake:

For kicks, I picked up one of these for $15 (delivered) for shop furniture use some day (decade?) soon.

-- "Menja bé, caga fort!"

[arw01]

I bought one from Lee Valley a couple of months ago. In use with 1/2 baltic birch ply I had a terrible amount of tearout on my test cuts. The top layer of the veener would peel away when run vertical on the fence.

If you have zero clearance fence itsert it would help. I taped my face grain, this helped some, then I used a piece of 1/4" masonite to allow the bit to make a score on the first pass, then used 1/8" masonite for the next pass, then the bare bit.

Alan

[GerryG]

I've done that style directly on the router table with straight bits, though this would speed things up and ease the setup (one less pass). I'm especially wondering if anybody's compared these to the (slightly different style) drawer lock bits that Veritas sells (slightly cheaper).

Not sure why this would line up any more square than other methods, but it is a convenient and strong approach for drawers. Best I've seen for assembly, though, was two dozen drawers I made with sliding dovetails. The dry fit was so good I just squirted in some thin "chair lock" glue instead of bothering to take them apart, and not having to clamp that many drawers was real nice, and in this case the joint forces it square. (You could say a drawer lock does too, but not without clamps, and the same could then be said about many other joints.)

Anyhow, while fine for drawers, I don't think I'd recommend this for general use. For some cases, yes, but you'd have to closely look at the expected stress. And of course this bit has its counterpart in the lock miter bit. Also interesting that Infinity has one that handles 1-1/8. Thanks for mentioning them.

(The above are comments >I was debating whether or not to invest $40 for a drawer locking router bit.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

If you use properly prepared stock, cut it squarely, any method should line up squarely. I guess what I should have said was it went together square and stayed they way as the corners did have a locking joint. A rabbet is more likely to skew. I've never cut dovetails.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I've not tried plywood yet. The do recommend a backer to prevent tearout though. I climb cut a little on the back side, then did the final cut and it helped.