I'm fixing the drawers on an old oak desk. The drawer rails and runners are pretty much all brittle and broken, so I cut new ones, glued them in, and they work pretty well. The old drawers have these sharp metal skewers on the back end of them. I'm not sure how these are supposed to work. Can anyone shed some light?
Thanks,
S.
Got a picture?
Are these on file drawers? Could they be used to hold partitions or hanging rods?
They look like metal spearheads screwed to the back of the drawer. If you pulled a drawer out, you could use it as a weapon. I think it's some kind of stop system. I guess I'd like to use this system if possible, since that is the orignal design. On the other hand, I can just screw and glue some blocks and move on to the next project.
S.
They're drawer stops to keep the front of the drawers flush with the face frame.
A simple solution, to keep the ever important adjustability, is a screw head, screwed into a block of wood glued to the back of the drawer cavity thusly:
In a solid carcase where the grain is vertical, that technique will require adjustments as the humidity varies, or else the drawer fronts won't always line up with the front of the carcase.
If you glue the stop block (with or without screw) to the drawer runner itself, then you can set the depth once and never need to worry again. The sides can expand/contract, but the runner will stay constant.
Chris
Perfect. Thanks, Swingman.
S.
Locking lugs??
I've had several desks that had sort of hooks on the back, to catch a bar when the top drawer is locked, but nothing that looked like a skewers.. At least not like the ones that I use for kabobs..
mac
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There is even a much better way ... but I was purposely giving the OP an alternate method that closely resembles the method used in his "old oak desk" for simplicities sake.
Actually, I've learned to put the "stops" on inset drawers on the front bottom rail, behind the drawer front ... much easier than putting one on the drawer runner, IME... it's "set and forget", and it can also act as a drawer stop if desired.
This one has been working perfectly for over a hundred years:
"Swingman" wrote
^^^^^^^^
For clarification, make that: "pullout" drawer stop if desired.
Should be self-explanatory, but you can't ever tell around here what someone will take drastic/inflammatory exception to.
Yes, that does have the nice feature of being dual-purpose. But if someone slams the drawer it gives a jolt to the joint between the front and sides of the drawer.
Obviously it's held up in your example though...
Chris
Well hell, Chris ... if pigs had wings there would be pig shit dropping on someone's head. Nothing's perfect for all eventualities. :)
Good enough for rch gubmint work and my purposes.
I really like the way that old timer did his drawers. There's other pictures of that piece on my site ... worthy of study for those looking to not use metal drawer slides in a period piece. Story at bottom of page3, IIRC.
I just checked out the other pictures.
Interesting idea with the spacers on the sides. It would act something like an NK-style drawer, with less friction between the drawer and the carcase. Easier to tune the width than a "standard" drawer, too.
Interesting that he used half-blind dovetails at the back, and in the opposite orientation as the "usual".
Are the runners glued at the back, or do they just rest in the groove?
Chris
"Chris Friesen" wrote
It is almost identical to the NK drawer style, except the spacer is on the middle/side, instead of the bottom/side (IIR the NK drawer properly). And you're correct, the drawer operation feels "frictionless", especially considering the age of the piece .. it's what first piqued my intense interest.
I thought that was unusual also, but have seen this before on drawer backs in European furniture, especially German.
They appeared to be glued their entire length, but it was difficult to tell with certainty.
I first noticed the piece when I was playing a private party gig at the historical building. Checked it out during the breaks and was _most_ impressed by the smooth drawer operation in such an obviously old piece ... called the next week and arranged permission to photograph it. I just had to know "how did he do that?"
Most impressive, that drawer operation ... you have to experience it to really appreciate the technique.
We rebuilt drawers for a linen in a 100 year old house a few years ago. The lower part of the cabinet was built in the same style as your picture with inset drawers. The drawers were stopped with the blocks at the back, on the runners. The part that got us was that the stops for all 4 drawers were in different places. The longest drawer slid into the cabinet 2" farther than the shortest but all of them were different. We're still wondering... why would a guy do that?
We moved his stops since somehow the new drawers were all the same size.
Mike O.
See my earlier post.. they're probably part of a locking system that locks all drawers when the main drawer is locked..
Most of the catches on the drawer backs look very much like a combination spear point/ gate latch..
mac
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