Thread: WIP Beginner mistake - help!

There are a number of options depending on whether the drawer is square, out of square but a parallelogram or if one side is longer than the other. Not knowing this, I suggest the following.
If that was mine and I didn't want to remake anything at all, I would mark the misalignment on the top edge and bottom edge of the front of the drawer and use a plane to correct. As you have endgrain at either end, I would clamp an a sacrificial piece of wood at either end, or the end the plane finishes at, to prevent tear out.

Hi dave
by "faceplate" do you mean taht the drawers will have a false front? and you have yet to fit the fronts?

provided the drawer goes all the way inside the drawer box, the easiest way to hide the feature is to pack out the false front

Thanks Lappa.
You pose a good question. I have assumed that the frame is out of square but I haven't measured the draw to see if the problem is with the draw.
I'm not really considering remaking the draw unless that is going to be less work. I'd rather get the job finished and chalk it up to experience. It's a question of maintaining momentum. I've already let this project grow and grow when I should have been doing more basic things first.

I just measured it and it is less than 3mm. (Not 4 as I had imagined).

I don't have a proper vice or solid workbench, so planning anything is problematic. I could use my cheap electric planner on it I suppose. Is that a good idea? The plywood ends are only butt jointed with glue. I worry what a plane might do to that joint.

Originally Posted by ian

Hi dave
by "faceplate" do you mean that the drawers will have a false front? and you have yet to fit the fronts?

provided the drawer goes all the way inside the drawer box, the easiest way to hide the feature is to pack out the false front

Yes that is what I mean. There will be a front plate made of nice hardwood. You can see I have already done this on the end drawers but I am yet to prepare and fit them to the new drawers.
I made these drawers approx 5mm short of the cavity so they don't go all the way to the end stop at the back. I could pack the front out, no problem.

Thanks. That sounds like the easiest way.

Sorry for the stupid question but I don't know what to use for packing. How do I make a wedge that thin?
I have a nice blade on my SCMS but I'm not sure how I would hold the scrap to make such a cut along the grain. I would have to figure out some jig to hold it in place.
I guess I'll experiment with my triton workcentre and see if I can rip something on that.

Or do I put any old packing in there on one end and not worry about a gap behind the faceplate? Maybe it's time to discover wood filler?

For packing you can use either some scraps of wood, or if you like buy some window packers and adapt.
I would be using some off cuts, cut down to size.

Originally Posted by Handyjack

For packing you can use either some scraps of wood, or if you like buy some window packers and adapt.
I would be using some off cuts, cut down to size.

Sorry I didn't express myself well.
The draw is roughly 30+cm wide. So I need a wedge 2.7mm to zero that is 300mm long approx x 50mm high approx. I'm wondering how to cut such a thin wedge.
I don't have a proper table saw.

I'm suffering from fatigue today so I'll have a go on this over the weekend.

If the photo you put in the first post is with the drawer pushed all the way back, then padding the front panel will have it sticking out too far from the front of the cabinet. If you push the drawer all the way back and one end is level with the front of the cabinet and the other further in, then padding out the front panel will work.

Originally Posted by Lappa

If you push the drawer all the way back and one end is level with the front of the cabinet and the other further in, then padding out the front panel will work.

Yes I understand. I have pulled the draw forward to show the misalignment to you guys. One thing I got right was to make all the drawers less deep than the cavity they sit in. This just seemed initiatively the correct thing to do. Now it might pay off.

I was planning to get out to the shed tonight and work on it. But I feel a bit shattered so rather than botch it, I'll leave it until tomorrow.

Cheers Dave.


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Originally Posted by DaveVman

Sorry I didn't express myself well.
The draw is roughly 30+cm wide. So I need a wedge 2.7mm to zero that is 300mm long approx x 50mm high approx. I'm wondering how to cut such a thin wedge.
I don't have a proper table saw.

I'm suffering from fatigue today so I'll have a go on this over the weekend.

No, you do not need a wedge that big. A piece of scrap about 2.5 thick and no more than about 50 x 25mm should do you. Just have it in the right place so when the face plate is attached it is flush. Just make sure a fastener is either through it or close enough not to distort the face plate

I do not have a table saw either but recon I could cut a wedge you described with a circular saw and guide (or track). If the piece cut was longer but still have the same angles, you can always cut it smaller.

As you are finding out, sometimes there is more that one way to achieve the same result.

With the end drawers I only glued the faceplate on. The drawers are small. It's difficult to get inside there to pre drill.
Also I don't know how to hold a faceplate in just the right spot unless the draw is sitting in position on its runners. Which means I can't access the inside of the draw during glue up.
Mmmm
Maybe I could use double sided tape to hold it. Fix the screws in position. Disassemble it. Then glue and screw it. Is that how it's done?

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Hi DaveVman
For mounting the front with no access to clamp it in place drill you're handle holes in the front only then screw the front to the draw box through them take it out and fit mounting screws from the inside then remove the one's through the handle holes and drill right through to fit handle's.
Regards Rod.