Small drawers in cabinet, advice on clearance needed

**Bendigo Bob** · 9th July 2016, 09:35 AM

Draw fitted.JPG Draw Front.JPG Draw partly fitted.JPG
As per the pics, I'm nearly finished the first drawer in a small 3 drawer cabinet for my eldest son (watches

) Cherry carcase and Maple drawer bodies with Curly Tassie Blackwood drawer fronts. This drawer is about 300mm wide by 100mm high

As you can see, so far the fit is snug on the front panel at present, also the drawer is snug in the carcase vertically, tho about 1.5 mm clearance altogether across sideways (the drawer front is about that 1.5mm wider so far so that still fits snug. My thinking there was to splay out the edges of the Blackwood a little so as to have good side clearance along the drawer then the gap can close in when snugged shut (make sense?)

My question is about how much clearance i should provide finally, especially vertically. I did note, and can be seen in the pics, that at present when the drawer is closed it is not square, tilting up at rear and thus forward at top of front. I'm guessing that is because it is still too snug vertically. (can only catch on the front top divider as behind that 1/4 inch ply sits higher than the drawer)

I wanted some wisdom before plunging into final dimensioning. Bearing in mind a finish needed on it (was thinking Shellac, but then also wipe on poly for durability) do any of the more experienced guys have a rule of thumb for such a small project?

**Bendigo Bob** · 9th July 2016, 04:13 PM

Was thinking about 0.5mm clearance all round but never done something like this before. I'm guessing that minor expansion across the grain will be something of an issue with drawer expanding more vertically (across grain) than the carcass which will expand front to back??

**ian** · 11th July 2016, 05:45 AM

hi Bob

I'm not sure from your description if the drawer drawer box is square -- in 3 dimensions
Is the drawer itself square to the drawer box and to itself. Could the front be at a very slight angle to the plane of the drawer bottom?

So the first things to be sure about are that the drawer is a snug square fit to the drawer box. Once you are happy with the drawer fit, you can start working on the drawer front. The reveal -- the gap at the top and bottom and on each side -- can be anywhere between 0.5 and about 2mm. It all depends on the look you want. 0.5 mm would be close to piston fit, while more than about 2mm would start to feel sloppy.

If you go for 0.5mm and expansion becomes a problem, you can always take a shaving or two off the top and bottom.

**Bendigo Bob** · 11th July 2016, 08:29 AM

Might go for that 0.5 mm all round then Ian. He can always give it back for modifications I guess

Yeah, the pic doesn't quite show it, but the drawer is out of square once closed, i reckon due to tightness. Got a mates job to do this morning, so after lunch will start fine tuning it and see if that allows the drawer to 'set down' in it's cavity square then. Kind of scary doing things the first time

It sure is a challenge working with fiddle-back timbers too. Good though when you see the grain patterns pop out.

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Small drawers in cabinet, advice on clearance needed

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