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  1. #1
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    Default Best way to fit hardwood runners in chest of drawers

    I am making a chest of drawers 400x 400 x280 with 10 drawers each 35mm high, and wish to fit hardwood runners on the side of the carcass for the drawers to slide on.
    can anyone please tell me the best way to go about this, as it will require a good deal of precision
    regards,

    Dengy

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  3. #2
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    You are right about the precision. If you want to dado the runners into the side its all about measuring accurately before cutting the dado. Glueing or pinning the runners onto the surface of the box sides is slightly easier as you can use a spacer block to space the runners equally. Have a look at my Tool chest thread, it has a few drawers with oak runners inserted into dado'd grooves.

  4. #3
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    thanks for this encouragement botesmj1. I was thinking of putting dado slots in the drawers and the carcase, but think just screwing the runners to the carcase might be better to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction, and putting some slots in them for the screws to do a fine adjustment. What did you use to do the dado slots, and how big were they?
    regards,

    Dengy

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dengue View Post
    thanks for this encouragement botesmj1. I was thinking of putting dado slots in the drawers and the carcase, but think just screwing the runners to the carcase might be better to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction, and putting some slots in them for the screws to do a fine adjustment. What did you use to do the dado slots, and how big were they?
    The ones I made was about 5mm width so I just did a few passes on the tablesaw using a standard blade. I reckon just screwing them down will work fine though. That way you can also adjust them a few mm up and down to fine tune the spacing. I think that's the way old school desks were made so should be OK.

  6. #5
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    thanks again botesmj1, much appreciated. What thickness are the carcase timbers on your magnificent tool chest?
    regards,

    Dengy

  7. #6
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    Found an excellent article on fitting hardwood runners in Fine Woodworking magazine that you can see here: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2006...-drawer-slides
    regards,

    Dengy

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dengue View Post
    thanks again botesmj1, much appreciated. What thickness are the carcase timbers on your magnificent tool chest?
    Cheers, the sides of the carcass are about 15mm thick. Here is some photos of some other drawer chests I made FY reference. I think these runners were just glued on, sorry I don't have detailed photos of them.

    Jacques

  9. #8
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    Wow, these are terrific, botesmj1, many thanks for sharing. You seem to have got it down to a fine art. As I have never made one of these before, how did you go about positioning the drawer runners on the case sides? Do you cut the drawer dados first, or fix the runners to the case first? Did you do the dado cuts on the drawer sides on a router table? If so, how did you manage the reverse climbing cut where you would have to feed one side in the reverse direction on the router table?
    Can you tell us what timber you use for the drawer sides - it looks good with the contrast
    regards,

    Dengy

  10. #9
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    Dengue, I'd suggest screwing the runners to the sides if you are using solid wood. Screws allow some movement of the substrate without self-destructing, as you implied, particularly if you make the holes in the runner a bit oversize. The centre screws can be tight, but leave the outer ones a tiny bit looser, & you should have no problems.

    If you are using veneered particle-board like botes', glueing would be fine, but make sure you've got 'em right first time. One clear advantage of screwing them in is it allows a second (or third) go at it.

    Pre-cutting trenches for runners may seem intimidating when you first think about it, but it's not all that difficult once you get stuck into it. You can use a simple square-sided trench or better still, sliding dovetails. Both can be cut with a 'lectric router run against a guide board, or with hand tools (obviously the preferred method for members on this site ) I would only consider SDs on 'heirloom' pieces, myself, for less fancy stuff, surface-mount is fine, imo.

    The most reliable way I know to get spacings spot-on is to use a plywood template when fixing them in - if your drawer spacings are all the same, you only need one template. A template is much safer than using a pencil line, which get a bit hard to see on dark woods in the dim recesses of a cabinet, and you are more likely to make parallax errors (damhik!)

    Simple, surface-mounted runners, are perfectly adequate and durable - that's what I used in my tool chest and they are holding up extremely well after 20 years of constant use. Apart from convenience, one reason I used screwed-on runners was because I was expecting to need to replace some, eventually, but even those runners under the heaviest drawers that get a lot of use are showing little sign of wear, so I think I'll be able leave any replacement jobs to the next generation...

    Cheers,
    IW

  11. #10
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    No veneered particle board in those boxes Ian [emoji53].

    Timber used is all solid. NZ Rimu for the small lighter pen drawer box, Mahogany for the darker one. The other chest is Oak. The drawers are different though as I used pine for the drawers themselves and it's got an oak front.

    I tend to make the carcas, do the drawers and dry fit everything to check final size of the drawers. I would then measure overall height and do some calculations for the distances, cut and glue the runners, then the associated drawer dados.

    When making the drawer dados if it uses a false front, which is to be added later, then a straight through cut on the tablesaw to make the dado is OK.

    If the drawer front is part of the drawer then I use the router table. If the dado is in the middle you don't have to worry about a climb cut, just flip the drawer.

  12. #11
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    I feel like I am getting there now, many thanks to botesmj1 and IanW. Feeling a lot more confident about taking it on.
    Botes, I really like the last pic of the chest of drawers on the purple polka dot table cloth. What joint did you use for the drawer front, and for the top of the carcase?
    regards,

    Dengy

  13. #12
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    I'm ashamed to say but that was just normal butt joints. There is no real stress on the unit so it sort of worked.

    These days I use finger joints for the carcass and a rebate joint for the drawers as per the attached.

  14. #13
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    Actually botesmj1, I particularly liked the appearance of the simple butt joints on the case top and the drawers. They looked nice and simple and neat. I imagine that joint with dowels or dominoes would strengthen them, or even better, make them mortise and tenon joints with stopped slots for the mortices. Just a thought I will pursue with mine.
    Of course the ultimate would be half blind dovetail joints for the drawers, but that is a bit beyond my skill level
    regards,

    Dengy

  15. #14
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    good luck - post pictures as you make progress

  16. #15
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    By heck, Jacques, you do nice work! I love those pen drawers!

    This thread is very timely as I’m planning a box with a drawer. A technique I found was this.

    The drawer runner is effectively a tongue and groove with the tongue fitting into a groove in the box wall.

    E9F69CD2-E9DC-4A62-BA2F-2CBE30F7D476.jpeg

    The runner is test fitted and the drawer checked for alignment. If the drawer is riding high the runner can be removed and the top surface planed, sneaking up until the correct fit is obtained. Then the runner can be glued in.

    Personally I’d use a spacing jig


    Brian

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