Tips for Building Drawers

Drawers can really expand storage capacity. Though you could order drawers from a cabinet shop, then build the cabinets to enclose them, making your own drawers is more challenging – without being too difficult.

Drawers are best made from plywood and hardboard. Solid wood tends to warp, leading to stuck drawers, though it is often used to decorate drawer fronts. Plywood is strong for its weight and resistant to warping; thin but rigid, hardboard makes strong drawer bottoms. Use ¾” stock for drawer fronts and ½” or 5/8″ for sides and backs. Use the thicker plywood for the sides if you plan to cut dadoes for the drawer bottom or slides. Hardboard bottoms are usually ¼” thick.

A drawer built with hand tools is essentially a specialized box, made with butt joints for ease of assembly. You’ll need a saw, hammer, tape measure, clamps, and glue to put it together. Assemble the drawer shown at top right by first gluing and nailing the two front panels together; then attach the two sides to the inside front panel. Next, fit the back into the sides and nail and glue it in place.

Flip the assembly upside down and square it up with a combination square; then attach the bottom to the sides, back, and inside front panel. If you want to reinforce the bottom, cut it to fit inside the drawer and attach cleats. The glue and nail the bottom to the top of the cleats. Clamp all joints so that they’ll dry square and strong.

A drawer built with power tools can take advantage of the more sophisticated joinery these tools make possible. A simple drawer requires rabbets and dadoes. You’ll need a power saw (portable, circular, table, or radial-arm), hammer, nails, glue, and clamps. A router is also helpful.

Cut the pieces to required sizes and check for square. Cut rabbets and dadoes in the front and sides. Turn the drawer front upside down and fit the bottom into place. Slip the side dadoes over the bottom, and glue and nail the sides to the front. Next, slip the back piece between the sides and on top of the bottom piece. Check for square and nail through each side into the back.

There are two ways to attach the bottom. One method is simply to glue and nail all joints as usual. The other is to set the bottom into the side dadoes and below the back, nailing through the bottom into the back with a few small nails. This way the bottom floats with room to swell and contract.

Drawer measurements will differ with the type of guides used. Always decide on guides before building the drawer. Lightweight drawers that are not too wide can slide in and out without guides. But wider, heavier drawers should have guides of some type. Manufactured guides are smoothest, easiest to work with, and the most expensive. Install these according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Homemade versions usually consist of a runner and guides. The runner can be a strip of wood, and the guides can be dadoes cut either in the drawer sides or in the cabinet sides. Alternate guides can be made of strips of wood or you can buy ready-made plastic channel to serve as guides.