The bottom is usually 1 4 thick plywood for small drawers or 1 2 thick material for bigger drawers or drawers that will hold heavy objects.
Woodworking joints for drawer. Which woodworking joints should you use. Discover the secrets to making strong drawers by cutting locking rabbet joints on the tablesaw as taught by wood magazine design editor jeff mertz. A drawer lock joint consists of two specially shaped interlocking rabbets that allow the drawer front and back to be securely glued to the drawer sides. You can cut all the sides and all the fronts at the same time.
The bottom should slide into the drawer in 1 4 x 1 4 grooves milled in the sides and drawer front. Best of all this technique allows you to cut all parts of the joint with just a dado blade and a single setup on the tablesaw. The method is somewhat less durable than a dovetail joint but strong enough for average drawer use. It s all done on the tablesaw.
A drawer using 3 8 stock would have rabbets and dadoes measuring 3 16 while a hefty drawer with 3 4 sides would take 3 8 rabbets and dadoes. Learn how to build a clean strong and beautiful half blind dovetail joint and when to use this type of wood joinery. Dovetails are the strongest joint used in drawers. Although not as strong as a dovetail joint a well made lock rabbet joint will hold up fine unless the drawer takes heavy regular pounding.
Although you can build drawer joints using any number of methods we think lock rabbet joints like the ones abovemake sense for attaching the sides fronts and backs of most drawers. This joint can easily be adapted for material of any thickness. Here s a joint that s far easier to make. This joint is perfect if you re making a set of drawers of different widths because width doesn t matter.
The biscuit is an oval shaped piece. Like the box joint a dovetail joint consists of fingers that fit together to increase surface area. A drawer lock joint consists of specially shaped interlocking rabbets that allow the drawer front and back to be securely glued to the drawer sides. For this type of joint the best choice is a half blind dovetail.
A biscuit joint is nothing more than a reinforced butt joint. A perfect example is a drawer front where you don t want to see the end of the through dovetail on the face of the drawer. The real key is making sure that you cut the rabbets in the drawer front and back so they lock into dadoes cut into the drawer sides. A half blind tongue and rabbet.
It joins two pieces of wood by merely butting them together. Dovetails have a complex shape with angled. I ve used 1 4 joinery here with 1 2 stock as an example.