![]() ![]() I used 1/2″ cabinet grade plywood because I had a bunch of scraps but I’ll use 1/2″ MDF in the kitchen because I think it will paint better.īecause the panels are dimensionally stable plywood, I didn’t need to worry about expansion and I simply glued them in place. I just want to close the gaps and make sure the wood is in contact with the joining piece while keeping all the parts flat.Īt this point I measure and cut the panel. I glue the stiles onto one rail first so I can get the tenons into the other side and insert the other rail.Ĭlamp that together gently. I’m using my Festool Domino for the loose tenons. I used a speed square to mark the location for my mortises and then mark the matching sides so I put them together correctly after I cut all my mortises. Or, pocket screws would be ok in this application because you won’t see the back of the drawer front once it’s installed. You could also use biscuits if your cutter is long enough. I’m reinforcing my “lap joints” with loose tenons. I cut short, tested, raised the blade and recut several times before I got a perfect fit. This would be so much safer with a sled but I’m holding it securely to my miter gauge. Once all the main rabbets were cut I flipped my stiles over, lowered the blade to 1/4″ and cut a flap to sit on top of the rail. I used my router for a few and then switched to my table saw with a dado set. But you generally need to make several passes with a router to make deep cuts so it takes longer. Cutting on a router table is generally not as scary because the cutting part is so much smaller than a 10″ table saw blade. That comes from:Ĭutting grooves, dados and rabbets is best done on a router table or a table saw. The total drawer height minus 4″ is the length to cut the stile. Once the front is built, I trim 1/16″ off each side. I size the rails (horizontal pieces) to span the full width of the opening to allow me to trim some off to clean up my joints because they don’t always end up perfectly flush. You could use biscuits or pocket holes since you won’t see the back of the drawer fronts. The ends of the stiles will be cut to sit on top of the rabbet and reinforced with loose tenons. I’m cutting 1/2″ x 1/2″ rabbets on my rails and stiles to house my panel. I want the rails and stiles and panel to all be flush on the backside. Space behind the panel would allow the panel to bow in when the drawer pull is installed and I don’t want that. So I’m using 1/2″ panel material on the drawer fronts because I don’t want space behind the panel. I use 1/4″ panel on doors with a 1/4″ reveal and I want the reveal to be the same on my drawer fronts. You can go about this many different ways. I’m building drawer fronts and doors with flat panels and square edges. I’m going for 1/16″ gap on all sides of each drawer front. Turning those measurements into drawer fronts I want the drawer front for each drawer to cover the drawer and the hardware. The last thing I add to my drawing is the placement of the drawers and drawer runners if they are undermount like mine are. Then I do the same thing for the height, sliding the tape measure from one side to the other, verifying that I built a cabinet with a uniform opening - or noting any discrepancies. I measure the width starting at the top, then I slowly slide my tape measure down to the bottom of the opening making sure it is the same all the way down. I generally create a drawing of the cabinet opening with the drawers in it with their exact size, location and the spaces in between them. ![]() Besides, I’d have to reinstall all my drawers if I changed my mind because I installed all 30+ drawers in the kitchen and pantry with the appropriate setback for inset drawers and that sounds like too much stinking work so, onward and upward! Building Drawer Fronts So I’m going to push through and trudge forward. ![]() The simple answer is that I like the look and that is what I chose to do about 50 years ago when I started this kitchen remodel. ![]() This point in the project, when I’m pretty tired of it all and just want to be done, is about the time I ask myself, “WHY did you HAVE to do inset? WHY”? Inset drawers are so much more work than overlay because you have to size your drawer fronts perfectly and then there is tons of fiddle factor involved with the installation because you have to center the drawer front so there is exactly the same amount of space on all sides. After finally getting the drawers all built and installed with no more broken drawer glides (knock on wood) I was finally able to move forward on building drawer fronts.
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