Kitchen Drawers

[Michael Schaefer]

My wife and I recently moved into a new house which has a narrow, but very deep vertical pantry.  The pantry has a few shelves, but does not have any internal drawers, with the depth of the pantry this is a major drawback.  I have considered Marc's spreadsheet for buy vs. build and am planning on going with the build option.  I will need about 6 drawers, roughly 10" wide and about 24" long.  I need to be able to build these quickly (eg one shop day / one weekend) or SWMBO will choose a less desirable option.

I am planning on using 1/2" Birch plywood for the sides, solid birch for the front and back and 1/4" birch plywood for the bottoms.  I am planning on using Blume undermount hardware.  I was going to pick up one of the Leigh dovetail jigs and do half blind dovetails for the sides into the front (e.g. cover the exposed plywood edge.)  I was going to use Birch to match the existing shelves, but I could easily be pushed to another pale wood.  Thoughts?  Any suggestions on expediting?  Experience with the Leigh 4212 or 4216 jig?  Should I just use hardwood for the sides as well?

 

And yes, I would rather cut the dovetails by hand, but my dovetails aren't that good yet and I am far to slow to get these done in a weekend.

[Coop]

If you're going to use dovetails, I would use solid wood for the sides as well. I've used this method when using bb ply and works very well. Especially if you need to do them in one day.

[Ronn W]

+1.  I agree with Coop's Sketch.  If you are going to put false fronts on the drawers, the front and back could be 1/2" plywood instead of solid.  The only problem that you might face is chipping out of the plywood where the dados for the sides and bottom meet.  But that is hidden.

Also 24" is a very deep drawer.  You could put, say 18" drawers, if you don't need all that depth..

The one time that I used under mount glides, I was a little unhappy with one glide in the center of the bottom - tippy even with the little shims that came with the glides.  I splurged and put 2 bottom glides on each drawer.  They are smooth acting and solid. Glad I did it.

[treeslayer]

i think Coop and Ronn are right on target, i own a Leigh D4R 24" and its a great jig, expensive but worth it IMO and i use it all the time, but to knock some drawers out in the time you have  Coop's suggestion is a good one. i have never used under mount slides but i also think on a drawer that deep that could be holding a lot of weight i would use two per drawer.

[Michael Schaefer]

Thanks for the advice!  I was planning on using two of the undermounts, and I still might, but I do think I need to verify what the full extension length is going to be.  Side mounts are inherently stronger, but I really don't want to have to give up any more width.

[wdwerker]

Blum Tandem undermount slides come in pairs. You also need a left and right locking device that mounts to the underside of the drawer. A knotch has to be cut in the back bottom edge of the drawer plus a hole drilled in a very specific spot. A pin on the slide goes into the hole and the locking device clicks onto the slide .

http://www.cshardware.com/b-569a6100b.html  

building a practice drawer is very wise . These slides take some learning and effort to install correctly .