Desk drawer help

[houstonwoodworker]

Hey everyone, I'm building a Krenov style desk out of walnut. See the picture.  I need some advice on the drawers and pulls. I used one piece for the front and cut it apart and reglued it so that the drawer faces are out of the same board as the apron and will have nice continuous grain through the length. See the picture.  I just ordered a dovetail jig so I'm curious how you would do these drawers: wood runners or nice metal drawer slides, full extension, or soft close???

Also for the drawer pulls, im open to any recommendations! I don't like the ones in the picture and I don't Think they should be big because I want to see the continuous grain but they need to be big enough to pull the drawer out. Please help and send pics of good drawer pulls!!

thank you!

[Llama]

I'd use ebony pulls, something sleek... If you are copying this desk, I'd make them horizontal with a slight curve to grab some light...

Slides... I love Blum soft close slides. You should use all wood for this piece though. Please whatever you do, don't use the full extension side mounted ones. 

[..Kev]

IMO, this piece should be natural wood slides and not anything modern.  I agree with Mel on the ebony tho although, you could also get away with Wenge.

[JosephThomas]

+1 for wooden slides.

I personally am more of a fan of simple horizontal pulls, probably because I would rather sacrifice a little form for function in that case. Might be because I've never grabbed one of those vertical-looking pulls in-person, but it seems a bit awkward to grab and feels like a big departure from "normal" in a place where I want things normal. Just personal taste.

A couple examples from a quick google search of what fits my taste. Again it's, a personal thing as long as someone can open the drawer...krenov stuff is going to require a little more flare or asian-influence, so what I like might be too simple for you, but here they are anyway:

 

[houstonwoodworker]

Since I'm building this out of walnut, will ebony match that, will it have enough contrast? Or Should I go a lighter wood like maple for more contrast??

[Llama]

Ebony goes with everything. Even more ebony. It is almost the perfect wood.

I can't think of a wood that ebony doesn't compliment. 

[Coop]

27 minutes ago, Llama said:

Ebony goes with everything. Even more ebony. It is almost the perfect wood.

I can't think of a wood that ebony doesn't compliment. 

Poplar

[AceHoleInOne]

Yes, go with the wood drawer frames, to hell with the steel slides. As to the drawer pulls what color, etc., that's a personal taste. However, one caution, make sure they are proportional. I get seeing the grain and all that but too small or too big in my opinion can kill the look of a piece.

 

-Ace-  

[Janello]

Shaneymack has a real nice trick I used for wooden drawer slides using blue masking tape for a spacer. It makes precise alignment and installation a breeze!  If the drawer is large enough, I like using 2 per drawer instead of one centered. 

Hopefully Shane can jump in and provide you with a link to his journal where he explains this method with pics.

 

[gee-dub]

 What about using push to open and no pulls?.

http://www.rockler.com/salice-futura-push-to-open-drawer-slides

[Mick S]

I've always admired these.

[wdwerker]

I agree with the wooden slides being the best choice and the concealed Blum slides if you want the soft close and full extension. 

Those push to open slides are very fussy to install and easily get out of alignment then refuse to open ( or won't stay shut )

[Janello]

6 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

 What about using push to open and no pulls?.

http://www.rockler.com/salice-futura-push-to-open-drawer-slides

Chip Foose of furniture. Taking a 1955 Chevy Bel air and adding air conditioning and spinner rims. YUCK.

[houstonwoodworker]

So would you use wooden slides?: For example have routed slots in the drawer sides and a piece of hardwood on the sides inside the desk that would go in the router grooves on the sides of the drawer so it can slide?

Or would you build an internal compartment where the drawer would go and fit it that way? In other words, not using any actual slides. 

All advice appreciated!

[wtnhighlander]

I think hardwood runners in a routed groove make it easier to get a smooth operation, as opposed to a drawer in a box design.

[houstonwoodworker]

So this is sad but I'm just now finding time to make the drawer pulls. I've been trying to make the ones in the picture without much success. Anyone made these and have any helpful tips??

[wtnhighlander]

Turn on a lathe, then saw in half?

[VizslaDad]

If you didn't have a lathe you could also turn them using rudimentary tools and a drill press, and then cut them in half with the bandsaw or by hand. I could see this being an attractive option sans lathe, especially if you want to cut a dovetail for fitment to the drawer front.