Inset Drawer and Door Clearances

[Hammer5573]

I'm building a federal style sideboard with inset drawers and doors . The drawers and doors are constructed with 1/8" and 1/4" cherry bead moulding on all edges. How much clearance should I allow for wood movement (the humidity can get pretty high where I live)..?

[mat60]

If I did that when its dry here like in the winter I would leave a 1/8 and when its humid in the summer it would be 1/16.  Im not one of the experts here so others may do it different.

[Mick S]

Are the door and drawer fronts solid wood?

 

[wdwerker]

What's the widest board ( crossgrain) in each door & drawer . Long grain dimensions won't change, but crossgrain will move with the seasons. 1/16 gaps look great but are a lot of effort to achieve. 1/8 gaps look pretty good and are reasonably attainable. Bigger than that starts looking worse.  If you shoot for the gap on the crossgrain width to be 1/8 when it's the driest humidity in your area or 1/16 when the humidity is high you should be fine. 

A 6" wide piece of plain sawn cherry could move .107 ( or a little less than 1/8 over a year ) from driest to wettest. That should approximate a slab drawerfront or 2-3" wide stiles on a frame & panel door. Investing in a moisture meter will help. The " Woodshop Widget " app will help you figure movement for different species.  Rift sawn & quartersawn wood moves less. Kiln dried moves less than air dried.  Well finished on all edges reacts to humidity changes slower. Furniture that lives in a home that has year round temperature & humidity controls moves less. Forced air heat and air conditioning can both dry out the air so spring and fall may be when you have a little more movement. Usually a wide tabletop is more of a concern with wood movement. But inset doors with tight gaps leaves small margins. Wood movement is one of the main reasons for frame & panel doors. Always leave extra depth on the grooves on both sides of a panel side to side. The height/length of a board doesn't change enough to worry about

[Hammer5573]

The drawer and door fronts are composed of a laminated composite surrounded by 1" thick hardwood and covered with wood veneer. I've used this approach in the past and it's worked very well

[Mick S]

Just now, Hammer5573 said:

The drawer and door fronts are composed of a laminated composite surrounded by 1" thick hardwood and covered with wood veneer. I've used this approach in the past and it's worked very well

That's how I do my inset doors and drawers. You could probably get by with a smaller gap, then. You have much more humidity than we do, but unless your stiles and rails are really wide and crossgrain - not really Federal style - you should be fine with 1/16".

On a side note, you don't happen to know EJ (Eric) Nodurft there in Wheeling, do you?

[Hammer5573]

 

...response to Mick S

What kind of composite material do you use? I laminate Masonite using Gorilla glue wrapped in waxed paper and placed in a mold. Very satisfied with the results

"On a side note, you don't happen to know EJ (Eric) Nodurft there in Wheeling, do".

Wheeling is a small town but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him

[wdwerker]

With a laminated composite core I agree with Mick, 1/16 is fine. 

[Ronn W]

Fro comparison......I am in the process of building a mate for a cherry federal end table that I have.  I plane the draw to fit - about 1/32" clearance.  First table was built last september and has still slides freely.  I may be pushing my luck but so far so good.