Dresser drawers

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jcraigie
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Post by jcraigie »

That's a beautiful cabinet.
1984 Mark V 500 and an early 1954 greenie. jointer, belt sander, bandsaw, jigsaw, planner.

Jeff
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Post by Underdog »

Alright... I've been out of town for a few days and had to walk away from this project for a little bit. However, I jumped back in again over the weekend and went with the drawer joint that Charlese posted back on page one.

I'm not sure what happened, but the cuts are sloppier than I'd like. Seems I got a little off square between all my ripping and cross cutting. Not bad enough to ruin the project, but I'll forever know it and be bothered by it (it's an OCD thing).

What's worse, is the dado that I cut for the drawer joint. I ended up cutting the rabbets first. Once those were done, I set up to cut the dados. Using scrap, I really thought I had everything set up perfectly. So, I proceeded to cut everything. Well... somehow there is quite a bit more slop to the joint than I'd like. I'm attempting to glue it all up as we speak, and it seems like it will all work, but man are they ugly joints... :mad:

So, I've been thinking this over and I think I know where I goofed. I think I should have cut the dados first. This would have made adjustments for the rabbets much easier and precise, as I'd have had better control of the cut by controlling the depth of the cut (which is much easier to do and more precise on the old 10ER).

Or, maybe I should have tried using a router table? Maybe that would have produced a more consistent cut?

Anyway, looking for feedback from the more seasoned of you out there.

I will try to get some pictures up in a day or so as glued parts dry. Would love comments and critiques. Thanks!
charlese
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Post by charlese »

In my shop it works best to make the dado first. You can use the same setup for both cuts. Of course all boards must be exactly 1/2" thick.

With your dado blade up 1/4" and 1/4' away from the fence. Pass the board to be dadoed (back flat face down) through the blade with the board"s end up against the fence. Without changing settings, pass the front board through the same blade, but this time the board will be held vertically with the face up against the fence.

If you were going to make locking dado joints, a router table is the easiest. I've use both a router and the saw table. In both cases fence placement is very important.
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
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