Your favorite cabinet drawer construction method?

[Broncman]

I got a bunch of cabinet drawers to redo for my wife.

Those if you with experience, what's your favorite construction method?

I have a box joint jig, but that is a bit time consuming.  I looked at the Porter Cable dovetail jig and the Lehigh one.

Also considering a drawer lock router bit setup. Rockler and others have a single and even a double lock setup.

This may be the fastest and also the easiest?  Seems like it would be pretty strong as well? My 6 year old grandson tore off a drawer front on the builder grade cabinets with just a single daddo groove... wife wants them all redone.

I have cabinet grade birch plywood and poplar for the material. 

[Ljohnsaw]

 :P
With any luck, I'll be making cabinets for the kitchen and bathroom up at my cabin next summer.

[beenthere]

Broncman
Good excuse to get another tool. Dovetails are great, but can be time consuming to get it right. Good time to find out. 

[21incher]

I am now lazy and have made over 100 different drawers with my dado set. Simple setup and quick. good glue and haven't seen one fail yet. The last picture is when I used to use dovetails but they took a lot longer and always made a mess of sawdust in my shop. I will say dovetails impress people and look higher end where dados don't. Plywood is not the best choice for dados. If all the drawers are the same size and plywood dovetails are probably a good choice. 


 

 

 

 

 

[Broncman]

21incher those look nice. I went to the Knoxville Master WoodWorker show this weekend and one of the guys there was showing me the exact same setup using dadoos for drawers. May have to give it a try. Just glue?

Ken

[NE Woodburner]

I make mine like 21incher - well almost like his - mine don't come out looking that nice...

[DWyatt]

I have used the lock miter bits before but even fresh out of the box, I wasn't impressed with the finish quality, there was a lot of tear out. I typically use high quality 1/2" BB Plywood and use rabbet joints with glue and 1 1/2" 18 ga trim nails. I then use 1/4" BB Plywood for the drawer bottom which I glue in 100% to the dado that is cut in the drawers sides, front, and back. The bottom helps everything clamp up square. 

Apply glue to the rabbets that are cut in the drawer sides and the dado on all 4 sides for the drawer bottom. Fold everything together and clamp with a quick grip clamp. Shot nails from drawer sides into the front and back, unclamp, then stack for the glue to dry. The 18ga nails are basically acting as my clamp because I don't have time for glue to dry if I have 20 drawers to build. Sand the top and bottom cut edge of the plywood with 120 grit once the glue is dry, then put an 1/8" round over on all sides. Three coats of lacquer makes them smooth.

In order for that drawer to fail, the nails would have to be pulled 90 degrees out of the front, the glue would have to fail in both the rabbet and the dado for the drawer bottom. I've made a whole mess of drawers that way and I've never had one fail. Also, since the bottom is 100% glued in, I've never run into an instance where the bottom sagged from too much weight.

[21incher]

21incher those look nice. I went to the Knoxville Master WoodWorker show this weekend and one of the guys there was showing me the exact same setup using dadoos for drawers. May have to give it a try. Just glue?

Ken

I have only ever used tite bond glue. Cut the parts as tight a fit as you can and the glue seems to expand the tongue enough to lock it all together.  With plywood you may want to make a dovetail and dado sample, then try making the joints fail a couple days later to see which is weaker. You need stop dados for the bottom if the front is exposed and not a blind insert.

[Larry]

Eons ago I bought a Leigh dovetail jig.  It's a great jig capable of some cool stuff.  My problem was at that point in my life I had little time for woodworking and might only make a dovetail joint every 6 months or a year.  Every time I got the urge it would take a hour or two to get the jig setup and for just a couple of drawers the time was excessive.  Sold it because I could hand cut them or use the bandsaw in less time.

Last house I built I decided to buy the Porter Cable jig.  Its a lot easier to use and does a great job with basic dovetails.  Lots of drawers in the kitchen and bathrooms, they came out great.

In the shop I made three drawers using the Kreg pocket hole jig.  Not fine woodworking at all, just wanted to try out the concept.






I think Hank smells a mouse in my drawer!  20 years of abuse and overload, still going strong.  Often over loaded with shop made wood slides, but they have never been tested by a 6 year old.  

[Magicman]

In my later cabinet shop years I used the lock joint that Larry pictured above but in the early 1980's:


 On this 40 year old cabinet I used:


 This simple joint.


 The same joint on this 30 year old kitchen pantry drawer.


 
I used Sycamore for the thin drawer sides.

Simple joints but I have never had a failure.  TiteBond was good stuff even back then.

[Brad_bb]

A good fit and glue is typically plenty strong for a drawer box, as 21incher and magicman show.  Kreg jig is very strong too.  The choice of joinery comes down to where it's being used - a shop cabinet you can get away with a simple joint if you choose.  In the kitchen or bathroom, you probably want something that looks better.  

I made a box joint jig for my table saw.  If I want to look like a craftsman though, I'll do hand cut dovetails for the front of the box.  I feel like it's faster to do hand cut dovetails than the time to set up a jig etc.  Once you do it a few times, you'll find it's way easier and faster than you think. Here's a video I like showing how to lay out dovetails.
Dovetail layout

[Tom K]

I do agree that the location & project make a difference on the type of joint. 

Lately my go to has been a simple rabbit like Magicman shows. The drawer material would influence whether I used nails or a couple screws after gluing. It may not be the prettiest joint but it's quick & repeatable. I also use a lot of plywood for drawer boxes and wouldn't like the rabbit lock with ply. 

I currently have a Leigh jig, and a 1/2 blind dovetail jig. As Larry said, it can get time consuming setting them up, so I just don't use them because I don't have the time for that right now.

I have decided that any time I make a project for the kids or granddaughter I want to step up my game on jointery with the hope it might survive a generation or two. I would like to use either through dovetails or box joints on those drawers.

[NE Woodburner]

Just to throw another option out there to consider, and this is not for the woodworking purists who want to make everything themselves. A friend built cabinets for his daughters new home. He is perfectly capable of making drawers of any kind. He chose to use an on-line drawer parts manufacturer and spent his time and energy building and installing everything else. The drawer boxes were dovetail construction and made on CNC equipment, so the fit was perfect and assembly was easy. Lots of options for different materials too.

[DWyatt]

I have never used the online drawer companies, but I have heard great things from others who have used them.

[firefighter ontheside]

I use what I call a lock rabbet joint.  Others have shown the method.  It has lots of glue surface and does not take a lot of time to do.  Just have to make sure that your material is just the right thickness.  I have done some drawers where the front is attached with a sliding dovetail.  This avoids having to have a false front on the drawer.  Drawer bottom sits in a dado.

[Oth]

No shame in using a company that makes drawers. I'm a cabinetmaker and I farm out all the drawers to a company an hour away that just does drawers and doors. They come finished, notched and bored for blum undermount slides. For the price and the size of my operation it'd be insane to make em in house. Unless someone wants half blind dovetails or something special that's how I do it.