Mastering Inset Drawer Fronts: A Craftsman's Guide
George VondriskaDescription
The Appeal of Inset Drawer Fronts
When it comes to drawer styles on cabinets and furniture, everyone seems to love the look of inset drawer fronts. It’s a custom look that suggests that the piece was hand crafted rather than mass produced. While they can look beautiful if they are done properly, they can also look lousy if they are not executed with care and precision.
Why Some Woodworkers Hesitate with Inset Drawers
Many woodworkers avoid building inset drawer fronts because the process seems intimidating and error prone. If you take your time and follow the right procedure for building these drawer fronts, you’ll find that it’s not as hard as it might seem.
Starting with a Perfect Foundation: The Carcase
Build a square carcase. Inset drawer fronts are difficult to install if you build a carcase that isn’t square. The best thing that you can do to set yourself up for success is to take your time and assemble a carcase that is square and solid.
Getting the Gap Just Right
Determine what size gape you will use and build a set of spacers to help you maintain that gap as you install the drawer fronts. Take great care in choosing the gap and cutting your spacers. If you go too small, it will be challenging to install the drawer fronts without having problems. If you go too large, they will look amateurish and you will be disappointed.
Securing the Drawer Fronts with Precision
Use your knob screw holes and temporary clamps. This will allow you to secure the drawer fronts into position while you attach them permanently from the rear.
The ability to build and install inset drawer fronts properly is one of those skills that separates a master craftsman from the rest. As you advance your cabinet and furniture making skills, be sure to check out other videos that arm you with additional tips and techniques to up your level of craftsmanship.
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I like how inset drawer fronts look. But for a long time, I hated working with them just cause they frankly can be a pain in the butt to put in. And it took a while, but I developed an approach here that works really well for me. Couple of things are key to this. When I make an inset drawer front or an inset door. I make it such that there's a 3/32 gap per side surrounding the door, the door front. So the product, the drawer front in this case is 3/16 narrower and 3/16 shorter than the opening. So then to make my install go more better. I have made 3/32 spacers and that's really key to this. We're gonna use the spacers in order to make sure everything installs this right. The other thing that's key is that on the drawer front, I've already drilled the holes which are for the pull. And we're gonna use those in order to get everything in just the right spot. So here's how this works. Grab a spacer and a spacer. Set the door front on that. And then if everything is right with the world you should be able to grab a spacer and a spacer and put them in there. And at that point you should be done. What I generally do here, when I get to this stage is I give it a visual. I look at it and make sure that the spacers are right Cause nothing says it has to be 3/32. That's what we're shooting for. But if I need to make a different set of spacers to guarantee that the gap is the same on all four sides, this is the time to do that. On this one, 3/32 looks great all around. Now we'll take advantage of those screw holes and simply drive screws through here. And we're engaged in that with the drawer box. And what that'll let us do is open the drawer. And now I wanna be a little bit careful with that cause it's just those two screws holding place, but it's pretty secure. And at this stage of the game, I can drive screws from the inside out. And what I'm gonna do is one on that side and one on this side. And then close and make sure that I'm still good. Cause with only two screws in there, if we needed to make an adjustment at this stage we could do that. If you put, I ended up with eight screws in there. If we have all eight screws in and we need to move this just a tiny bit. You're not gonna be able to do it. Now in this case I'm slipping right in there. Just a little snug on that side. So I am gonna back that screw out. Pull the front up a little bit and put one in the bottom corner, started that one. Relaxing this one. Come up just a skosh. Much better. At that stage then what I can do next is get the rest of my screws in here. That'll solidify that location. Then, please come out. And remember what we had when we started was the holes in the drawer front not holes in the drawer box. Done, so another application regarding drawers. We're taking advantage of spacers to do the work for you and make sure everything goes where it's supposed to go is very, very helpful, but don't forget to just get a couple of screws in there, double check everything confirm before you drive the rest of the fastening screws that are locking that in place, pretty easy way overall to get your inset drawer fronts installed.
Its handy to keep a deck of playing cards in your toolbox. Cards make great temporary shims and changing the card count changes the height. Also, you have a deck of cards for poker when business is slow. 😸
I like it George. Great vid.
This video presents an excellent method for attaching flush drawer fronts. Well done.