I want to make three drawers for the inside of an armoire, about 9" in
height, 28' wide, and 20" deep. I was looking and have been considering
getting a drawer locking bit. I have a dove tail jig but dont want to
set it all up just for three drawers. I do want them to be strong.
Should I even invest in a drawer locking bit? I do plan on using it for
another project later (cigar box) but is it a good technique? I also
saw a reversible glue joint for drawers bit at Arizona Woodline:

http://www.woodline.com/scripts/prod...?idproduct=389

Would or could someone recommend the way to go? I guess Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

Thanks in advance,

Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

If it's only 3 drawers, I wouldn't spend the money on jigs. Dovetail
joint is the way to go. I had a chance to see Klausz do dovetails at
the weekend, the joint was _extremely_ strong without glue on it. It's
well known that dovetails are the strongest type of joints for boxes.

Invest in Klausz's "Dovetail a drawer" video, after you've seen it,
drawers are a piece of cake...

Marton

"gwoodwork" wrote in message
I want to make three drawers for the inside of an armoire, about 9" in
height, 28' wide, and 20" deep. I was looking and have been considering
getting a drawer locking bit. I have a dove tail jig but dont want to
set it all up just for three drawers.

Would or could someone recommend the way to go? Thanks in advance,

There's always the old standby, a drawer rabbet joint. Easily cut on a table
saw, it can strong and attractive if, besides gluing, you pin the sides to
the drawer front with a contrasting wood dowel.

You can also do a "lock rabbet joint" on the table saw. As luck would have
it, there is even a site with a four step process and illustrations"

http://tinyurl.com/b54q4

With that big of a drawer, I would probably go with the latter, and maybe a
pin for both added strength and looks, but it may take as long to set up as
your dovetail jig.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/07/05

gwoodwork wrote:
I want to make three drawers for the inside of an armoire, about 9" in
height, 28' wide, and 20" deep.

Would or could someone recommend the way to go? I guess Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

A sliding dovetail is very strong and easy to make.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 00:05:17 -0700, marton.czebe wrote:

Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

If it's only 3 drawers, I wouldn't spend the money on jigs. Dovetail
joint is the way to go. I had a chance to see Klausz do dovetails at
the weekend, the joint was _extremely_ strong without glue on it. It's
well known that dovetails are the strongest type of joints for boxes.

Invest in Klausz's "Dovetail a drawer" video, after you've seen it,
drawers are a piece of cake...

Marton

I agree, dovetails are the way to go. Setup always take
some time, but it's worth it. Question, are dovetailed
drawers really the strongest? Sliding dovetails would
seem to me to be as strong, and the box joints I've
done are rock solid. Anybody have any data?

DGA

On 10 Aug 2005 22:22:16 -0700, "gwoodwork" wrote:

I want to make three drawers for the inside of an armoire, about 9" in
height, 28' wide, and 20" deep. I was looking and have been considering
getting a drawer locking bit. I have a dove tail jig but dont want to
set it all up just for three drawers. I do want them to be strong.
Should I even invest in a drawer locking bit? I do plan on using it for
another project later (cigar box) but is it a good technique? I also
saw a reversible glue joint for drawers bit at Arizona Woodline:

http://www.woodline.com/scripts/prod...?idproduct=389

Would or could someone recommend the way to go? I guess Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

Thanks in advance,

In a lot of cases, there's not a lot of difference between drawer lock
bits and glue joint bits. I've found the drawer lock bits to be fairly
fussy to set up and performance is very dependent upon having very uniform
thickness stock, very flat stock, and making sure that you are very precise
running the material through the bit. I used the drawer lock bits for my
shop workbench drawers and was not totally satisfied with the appearance.
YMMV. Setting up the dovetail jig, or doing sliding dovetails may be just
as quick.


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

On 10 Aug 2005 22:22:16 -0700, "gwoodwork"
wrote:

I want to make three drawers for the inside of an armoire, about 9" in
height, 28' wide, and 20" deep. I was looking and have been considering
getting a drawer locking bit. I have a dove tail jig but dont want to
set it all up just for three drawers. I do want them to be strong.
Should I even invest in a drawer locking bit? I do plan on using it for
another project later (cigar box) but is it a good technique? I also
saw a reversible glue joint for drawers bit at Arizona Woodline:

http://www.woodline.com/scripts/prod...?idproduct=389

Would or could someone recommend the way to go? I guess Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

If you don't care to dovetail, locking rabbets are fairly common and
easy to make. I've used them on a couple of projects, and they work
pretty well, but they have a tendancy to break in old cabinetry, esp.
if the drawer sides are made of plywood.

wrote:
Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.


If it's only 3 drawers, I wouldn't spend the money on jigs. Dovetail
joint is the way to go. I had a chance to see Klausz do dovetails at
the weekend, the joint was _extremely_ strong without glue on it. It's
well known that dovetails are the strongest type of joints for boxes.

Invest in Klausz's "Dovetail a drawer" video, after you've seen it,
drawers are a piece of cake...

Marton

For furniture, get the video, learn how to hand cut them and you'll
never look back. That's what I did after router-butchering a half-blind
drawerfront for a blanket chest wedding present.

The really great thing about hand cut dovetails is that the the more you
do the easier they get. Plus you have much more flexibility in the
layout and sizes of pins.

Now, if you had to produce all the drawers in a medical office suite
(which we once bought a Multi-Router to do), I would suggest contacting
some of the drawer box manufacturers who advertise in FWW etc. You
probably have better thngs to do than mill a hundred drwaer boxes.

wrote:

Im looking at
three options right now- a drawer loking bit, a reversible glue joint
for drawers bit, and dovetail.

If it's only 3 drawers, I wouldn't spend the money on jigs. Dovetail
joint is the way to go. I had a chance to see Klausz do dovetails at
the weekend, the joint was _extremely_ strong without glue on it. It's
well known that dovetails are the strongest type of joints for boxes.

Invest in Klausz's "Dovetail a drawer" video, after you've seen it,
drawers are a piece of cake...

Marton

If you go the Frank Klausz video route you may find
this useful

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...ilDrawer0.html

each page is an image file you can download, print
at your leisure and take to the bench. Do what you
see and turn the page.

He covers a lot of ground and when the tape's over you'll
be sure you know what you need to know. You'll be wrong.
You can watch the tape four or five times or just use
the instructions you can take to the shop.

BTW - he's right - butt chisels, because they're
shorter than bench chisel,. are easier to control
when chopping/ chiseling out the dovetail socket waste.

You didn't say if you're doing to do applied drawer
faces. If so, the miter lock router bit is pretty
good. All your final dimensions are what you start
with. If you get the bit, get the setup block with
it and save some trial and error .

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...MiterBox1.html

charlie b