MAKING THE DRAWERS

The desk unit drawers are assembled with through dovetails, then a false front is glued to the drawer front to conceal the end grain of the tails. The chamfer cut around the perimeter of the false front shown above recalls the traditional practice of beveling the ends and edges of veneered drawer fronts, which pre­vented the veneer from being torn off when the drawer was opened and closed.

GLUING UP THE DRAWERS

1

Routing the through dovetail joints

Size the drawer parts to fit their openings in the desk unit, then join the boards with dovetails, cutting the pins in the front and back of the drawer, and the tails in the sides. To cut the dovetails with a router and the jig shown above, screw the pin – and tail-board templates to backup boards, then secure one of the tail boards (drawer sides) end up in a bench vise. Protecting the stock with a wood pad, clamp the tail template to the work­piece so the underside of the template is butted against the end of the board. Also clamp a stop block against one edge of the drawer side so the tails at the other end and in the other
drawer sides will match. Install a top-piloted dovetail bit in the router and cut the tails by feeding the tool along the top of the template and moving the bit in and out of the jig’s slots (above, left). Keep the bit pilot pressed against the sides of the slot throughout. Repeat to rout the tails at the other end of the board and in the other drawer sides. Then use the completed tails to outline the pins on the drawer fronts and backs. Secure a pin board in the vise, clamp the pin-board template to the board with the slots aligned over the outline, and secure the stop block in place. Rout the pins with a straight bit (above, right).

2 Preparing the drawers for bottom panels

The bottom of each desk unit drawer fits into a groove along the inside of the drawer. Dry-fit the parts together, then clamp the unit securely, protecting the stock with wood pads and aligning the clamp bars with the front and back. Fit a router with a piloted three-wing slotting cutter and mount the tool in a table. Adjust the bit height to cut the groove Щ inch from the drawer’s bottom edge. Set the drawer right side up on the table and, starting at the middle of one side, feed the stock into the cutter against the direction of bit rotation. Keeping the pilot bearing butted against the workpiece, feed the drawer clockwise (right). Continue pivoting the drawer on the table until you return to the starting point. Use veneered plywood for the bottom and cut the panel to fit the opening.

3

Gluing and clamping the drawers

For glue up, make four wood pads as long as the height of the drawers and cut small notches in the pads so they only contact the tails. Spread a thin, even lay­er of glue on all the contacting surfaces, then assemble the drawers and install two bar clamps across the pin boards. Tighten the clamps a little at a time until a small amount of glue squeezes out of the joints. Immediately measure the diag­onals between opposite corners (left). The two results should be the same. If not, install another bar clamp across the longer of the two diagonals, setting the clamp jaws on those already in place. Tighten the clamp a little at a time, mea­suring as you go until the two diagonals are equal.

INSTALLING THE FALSE FRONT

Chamfering the ends and edges of the false fronts

Cut the false fronts to fit the drawer openings in the desk unit, subtracting ‘A inch from the length and width. To chamfer the perimeter of the false fronts, install a piloted 45° chamfer­ing bit in a router and mount the tool in a table. Align the fence with the bit’s pilot bearing and adjust the height of the bit to cut all but [6]/i6 inch of the false front’s ends and edges. Clamp two featherboards to the fence, one on each side of the bit, to support the stock. (In the illustration above, the feather – board on the outfeed side of-tbe-fence has been removed for clarity.) To reduce tearout, chamfer the ends before the sides. Feed the workpiece across the table with a push stick, using your left hand to press the stock against the fence (above).

2

Positioning the false fronts

Set each drawer face-up on a work surface and drive two brads into the drawer front, leaving their heads protruding. Make sure the brads are not located where the drawer pull will be installed, then snip off the heads and install the drawer in the desk unit. Carefully position the false front over the drawer (above). Once you are satisfied with the placement, press firmly; the pointed ends of the brads will punch impres­sions into the back of the false front.