Building Doors and Drawers

You may have a favorite drawer. You know, the one that feels good in the hand when you grasp its handle and begin to pull. Even when filled with prized goods, it slides out easily and with authority, running smoothly and never snagging or tipping down more than a smidgeon. You may even find the sound of its movement appealing, whether it's the whizzz of a pair of engineered metal channels rolling along dozens of tiny steel balls, or the more subtle snick of wood gliding on wood. And it closes softly, without complaint.

This part of the book is designed to help you make drawers that you'll love. To get started, you'll first want to choose the style of drawer you want to use, whether overlay, half-overlay, or flush. You'll need to decide whether to use a wood-to-wood mounting system (where the drawer is guided by wooden parts of the case), or whether to mount them using commercial metal slides. You'll also want to proportion the parts properly so they work well and look great, and you'll need to choose the appropriate materials, joinery, and finish. All these design choices will impact how your drawers will look and, more important, they'll help you make a drawer that operates flawlessly for years to come.

Once you've settled on a particular drawer design, consider how it will move in and out of the cabinet, which tells you the type of case or furniture frame to build. The easiest tracking method is to use metal slide hardware, but many woodworkers like to make their own drawer guide systems. The traditional approach is to make a case that accommodates a "wood-on-wood" drawer, whereby the drawer itself rides on wooden bearing surfaces in the case. This is a demanding type of drawer and cabinet to build, but the result is elegant and speaks of fine woodworking.

Choose your joinery carefully when making a drawer. Drawers are subject to stress as they're pulled in and out of a case, so the drawer box itself, especially the corner joints, must be sound and well made. And parts must come together flat and square to ease the job of fitting the drawer and to ensure that it tracks well in its drawer opening.

Fitting a drawer box to its case is one of the keys to a sweet-running drawer. Sometimes this calls for removing just a whisper of wood on the drawer sides for the perfect fit, and checking that there's enough room above the drawer for seasonal expansion. It's a good idea to keep your planes and scrapers razor sharp, then use them to fine-tune the final fit. If you're using metal slides, installation will be a breeze because no final fitting is necessary.

One exciting aspect of drawer making is choosing the right pull for the job. There are literally thousands of choices, ranging from shop-made pulls to commercial knobs and handles made from assorted materials in an endless array of styles. From traditional to contemporary, there's sure to be a pull that's perfect for your project.

Let's not forget to consider how our drawers will come to a stop inside the case. It's usually best to provide some sort of cushioning effect so a drawer won't slam shut with a thunk. Stops and bumpers come into play here, as do locks and catches. You should also consider whether you want to limit how far a drawer can be pulled out of the case, so you can avoid accidents and keep drawer contents from spilling onto the floor. And to keep your drawers gliding with ease over the long term, proper lubrication of key drawer parts is a step not to be missed.

This chapter is designed to take you beyond the basics, so you can build drawers that depart from the norm. It includes drawers with eye-catching details, drawers that perform unusual functions, and drawers whose interiors are divided for specific storage solutions. I'll also discuss "secret" drawers that hide themselves from prying eyes, and even drawers that simply look cool.

You can build some or all of the designs you find here, or simply dream and cogitate on them if you wish. Either way, use these ideas as a springboard for your imagination, so you can construct extraordinary drawers and instill in your projects a higher plane of woodworking, with finer furniture as the result. Above all, have fun!

Doors are what we see when we look at a cabinet. Thanks to their relatively large surface area, they're the most visible component in a project, and they will make a lasting impression if you design them with this in mind. Like drawers, doors must function properly in addition to looking good. Opening and closing a door should be fluid and effortless. Sticky action, creaking hinges, or faulty catch mechanisms are not acceptable. A well-made door opens with little resistance, closes without clatter or fuss, and has a comfortable pull that fits the hand.

This part of the book will help you make doors with all these attributes-and more. Begin by choosing the style of door you want: overlay, half-overlay, or flush. After that, it's a design exercise in understanding wood movement, choosing the appropriate joinery, proportioning components carefully, selecting the right wood, buying and mounting the hinges, and adding a great finish. So let's open the world of doors and take a look inside!

Building doors involves first choosing and constructing the cabinet where they will live, then selecting and cutting appropriate door joints and putting together fully assembled, ready-to-mount doors. The information in this chapter is designed to help you do just that, and to generate some fine doors while expanding your door-building prowess.

For doors with frames, the corner joints are key to the overall strength of the door, so it's important to choose the appropriate joints for the type of door you're building. The mortise-and-tenon is a standard joint for frames, but there are several other options. You can always choose a solid panel instead, which is often much simpler to build than a frame and might better harmonize with the cabinet you're making. And don't forget glass doors. They can add drama to an otherwise plain-looking door, and the simple versions are easy to build.

The big door payoff comes when you get to fit the door to its opening, hang it on the appropriate hinges, add knobs or pulls, and install a closing mechanism. This is when a cabinet comes to life and starts to look like a real piece of furniture.

If you're hanging overlay or half-overlay doors, fitting them will be a walk in the park. Simply build your doors a smidgeon oversize so you can sand and smooth any raw edges, then install them with your favorite hinges. The careful fitting of inset doors requires more concentration and time, but the look of a door nested inside its case is often worth the extra effort.

The amount of sweat involved in hinging a door and adding handles and catches is directly commensurate with the type of hardware you use. Surface-mount hinges are a breeze to install, while many types of butt hinges require careful mortising into both the case and the door, and take more time to get right. Store-bought knobs are typically quicker to install than shop-made wooden wonders. Your level of involvement should reflect the type of work you want to produce. Go the easy route if time is of the essence and you simply want to get a project done. Take the longer road if you're building an heirloom that will be passed down for generations. There's plenty of good hardware available to suit either approach or something in between.

Beyond the basic door is a world of exciting possibilities, filled with special-purpose doors that slide or retract into the case, doors with multiple panes of glass, curved doors in many shapes and sizes, and doors augmented with inlays and other decorative effects. Truth is, there are far too many types of specialized doors for one book to cover. That being said, in this chapter I'll discuss several kinds that many woodworkers will find useful and appealing.

The doors on the following pages are unique. Some address specific circumstances, such as when doors need to retract into the case or slide by each other instead of swinging on hinges. Some are just plain fun, like a "split panel" made from live-edged boards glued edge to edge, or curved or arched doors that depart from the rectilinear world of flat and straight. Others follow traditional design precepts that woodworkers have used for centuries, such as divided-light doors that hold individual panes of glass.

Whatever your needs or design passions, I encourage you to try your hand at the door ideas presented here. Incorporating these ideas into your woodworking repertoire will help you move your furniture beyond the ordinary and into the realm of the truly special.