I just built my first set of dovetail drawers and used methods very similar to yours. I also have the Leigh jig (D4) and used the variable spacing to make sure my drawer bottom dados were hidden. I was a little concerned when it came to the glue up and ended up using “Titebond Extend” wood glue which was really helpful. Great video, thanks for posting it.
I came at this as a noob woodworker building a kitchen but starting with the Blum Tandem specs. I'd suggest making a video where the dovetail drawer is made with the Blum components driving the design and showing the full assembly with the Blum components. Not only would it be useful but I can imagine Blum being very appreciative.
Hi Frank, YES this would be a great idea for a video. Interpreting their data sheets can be very difficult, and I designed my drawer sizes around their specifications.
@@CorbinDunn Also i got very confused as every video i found says the drawer length and runner length should be equal. In the 2021 catalogues at least the drawer length must be runner length minus 10 milli. Any Blum custom assembly vids would be really useful with the updated catalogues
@@m4inline Yeah, a video describing the sizes would help! In general, the blum runner length is for the specific drawer length, but the drawers can be a touch smaller as you noted. I do make them slightly smaller, but this is co-incidental to how I cut my dovetails with the jig. The drawer width is the part that needs a bit of precision.
In 100 years when you're long dead... I can just imagine someone who owns your home finding these videos and thinking: "Oh, so that's why my cabinets are so kick-ass".
@@CorbinDunn Nice! Back in the day, my uncle (who owned a construction company) would stack up empty beer-cans inside interior walls. I bet they rattled good in earthquakes. lol
Ive made a similar drawer, my teacher said its a box. I think making a drawer this way is better than cutting the bottom back part, so you can slide in the bottom plywood.
I just made my first dovetail drawer did not come out as nice as yours but for the first time i'm happy. The video will be released on the 20th check it out. I would love to have some positive feedback on how I can improve .
Awesome! I'll check it out later then. Did you use a jig or do it by hand? Either way takes lots of practice.....I've made tons of drawers at this point.
Hi Jorge - I'm glad you like it! I'm not sure what you mean by rail; do you mean the router? Or router jig to make the dovetails? I use a Leigh jig and a Porter Cable router. Almost any router with ½" collet will work; they will have enough power to easily rout the wood.
@@jorgeibar4551 Same thing; paint all the areas if you want them to last a long time. I usually spray one or two coats, but don't do any sanding. You don't have to paint them , but kitchens are usually damp areas, and it will be better for them.
Hi William - It's definitely a really bad idea to glue solid wood bottoms into drawers, but for plywood it is okay. Wood expands and contracts tangentially the most (ie: from top to bottom on the drawer pieces, about 8%), radially the second most (ie: the thickness of the wood, about 4%), and longitudinally the least (ie: along the length or width of the drawer sides, about 0.01%). So, it is very unlikely that gluing in plywood would have any issues since it won't move much. Personally, I've had drawers like this in my humid bathroom for about 7 or 8 years and not had any problems.
No issues! But - you have to use a plywood bottom. Solid wood will have issues if you glue it in. My oldest drawers are probably from 2008 or 2010. My bathroom was done 5 or 6 years ago, and hasn't had any issues even with the high humidity. Consider how wood moves: wood expands and contracts most about the width (ie: the drawer height might change a bit) and very little along the length of the boards. So, there isn't much of a tendency for a glued in plywood to move because it is dimensionally stable. A solid bottom would expand and contract, particularly width-wise, and this would cause issues. Even having said this; I use very little glue. It just makes it all move solid.
I am not talking trash, but I feel like you did all that amazing and nice work but ruin it by putting the trim on the front because the different grains just stick out so much. Why not plunge into the wood and cut out a trim design? I know so little about this topic and I am genuinely curious because I want to try and learn best practices before purchasing equipment.
Yeah! You mean, why did I do the alder front (the reddish tinted wood) with the maple drawers (the white wood)? I generally like maple drawers because it is a nice domestic hardwood and holds up really well over time. Alder is a bit too soft to use for drawers and would get dinged up over time. But yeah, one could easily make the entire drawer out of one piece with the face built into it - a lot of people do furniture this way. It looks nice and integrated, but takes a lot of time to do right. The inset drawers took me long enough to do as-is. Attaching the front drawer face on allows one to compensate a bit for misalignment in the drawers themselves, which saves some time.
@@CorbinDunn This helps me so much and gives me new areas to explore, I would have never thought about different softness in the wood and its durability to use until after the fact. Do you have any book recommendations by chance? I will check out more your channel for additional tips. I really appreciate the input.
@@abecx Yeah! I really like the Taunton Press woodworking books. I own a few of them, and they are great references. Fine Woodworking has a lot of great info too; I used to get their magazine for years, and learned lots of tips. Lately I haven't gotten a lot of value out of it, and I think they are falling behind the times by not embracing new technologies (CNC). Books: www.tauntonstore.com/woodworking?ajaxfilter=f1-format,hardcover
I also bought a cabinet building book; I don't have the reference handy. I took some ideas from lots of different places when I built my cabinets. There are a lot of different ways to accomplish the same task, some using different tools, and some techniques stronger than others.
Your drawer bottoms are cut way too tight... You shouldn’t have to pound as much as you do. You don’t need glue either, you make them so tight...! It must be your paper shim Theory... Your Pins and Tails are to tight also... Again tyur paper shim Theory... Kudos to you for making this video... Greg
yeah, I agree! The bottoms should slide in easily, and they don't need glue. I think i was a little lazy in taking the time to adjust the dado to be "just right". I add glue "just because" I figure it doesn't hurt to have the additional strength. I've never had warpage or expansion issues due to humidity, since it is plywood (even in my bathroom which is super humid). Regarding the dovetails: the jig generates fairly tight pins and tails; if I make them looser they have gaps. Thanks!
I just built my first set of dovetail drawers and used methods very similar to yours. I also have the Leigh jig (D4) and used the variable spacing to make sure my drawer bottom dados were hidden. I was a little concerned when it came to the glue up and ended up using “Titebond Extend” wood glue which was really helpful. Great video, thanks for posting it.
Awesome - the Leigh jig is a great tool! Using the glue with a longer open time was a good idea.
I came at this as a noob woodworker building a kitchen but starting with the Blum Tandem specs. I'd suggest making a video where the dovetail drawer is made with the Blum components driving the design and showing the full assembly with the Blum components. Not only would it be useful but I can imagine Blum being very appreciative.
Hi Frank, YES this would be a great idea for a video. Interpreting their data sheets can be very difficult, and I designed my drawer sizes around their specifications.
@@CorbinDunn Also i got very confused as every video i found says the drawer length and runner length should be equal. In the 2021 catalogues at least the drawer length must be runner length minus 10 milli. Any Blum custom assembly vids would be really useful with the updated catalogues
@@m4inline Yeah, a video describing the sizes would help! In general, the blum runner length is for the specific drawer length, but the drawers can be a touch smaller as you noted. I do make them slightly smaller, but this is co-incidental to how I cut my dovetails with the jig. The drawer width is the part that needs a bit of precision.
I made a very simple black walnut hammer on my lathe for tapping dovetails together. Works wonderfully
Awesome - I really need a wood lathe. That's one tool I'm missing in my workshop.
@@CorbinDunn it isn't the lathe that is expensive lol. It's the tooling. Nobody ever warned me.
NeoGeoEva fan over here, also thank you for the guide! :)
Awesome ;)
In 100 years when you're long dead... I can just imagine someone who owns your home finding these videos and thinking: "Oh, so that's why my cabinets are so kick-ass".
Hah, yeah! I also like to hide comments on the backside of the cabinets for future generations. Sometimes I include printouts of the design.
@@CorbinDunn Nice! Back in the day, my uncle (who owned a construction company) would stack up empty beer-cans inside interior walls. I bet they rattled good in earthquakes. lol
@@joshpit2003 My dad used to put marbles in a cavity in surfboards before he glassed them ;)
@@CorbinDunn lol. That would drive me crazy.
Ive made a similar drawer, my teacher said its a box. I think making a drawer this way is better than cutting the bottom back part, so you can slide in the bottom plywood.
Yeah! I think it is more solid of a drawer.
I just made my first dovetail drawer did not come out as nice as yours but for the first time i'm happy. The video will be released on the 20th check it out. I would love to have some positive feedback on how I can improve .
Awesome! I'll check it out later then. Did you use a jig or do it by hand? Either way takes lots of practice.....I've made tons of drawers at this point.
@@CorbinDunn bi hand and I want to try with a jig too. I was a fun build though
Excelente York, which type of rail did you use?. I canto see the one vídeos. Thansk alain for sharing
Hi Jorge - I'm glad you like it! I'm not sure what you mean by rail; do you mean the router? Or router jig to make the dovetails? I use a Leigh jig and a Porter Cable router. Almost any router with ½" collet will work; they will have enough power to easily rout the wood.
@@CorbinDunn I meant the soft drawers slides, normal they leave an inch space for them and I cannot see them in this proyect.. regards
@@jorgeibar4551 Same thing; paint all the areas if you want them to last a long time. I usually spray one or two coats, but don't do any sanding. You don't have to paint them , but kitchens are usually damp areas, and it will be better for them.
The sides of your drawers do expand and contract, gluing in the plywood is locking them in place.
I am no expert, and your videos are very well done, just thought I would mention. Maybe I missed something.
Hi William - It's definitely a really bad idea to glue solid wood bottoms into drawers, but for plywood it is okay. Wood expands and contracts tangentially the most (ie: from top to bottom on the drawer pieces, about 8%), radially the second most (ie: the thickness of the wood, about 4%), and longitudinally the least (ie: along the length or width of the drawer sides, about 0.01%). So, it is very unlikely that gluing in plywood would have any issues since it won't move much.
Personally, I've had drawers like this in my humid bathroom for about 7 or 8 years and not had any problems.
hey corbin, how long have you been doing this sort of work? have you ever had any issues caused by gluing in the drawer bottoms?
No issues! But - you have to use a plywood bottom. Solid wood will have issues if you glue it in. My oldest drawers are probably from 2008 or 2010. My bathroom was done 5 or 6 years ago, and hasn't had any issues even with the high humidity. Consider how wood moves: wood expands and contracts most about the width (ie: the drawer height might change a bit) and very little along the length of the boards. So, there isn't much of a tendency for a glued in plywood to move because it is dimensionally stable. A solid bottom would expand and contract, particularly width-wise, and this would cause issues.
Even having said this; I use very little glue. It just makes it all move solid.
I am not talking trash, but I feel like you did all that amazing and nice work but ruin it by putting the trim on the front because the different grains just stick out so much. Why not plunge into the wood and cut out a trim design?
I know so little about this topic and I am genuinely curious because I want to try and learn best practices before purchasing equipment.
Yeah! You mean, why did I do the alder front (the reddish tinted wood) with the maple drawers (the white wood)? I generally like maple drawers because it is a nice domestic hardwood and holds up really well over time. Alder is a bit too soft to use for drawers and would get dinged up over time.
But yeah, one could easily make the entire drawer out of one piece with the face built into it - a lot of people do furniture this way. It looks nice and integrated, but takes a lot of time to do right. The inset drawers took me long enough to do as-is. Attaching the front drawer face on allows one to compensate a bit for misalignment in the drawers themselves, which saves some time.
If that doesn't make sense..let me know! I might have misunderstood what you are asking.
@@CorbinDunn This helps me so much and gives me new areas to explore, I would have never thought about different softness in the wood and its durability to use until after the fact. Do you have any book recommendations by chance? I will check out more your channel for additional tips. I really appreciate the input.
@@abecx Yeah! I really like the Taunton Press woodworking books. I own a few of them, and they are great references. Fine Woodworking has a lot of great info too; I used to get their magazine for years, and learned lots of tips. Lately I haven't gotten a lot of value out of it, and I think they are falling behind the times by not embracing new technologies (CNC). Books: www.tauntonstore.com/woodworking?ajaxfilter=f1-format,hardcover
I also bought a cabinet building book; I don't have the reference handy. I took some ideas from lots of different places when I built my cabinets. There are a lot of different ways to accomplish the same task, some using different tools, and some techniques stronger than others.
Your drawer bottoms are cut way too tight... You shouldn’t have to pound as much as you do. You don’t need glue either, you make them so tight...! It must be your paper shim Theory... Your Pins and Tails are to tight also... Again tyur paper shim Theory... Kudos to you for making this video... Greg
yeah, I agree! The bottoms should slide in easily, and they don't need glue. I think i was a little lazy in taking the time to adjust the dado to be "just right". I add glue "just because" I figure it doesn't hurt to have the additional strength. I've never had warpage or expansion issues due to humidity, since it is plywood (even in my bathroom which is super humid). Regarding the dovetails: the jig generates fairly tight pins and tails; if I make them looser they have gaps. Thanks!