Planning a kitchen for a client that wants CVG doug fir fronts on everything, and the drawerfronts are to be breadboard style.
You know breadboard . . . horizontal grain board across, end-tenoned with a groove each side, receiving a tongue-detailed vertical edge. See the attached pic.
My cab supplier says he’s done plenty of these, but will not stand behind the drawerheads if made this way, because of the grain-against-grain detail, and differential wood movement.
I have made tabletops this way, and always pinned the center, but let the edges float, but a drawerhead won’t be made this way. It’ll simply get glued.
Have you any experience with this detail? My thought was that the CVG doug fir might make it OK, certainly better than another species, not quartersawn.
Replies
We used a detail exactly like this a few years back as part of a contemporary maple kitchen design. Drawers shallower that 8" were done just as you've shown in the drawing. It carries the vertical lines of the lower fronts thru to the top; Looks much better than a plain block of wood. The glue has enough elasticity in it to allow for the joint to come and go a little. The fronts have held up fine.
Instinct tells me that up to about 6" wide you shouldn't have any problem with Douglas fir done this way. Try to use nice QS pieces for the drawer fronts.
DR
Douglas fir is like a battle ship.. It can do almost anything...EXCEPT for stain!
I've never done anything like this, but what about gluing the center just as you would a tabletop, and blind pinning the tenon in the center as well? Assuming of course that you don't want a visible pin as a design elelment. You could put blind pins in the ends as well and cut short slots in the tenon to allow for movement.
Sounds like a lot of work for drawers, but if the customer is willing to pay... (on the other hand, you could use the pricing to talk them out of it too!).
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