Hello to all,
I am currently constructing a built-in mudroom cabinet system that is 8′ in length x 20″ in depth x 8′ tall (floor to ceiling). The built-in cabinetry has three (3) separate drawers along the bottom – the inside drawer dimensions (openings) are 29″ in width x 12.5″ tall x 18″ deep. The drawers will be constructed out of solid white oak (dovetailed) and affixed in the cabinet with undermount Blum Motion slides. The door fronts will be overlay and constructed out of 1/2″ plywood panels glued into 2.5″ poplar rails and stiles and fastened to the front of white oak drawers. I realize that solid white oak is unnecessary as are the dovetails given the drawers will be on soft close slides but… this is what has been requested.
My questions are;
1. how tall should I make the drawers? Is there a standard percentage in relation to the height of the drawer box opening? Example: 2/3 of the 12.5″ tall opening = 8.325″ ?
and
2. if the overlay door fronts are affixed to the drawers (solid white oak drawers) do I need to allow for seasonal expansion of the wood drawers and the possible change in the vertical alignment of the drawer fronts, which will be secured to the oak drawers? If so, should this factor into the ultimate height of the drawers to reduce the potential wood movement? I recall reading somewhere once that up to 6″ in width (tall in this case) wood drawers seasonal expansion is minimal but this may be incorrect.
Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.
Thank you
Ray
Replies
The length and width of the drawer boxes should be pretty stable as that is the direction of the grain on all 4 sides. With a approx. 12" height, there might be a small change. There are on line calculators designed to help calculate the amount based on species and temperature/humidity changes anticipated. For an indoor built-in cabinet, I would not expect much change unless there was a lengthy power outage. However, leaving plenty of room at the top of the drawer boxes should not be a problem. No rule that I'm aware of. I would probably leave about 1/2" just because... Of course, bottom clearance will be based on the needs of the drawer slides. Side clearances would not be too critical. I would probably make it between 1/8" and 1/4" just because...
Because the drawer fronts will be frame and panel, there will be little or no movement with them. However, as said above, there might be a small amount of vertical movement of the drawer boxs. I would not recommend that you glue on the drawer fronts. Fasten them with screws from the inside of the drawers and give the mounting screws a bit of vertical "wiggle" room just in case.
Otherwise, I think you are good to go.
"There are on line calculators designed to help calculate the amount based on species and temperature/humidity changes anticipated. " - wow, where can I find those @bilyo? I've been asked timber 'expert' for years about predicting/reducing wood movement and they all say something along the lines of "can't stop it, can't predict it" which is so annoying!
Just do a google search for "seasonal wood movement calculator" and you will find several sites that use varying methods.
I think FW did an article about this once upon a time. You can probably find it by searchiing the FW archives.
Thanks bilyo - I found this thread which has the super helpful calculator link on it:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/wood-movement-in-tabletop - the linked calculator helps in timber selection too
thanks for the input bilyo. much appreciated
Look at the directions for the Blum slides. For a particular opening size, the drawer box needs to be a very specific height, width, and length. If you deviate, the drawer won't fit.
The first time I made drawers to use the Blum undermounts, it was a lot of figuring. Their instructions leave a lot to be desired. And they are all in metric. I had to convert back and forth in my head to figure it out. Subsequent projects were much easier. But your drawer box dimensions are very much dictated by the Blums. The good news is, wood movement won't be an issue, as the slides fix that potential problem.