All the drawers

So those two queens I was working and delivered on Christmas Eve. I still had 26 out of the 28 drawers to build, plus lots of casings, a couple of nightstands, and some finishing to match. Building half of a project at a time is challenging, but building halves of two projects is nearly impossible to get right. But it had to be a Christmas surprise for the kids, so we did what we had to do. Now, it's time to do the rest.

All 4 casings laid out on the deck

Now with more 2x4's

Nightstand #3

Check out those drawer slides

The other nightstand is coming together

I made a storyboard to setup the case layout. Using pocket screws, I put the flat parts of the cases together, then attached the verticals and the drawer slide holders with more pocket screws. After I put together 4 cases that hold 6 drawers each, I attached the drawer slides into the sides of the case openings. Each drawer slide is 16" long,I built the casings around that. Each drawer opening is supposed to be the exact same width, but they were not. So once I had the cases built it was time to start building the drawers.

The key to the cases is that the sides have to be *exactly* parallel for the drawers to fit right. Since the slides were 16" long, I ripped some plywood into 5" strips and cut them exactly 16" to length, so I got 6 drawer sides out of each strip. Then I ripped some wider strips of plywood. If I measure the distance between the inside of the slides and subtract the thickness of the plywood sides I get the length of the plywood for the front & back. I cut that to length once, then ripped 2.5" off of the width, so I get both the front & back out of one piece of the strip. Then I attached the sides together with a finish nailer, cut & size the drawer bottom, nail it into place, and attach the drawer face. Drill a hole for the drawer pull and attach the rest of the drawer slide. If the sides of the case are parallel then it should fit right in.

Cases and parts stacked up in the shed

I had a totally rad cut station setup for the drawer parts

First drawer is done!

Then I finished up the first bank

Drawers are, in general, the most boring part of woodworking. This is the last time I will take on a project with this many drawers. You have to be very exact when you make them, they take forever, and if the case isn't perfect then you get nothing but trouble. These are turning out nice, but taking forever to finish. Next time...