Quickly Build a Stack of Drawers Using Your Router Table
By Tom Caspar
Tools You’ll Need
Accurate dovetailing requires flat, straight stock. You may be able to buy planed wood that’s flat and straight already, but often it’s cupped or bowed. To be sure your wood is flat, we recommend preparing your own stock with a jointer and planer.
You’ll need a router table to make this joint. Our technique is easier to master if your router table has a miter gauge slot, but it isn’t required. You’ll need two router bits: a 1/2-in.-dia. 14-degree dovetail bit, such as the type used with a half-blind dovetail jig, and a 1/4-in. straight bit. Both bits will perform better if they have 1/2-in. shanks.
Mill the Parts
1. Joint and plane lumber for the front, back and sides (Fig. A). The front can be any thickness over 1/2 in. In this example, it’s 3/4 in. thick. Plane the sides to 1/2 in. thick. Make some extra sides for testing the joint’s fit.
2. Cut the front to width and length. Cut the sides the same width as the front. Trim the sides to length, allowing an extra 1/4 in. for the front dovetails. Leave the back and plywood bottom oversize for now.
Set Up the Router Table
3. Install a dovetail bit in your router table. Raise it 1/4 in. above the table’s top. This height determines the depth of the sockets. It’s arbitrary, but routing a deeper socket can cause a bit to vibrate excessively.
4. Position the fence 1/2 in. or so away from the bit. This distance determines the setback of the drawer sides, so the precise amount depends on the type of drawer you’re making. If you use 1/2-in.-thick slides and want a standard 1/16-in. gap on either side of the drawer front, make the setback 7/16 in. Use a combination square to adjust the fence so it’s parallel to the router table’s miter gauge slot.
5. Clamp a stop block to the fence (Photo 1). Position the block so your drawer front fits exactly between the bit and the block. Without using math or a ruler, this setup guarantees that the sockets in a drawer front of any size will be exactly the right length, stopping 1/4 in. from the top of the drawer.
Photo 1. All the joints for this drawer are cut on the router table. Begin by installing a 1/2-in. dovetail bit to make sockets in the drawer front. Clamp a stop block one drawer-front width from the bit.
Cut the Sockets
6. Rout sockets on the right side of the drawer front (Photo 2). It’s easy to get disoriented here, so mark your fronts well. In this step, the socket will be on your right as you face the drawer. When you lower the board onto the bit, you’ll make a 1/2-in.-dia. hole. Don’t worry; it will be covered by the 1/2-in.-thick drawer side.
Photo 2: Rout the right end of the drawer front. Guide the board with a miter gauge to keep the board square and tight to the fence. Lower the board onto the bit to make a hole; then continue the cut on through (see inset photo). A 3/4-in.-thick backer board on the miter gauge automatically positions the hole 1/4 in. down from the top.
7. Move the stop block and rout the drawer front’s left side (Photo 3).
Photo 3: Rout the left end of the drawer front. Again, position the stop block one drawer-front width away from the dovetail bit. Turn the miter gauge around, push until the backer board hits the stop block and then tilt the drawer front. The result is an identical stopped socket with a hole.
8. Without moving the fence or bit, rout sockets in the back of the drawer sides (Photo 4).
Photo 4: Cut the same socket in the tail ends of the drawer sides. Unlike the sockets in the drawer front, these go all the way across. You won’t need a stop block.
Rout the Dovetails
9. Fasten a tall shop-made fence to the router-table fence (Photo 5). Cut a small notch in the fence to house the bit (Fig. B, page 26). Add two 1/4-in.-thick ledges below the tall fence. The ledges narrow the throat opening around the bit, so the workpiece can’t tip. Behind the fence, insert four paper shims on each side. You’ll be able to micro-adjust the thickness of the dovetails by adding or removing these shims. Hold the workpiece tight to the fence with a featherboard. Push the lower end of the workpiece with a thin stick so it won’t tip forward.
Photo 5: Rout long dovetails on the front end of the drawer sides. These dovetails will slide into the sockets, but it’s a fussy fit. Add or remove paper shims behind this micro-adjustable tall fence to fine-tune the depth of cut. The fence’s ledge prevents the workpiece from hanging up on the bit’s opening or the insert’s edge (see inset photo).
10. Raise the dovetail bit until it’s slightly less than 1/4 in. above the ledge. This will create a small but important gap between the dovetail and socket, which is 1/4 in. deep. This gap should be 1/32 in. or less and will make assembly easier.
11. Position the fence so the bit makes a shallow cut. Make a trial cut on both sides of a spare drawer side. It’s best to make the dovetail too fat to begin with and then slim it down using the same test piece.
12. Test-fit the drawer side. If it slides all the way down with only a light tap or two, congratulations! If it’s too tight, loosen the tall fence and remove one piece of paper from each side of the fence. If it’s too loose, reposition the fence or add more shims. As you get closer to the right fit, add or remove shims on one side of the fence only. This effectively changes the depth of cut by one-half the thickness of the shim, less than .002 in.
13. Slide both drawer sides into the front (Photo 6). Cut a spacer board that fits tightly between the sides, and measure the distance between the bottoms of the dovetail sockets. Cut the drawer back to this length. (To be super-precise, subtract twice the gap, about 1/16 in., between the socket and dovetail you made in Step 12 from this length.) Rout dovetails on both ends of the drawer back.
Photo 6: Assemble the sides and front to calculate the exact length of the drawer’s back. Insert a spacer to hold the sides square and measure from the bottom of each socket. Crosscut the back piece and rout its dovetails with the same setup you used for the sides.
Rout Shoulders
14. Rout a shoulder on the end of each drawer front (Photo 7). If your drawer sides are the same height as the front, move the tall support 1/2 in. back from the bit. Fasten another ledge piece to the bottom of a backer board. Then attach both the ledge and backer board to the miter gauge. Make this cut in multiple passes.
Photo 7: Cut shoulders on the drawer side’s dovetails. The shoulder covers the uncut section above the socket. From the last operation, the bit is set at exactly the right height to cut a flush shoulder.
15. Test-fit the drawer side. The shoulder should be deep enough to allow the top of the drawer side to align with the top of the drawer front. It’s OK to slightly overcut the shoulder’s width. When you assemble the drawer, it’s not necessary to push the sides’ dovetails all the way to the end of the sockets.
Rout Drawer-Bottom Grooves
16. Set up the router table with a 1/4-in. straight bit. Raise the bit 1/4 in. above the table’s top. Space the fence 3/8 in. away from the bit.
17. Clamp two stops to the fence and cut a drawer-bottom groove in the drawer front (Photo 8). You don’t have to drop the board on the bit. To begin the cut, slide the first socket over the bit, hold the front against the fence and push forward.
Photo 8: Cut a groove in the drawer front for the drawer bottom. Use a 1/4-in. straight bit. This groove starts and stops at the dovetail sockets. To avoid overcutting, which could ruin your day, set up two stops.
18. Remove the stops and cut grooves the full length of the drawer sides. Be careful about orienting the boards, because now you’ll be creating left and right sides. The bottom edge of the drawer side faces the fence; the inside face goes down.
Assemble the Drawer
19. With the grooves cut, you can rip the drawer back to final width. Measure the distance between the top of the groove and the top of the drawer side. Cut the back to this width and assemble the drawer without glue.
20. Cut a 1/4-in.-thick plywood bottom to fit the drawer box. The bottom should be 1/32 in. narrower than the distance between the grooves. If it’s too tight, you’ll have a hard time sliding it in during glue-up.
21. Glue the drawer box. Apply a thin layer of glue to the dovetails and the sockets in the front, sides and back. When the pieces are assembled, slide in the bottom—but don’t glue it. The bottom will help make the box square. After the glue is dry, remove the bottom and apply finish to the drawer.
22. Replace the drawer bottom. Rub glue blocks around the perimeter of the drawer to bond the plywood to the box. The blocks prevent the drawer from racking corner to corner, so there’s less strain on the front dovetail joints (Photo 9). Finally, screw the bottom to the drawer back.
Photo 9: Add glue blocks around the drawer’s perimeter after the drawer is glued and finished. These blocks stiffen the drawer box and keep the bottom from rattling in the grooves. Apply a thin layer of glue to each block and rub it back and forth until it sticks.
Source information may have changed since the original publication date.
Sources
Porter-Cable, (800) 487-8665, www.porter-cable.com 14-degree, 1/2-in. dovetail bit with 1/4-in. shank, #43705PC, $15, with 1/2-in. shank, #43750PC, $21. 1/4-in. straight bit, double flute, with 1/4-in. shank, #43718PC, $16, 1/2-in. shank, #43207PC, $14.
September 2005, issue #116
Purchase this back issue.