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Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

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Drawer holding jig.

Posts

Drawer holding jig.

#1

Drawer holding jig.

Virgil Johnson

Don't have name for this or know who invented it. This device was in a Fine Woodworking article a while back so I can't take credit for the invention. This weekend was the first time that it got a good workout. I have seen a similar device made from a sheet of plywood with varied slots but chose this style since it can be knocked apart and stored in the bottom of my bench. It can be adjusted easily to fit snug to fit inside a drawer. Knock the tapered wedges out, adjust to the desired width and whack the wedges home again. Built from maple and birch.


The contraption below is what I refer to as my sandplane. I have the 150 grit blade attached. It makes quick work of smoothing dovetail end grain. I fit drawers bass ackwards compared to what I have seen online. First I make the front and rear boards "line to line" with the carcase opening and cut the front and rear dovetails ever so slightly deeper than the side thickness. After glue up I sand the front and rear board end grain down to meet the sides.


Re: Drawer holding jig.

#2

Re: Drawer holding jig.

Ray Newman

Now that is a very useful!

Re: Drawer holding jig.

#3

some comments

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

1. Nice looking drawer

2. Nice looking bench

3. This project is destined to be a success which will lead to other similar projects. When the relatives start lining up wanting chests of drawers, having seen the quality of the one underway, you will look for ways to make building more efficient. Planing drawer sides is a good way to get an introduction to planing. The quality of the result can be way less than for a table top so success is easy to come by. The ability to fit drawers with a plane will become handy as you make more case pieces. It's quick, the drawer can be made oversize and fit optimally, and planed surfaces slide with little friction.

4. What might not be obvious until doing it, it is unnecessary to have the width of the support for drawer planing even close to the drawer depth. I only have two pieces of 3/4 plywood that I fasten to the bench to accommodate a wide range of drawer depths. The force of the plane holds the drawer securely against the front edge of the support . So long as there is enough support to keep the plane from tipping the drawer at the end of the stroke, it is wide enough.

5. A general comment on case pieces- chests of drawers and the like. These kinds of pieces were made by the thousands in small shops to serve the furniture needs of the day. These shops made these pieces as efficient as they could. When looking for how to hand make this kind of furniture there is no better way than to study what was done back then and copy it, if efficiency and robustness is a goal.

Re: Drawer holding jig.

#5

Re: Ha!

Hank Knight

HA! Never thought of gluing sandpaper to the sole of my jack. Cool idea. Nice jig.

Re: Drawer holding jig.

#6

Re: Ha!

Virgil Johnson

That "plane" is one that was given to me in 1985 when I had absolutely no wood working tools unless you count screwdrivers. It taught me a lot about the quality of a plane. This is the best use I have found for it cause it never cut wood very well even after extensive tuning years later. Can't toss it since it was my first woodworking tool.

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