drawer fitting tools and techniques
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
When I started this desk shop humidity was 60+%. When I first made and fit the drawers it was <40%. I made a guess as to how much clearance to provide and fit the drawers to this guess. The drawers then went to live in the damp garage for a week. I give everything I make this high humidity treatment. It is not uncommon to find the stint at high humidity results is a drawer binding for one reason or another.
This time I had to refit all 8 drawers. I took at least 1/32 off the height of the largest. The sides were quartered to rift cut poplar, but from a log that I had never used lumber from before. Apparently it has an enthusiastic response to humidity changes.
I have found two tools aid drawer fitting. I use a feeler gauge to run around the top of the drawer in place to check that the clearance is uniform everywhere. The feeler "sees" where I cant.
A strong light at the front of the drawer will reveal the gap at the side of the drawer when sighted from the rear. This is a dandy way to actually see if the side clearance is uniform, or indeed if there is any side clearance. In the current case I even had to adjust the drawer width in a few places after their trip to high humidity.
The chalk is to mark high spots on the drawer sides.
This experience raises the issue of fashionable "piston fit drawers". My advice is to be wary of this fashion.