How to bevel a drawer bottom.

Re: How to bevel a drawer bottom.

Dave Tardiff

>I've done just the single bevel approach. Do the cross-grain

first, then the long. You may have to go deeper to allow for

the depth of your groove, and I assume you've calculated the

panel size to account for humidity. Use a small scrap with the

groove in it to ensure you can fit it in, and then plane it thinner

to allow for when it's thicker....

Alternatively use a dado/fillester/whatever plane and run a rabbet

all around. You still need to calculate the panel width with respect

to the groove depth but now the edge-of-panel-thickness isn't

relevent. This gives a different look on the bottom.

In both cases pin the ends of the panel in the centers if you like

to prevent rattles.

Re: How to bevel a drawer bottom.

Paul Kierstead

>I watched Garrett Hack do it:

- He used his fingers and pencil to make a thickness line a field line.

- Had at it with a plane

It came out extremely nicely. He did no fussing at all.

Re: How to bevel a drawer bottom.

Warren in Lancaster, PA

>I thought I would add a few notes. I usually don't start the bottoms until after the drawers are glued up. This way I am getting my measurements from the actual drawers. The finished bottom is test fitted in the drawer that it goes with. For a 1/4" groove, I mark with a gauge somewhat less , perhaps 7/32 or 3/16". I clamp or holdfast the work at the edge of the bench and use a foreplane for this work. In period work the drawer bottoms were done rather casually compared to the rest of the drawer, so for reproduction work a bit of roughness is appropriate.

In production work, I plane the crossgrain bevels before cutting the bottoms to actual width. This way if there is some tearing out at the end of the cut, it gets cut off. The crossgrain work is smoother if the plane is somewhat skewed.

Got it. Thanks.

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

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