Day 8 – Sacristy cabinet

Things started out well today. I got the drawer slides installed fairly quickly using my new drawer mounting jig from Kerg. Then things went downhill from there… Once the slides were installed, I tried to install the drawers. They were 1/8″ too wide. My wife complains that I never read the directions. Well this time, I did. The directions indicated that the drawer should be 1/2″ smaller than the cabinet’s inside width. Mine was exactly 1/2″ narrower. See what reading directions gets you? So, how do you remove 1/8″ from a glued and nailed drawer? I put my table saw fence right up against the blade and took a kerf of the top and bottom of the drawer leaving a 3/8″ piece sticking up in the middle so the drawer didn’t rock further into the blade. Next, I set the nails below the new surface and proceeded to plane down the 3/8″ piece. With a little sanding and planing, I now have five slightly narrower drawers. The drawers installed just as easily as the slides, but installing the drawer faces was a bit more of a challenge. I only left 1/4″ clearance between the drawers so there was not a lot of room for error. After I got them all installed and unclamped, one drawer popped out on the left. Apparently the drawer frame twisted and the box is no longer square. I made some gussets to square it up, but I may wind up remaking the drawer if I am not happy with the fix. I finally did finish with the drawer install though. Better luck tomorrow…