Drawer Rebuild

I rebuilt the drawers on Sunday. First I got the rough fit done (which was as far as I got the first time):

I still had plenty of time to add the bottoms! Traditional drawers will have a solid wood bottom and some tricks to make sure that as the wood expands/contracts it doesn’t crack. But, I avoided most of that by using some 1/2” MDF that I had lying around. The bottom of the drawer will be lined with same material as the place surface, so I didn’t need to worry about aesthetics, and the MDF will stay flat and smooth forever. Plus, I can glue the bottoms in place which will really make the drawers rock solid. Then I can work on shaving down each drawer for a good fit, hopefully preventing any racking.

I cut a groove in the four sides of the drawers:

and then added a rabbet all the way around the bottom on the table saw:

Perfect fit!

For the drawers I decided to forego the sander and went to the workbench to plane them smooth:

Next I’ll drill the holes for the pins (similar to the ones that went on the player stations) and then they’re ready to be glued up.