How to Build a Wide Drawer
- 1). Measure the width and height of your drawer opening. Subtract 1/2 inch from the width and 1/4 inch from the height. So an opening 20-inches wide by 6-inches high, would require a drawer 19 1/2 by 5 3/4-inches. Measure the opening front to back, from the outside lip of the bottom horizontal rail below the opening to the back of the piece. Build the drawer box 1/2 inch shallower than this, thus, a cabinet 23-inches deep requires a 22 1/2-inch deep drawer.
- 2). Cut your drawer box pieces from 1/2-inch thick, birch plywood. Cut two front and back, 1/4 inch shorter than the opening, and 1 inch narrower than your opening. Cut two sides 1/4 inch shorter than the opening and 1/2-inch shorter than the depth of the furniture. Cut a bottom from 1/4-inch plywood, 1/2 inch wider than the front and back and 1/2-inch shorter than the sides. Cut your drawer front from 3/4-inch thick hardwood, at least 1/2 inch wider and taller than the opening. It should be cut to match any existing drawers or doors. Finished fronts can also be purchased in a wide variety of styles and sizes.
- 3). Remove the blade from your table saw and install a 1/4-inch stacking dado. Dado blades fit on the standard arbor and can be combined to cut grooves, or dados, up to 3/4-inch wide. Set the bade to cut 1/4-inch deep. Adjust the saw's fence to 1/2 inch to the right of the outside edge of the dado blade. Use a tape measure to check, as the dado may throw even the most precise fence rulers off slightly. Start the saw and run each side, front and back piece over the blade with one long edge against the fence to cut a 1/4 by 1/4 inch dado, 1/2 inch from one long edge.
- 4). Apply glue to the ends of the front and back pieces. Fit one between the two sides, with its outside face flush with the ends of the side pieces to form a "U" shape. Nail through the side pieces into the ends of the drawer back, with 1 1/4-inch nails and a pin nail gun. Use three nails per side. Slide the bottom panel into the dado, fitting it into all three grooves snugly. Fit the remaining front end piece to the drawer and nail in place as for the back.
- 5). Cut hardwood 1-by-2 lumber pieces for the drawer guide. Cut one to fit the back panel of the furniture piece, behind the drawer opening, between the vertical side panels, or corner frame, depending on the furniture. This piece will serve as a horizontal support for your drawer glide. Cut one to fit between the inside lip of the bottom horizontal frame at the bottom of the drawer opening and the back of the furniture. This is your cabinet half of the drawer guide. Cut one to fit inside the bottom of the drawer from front to back. This is the drawer half of the guide.
- 6). Set up a 1/2-inch dado on the table saw and set the blade depth to 3/8-inch. Set the fence 3/4 inch from the center of the dado, or 1/2 inch from the outside of the blade. Run the drawer half of the guide over this, cutting a 1/2-by-3/8-inch dado down its center. Clamp a piece of 3/4-inch hardware to the inside face of your fence and adjust it until the hardwood brushes the dado blade. Start the blade and allow it to come up to speed, wearing the hardwood fence plate down until it runs smoothly. Run the cabinet half of the guide over this, down both long edges.
- 7). Glue and nail the horizontal brace piece to the back of the cabinet, so that it is level horizontally and 3/8 inch below the top edge of the bottom of the drawer opening. Center the cabinet guide half rail in the drawer opening, with its back end resting on the horizontal brace, and its front end against the inside lip of the bottom of the drawer opening. Adjust it, until the face of the dadoed edges are flush with the bottom of the drawer opening. Use a square to align it from front to back and nail it in place, down through the top of the guide into the brace at the back and through the front face of the furniture, 1/4 inch below the drawer opening.
- 8). Glue and nail the drawer guide half under the drawer bottom, centered, so that the dadoed channel is flush with the bottom of the drawer sides. Fit the drawer into the cabinet. Center the drawer face on the box, clamp it in place with a C-clamp and attach it with 1-inch wood screws through the inside of the drawer box.
Source...