6 Drawer CD Chest

This morning we dive right in with the assembling of the panels we completed yesterday into a case -- this time with glue.  We have to be careful not to get glue in the panel grooves, for these panels must be allowed to float to they can expand and contract with the changing humidity or they'll crack.  Once the glue is on, the parts are reassembled, and the clamps in place with just enough pressure to hold the parts together snugly, we measure across the diagonals.  If the distance on both diagonals is the same, the panel is square.  I'll allow up to a 1/32" variance, if it's more than that I put another clamp across the long diagonal and "adjust" the panel until it's even.  These turned out dead even.

When the glue is set up enough to work with the panels we need to make a small recess on the inside, back edge of the side panels.  This forms a notch for the back panel to sit in so it can't go anywhere.  It also increases the glue surface just a bit, which is always good.  We make this shallow rabbet using an ATBR saw blade and using my "tall fence" attachment to hold the panel steady.  Finger boards keep the bottom of the panel pressed firmly against the fence for a good straight cut.

Now we dry fit the case parts to see that they all fit properly.  I look at the joints in the back closely.  These are long, visible seams, and we want them to draw up tightly their full length.  Gaps are unsigthly, even on a back panel which may well be turned to a wall and rarely seen.  It's a matter of pride.

Here's an over-head, close-up shot of the rabbet in the side panels and how the back panel fits into it.  It's a fairly easy joint to make, but lends a lot of strength and stability to the case.

Now, we break out the chisels again and get ready to cut a series of small mortises where the stubs on the ends of the drawer rails (T rails) will mount.  These must be laid out carefully for if they're off-kilter the drawer will run in and out at an angle and the drawer fronts will not sit squarely against the front of the case.  Here I'm using a pair of dividers to locate the dead center of each drawer opening.  Next we measure and layout a box 1/4" high and 5/8" wide.  These pockets will be hand cut with chisels and mallet 1/4" deep on the back panel and 3/8" deep on the front rails, and must fit the drawer rail stubs snugly.

I keep pre-milled T rail stock on hand in 24" lengths.  I take the length needed directly from the completed case work and set up the table saw with a sharp, fine tooth blade.  A dado head would made this step go more quickly, but tends to tear-out too badly since I can't use a backer board because of the odd shape.  There's a tab at each end of the rail that will go into the pockets, but also a relief area at the front that allows the claw on the back of the drawer to be disengaged from the track when it's pulled all the way out so the drawer can be removed.

When the milling is done, we sand to remove saw marks, then sand again with a finer grit to smooth the rails, remove any rough edges and round the front edge of the T where the claw will be re-engaging the track when the drawer is reinserted.  Then we spray them with a couple coats of lacquer -- not to make them pretty, for they won't be seen, but to make them slick so the drawers will run smoothly.  When all is ready, we dry fit the rails into the taped together casework.  If all is well, we remove the tape and separate the case parts.  The rails get glued to the back panel first, making sure they seat tightly, then we install the front grid and tap it down snuggly.

Then we glue, and position with tape the side panels and check the case for square.  Then we begin adding clamps.  There is a science to this, for you need to be able to roll the cabinet over as you add clamps to each face and using the long bar clamps in the wrong places would seriously hinder that.  Of course if I had a dozen of every size clamp made, this wouldn't be a concern, just use the shortest camp you can get away with.  But no one I know has all the clamps they'd like to have!

Once the clamps are in place I use a piece of string to check for squareness again... just to be sure I didn't deform anything with all this rolling around.  Then it's time to put our toys away and clean things up a bit.  We'll want the glue to set up overnight before we remove the clamps.

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