I'm fitting out a home office at the moment - currently scratching my
head over a drawer unit. Plan is for a worktop to be incorporated
into an alcove (an old chimney breast), below which will be a small
locker to the left, adjacent to a stack of three drawers to the right.
Whole lot is made from maple-effect Contiboard, other than the
drawers which I'm getting as prefab kits from www.woodfit.com (I
bottled out of making them from scratch I'm afraid).

Where I am at now is that I have fitted the Contiboard sides into the
alcove (duly padded out as needed to ensure all corners of the unit
will all be 90deg), and the locker and door is complete. So I just
have a hole to fill with drawers.

The exact heights of the drawer fronts are obviously defined by the
height of the adjacent locker door (allowing two 3mm gaps between the
drawers). Making the drawers themselves shouldn't be a problem
(haven't ordered the bits yet!). But where I'm a bit stuck is where
and how to place the runners. Clearly the positioning is absolutely
critical for the drawers to run freely and for the fronts to be at the
right height. I can't quite see how I'll be able to access the inside
of the unit to mark up screw positions with the drawers closed.

Maybe all will become clear once I have obtained the drawer
components; but I'm sure others must have done something similar in
the past and might be willing to share their experience?

Many thanks
David

On 11 Sep 2003 11:28:18 -0700, (David)
wrote:

snip


The exact heights of the drawer fronts are obviously defined by the
height of the adjacent locker door (allowing two 3mm gaps between the
drawers). Making the drawers themselves shouldn't be a problem
(haven't ordered the bits yet!). But where I'm a bit stuck is where
and how to place the runners. Clearly the positioning is absolutely
critical for the drawers to run freely and for the fronts to be at the
right height. I can't quite see how I'll be able to access the inside
of the unit to mark up screw positions with the drawers closed.

snip

The easiest way is to use false drawer fronts. Fxing these last allows
you to get that perfect gap all round the fronts even when the drawer
carcases are all awry.

What type of drawer runners are you intending to use? Bottom fix are
easier to get your head around when you are in a fix like this.
Starting from the bottom allow 3-6mm to the position of the first
drawer bottom then place the rest as you will .

Easy on a computer if you have the facility or lay it out life size on
a sheet of whatever you have available



Paul Mc Cann

(David) wrote in message . com...
I can't quite see how I'll be able to access the inside
of the unit to mark up screw positions with the drawers closed.


Unless you're using full bearing runners (the expensive type, for
heavy loads) one bit of the runner (A) screws onto the bottom (or
side) of the drawer and the other bit (B) screws inside the carcase.
What I've done before for (B) is to make a plywood template with holes
where the screws need to go - something like a big set-square. Then
as long as you set the template at the right height(s) you can mark
each set of screw holes for each runner on both sides of the carcase,
use bradawl to avoid drill slippage on contiboard, then screw on with
manual screwdriver.

John Forbes

Paul Mc Cann wrote in message . ..
On 11 Sep 2003 11:28:18 -0700, (David)
wrote:

snip


The exact heights of the drawer fronts are obviously defined by the
height of the adjacent locker door (allowing two 3mm gaps between the
drawers). Making the drawers themselves shouldn't be a problem
(haven't ordered the bits yet!). But where I'm a bit stuck is where
and how to place the runners. Clearly the positioning is absolutely
critical for the drawers to run freely and for the fronts to be at the
right height. I can't quite see how I'll be able to access the inside
of the unit to mark up screw positions with the drawers closed.

snip

The easiest way is to use false drawer fronts. Fxing these last allows
you to get that perfect gap all round the fronts even when the drawer
carcases are all awry.

Thanks Paul.
Yes, the above makes sense, and in fact fortuitously that's what I'd
planned. The kits I'm using are 3-sided drawers; so I'll fit them and
the runners first and add the fronts last of all.

What type of drawer runners are you intending to use? Bottom fix are
easier to get your head around when you are in a fix like this.
Starting from the bottom allow 3-6mm to the position of the first
drawer bottom then place the rest as you will .

The kits come with runners half-way up the drawer-sides, but I think I
can get my head round it now! Many thanks.

David