Drawer Front Jig

One of the challenges I faced on my recent bed project was getting my drawer fronts to all line up the same. I left very little room for error, and, since I had two rows of three drawers on each side, I really wanted all the drawer fronts to be “covered and aligned.” The solution: a good jig.

Below are four pictures of two different jigs I used. The first three are for aligning the drawer front to the drawer box. I basically built two “U”s. The first U was the width of the drawer front with sides that are about 2-3 inches. The second U is smaller. It’s is the width of the drawer box. The two Us were screwed together giving me the overhang I needed. I even went so far as to write “BOTTOM” on the one side, so I remembered which side of the drawer box faced which way.

Before I started on the oak, I did a trial fit on a piece of 3/4 tried it on the oak, building plywood. I had a scrap, and it’s a lot less expensive than my 7 1/4” oak drawer fronts. The first attempt was right on the money, so I started assembling drawers.

Several clamps helped keep the whole thing in one place while the holes were drilled and screws inserted.

But the work didn’t stop there. I needed to drill for the drawer handles. I did pretty much the the same thing, except the edge was one layer and lined up on two sides. (I wrote “TOP” and “RIGHT” on that, just to keep it simple.)

Here’s a look at the finished drawers. Not bad, if I say so myself.

I can’t say it enough. If you’re doing a project, and repeating the cuts, the holes, the spacing—whatever—figure out a way to make a jig. You’ll save yourself a lot of worry and make the project a lot more enjoyable.

-- Glen, Pennsylvania, Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."