# Drawer and box joinery



## hank1 (May 17, 2012)

One of the handiest ways of putting together drawers and boxes is with a 1/4" rabbeting bit and a router table. I set the bit up to stick out of the fence by a quarter inch and off the table surface by the same amount using a piece of quarter inch square metal stock. I then run all the drawer sides through on the inside face on the bottom and both sides. Then the front and back inside face on the bottom and then lie them on their inside face, side to the fence and cut away the joint. Using half inch stock even sizing is easy, you just allow half an inch for the fronts and backs. So if you're making a drawer 12" on the front and 20" deep by 6 " high you need 2 pieces 6" by 20" and 2 pieces 6" by eleven and a half inches. Using a practice piece to start it usually only takes one small adjustment to allow for material thickness. In one setup you cut the drawer joint and also the dado for 1/4" drawer bottom stock. When putting them together I usually use glue and 1" brad nails and have never had a failure on all the drawers assembled this way. For boxes I usually use square stock for frames and then 1/4" plywood for sides and bottom making the dado in the middle of the square stock. It doesn't equal dovetails but it does make a quick and strong joint easy to set up and with minimal cost for tooling.


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## phillsam (Jan 21, 2013)

Im having a tough time visualizing this…do you have any pics to go along with it?


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