# Drawer front installation tips and tricks?



## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

New to drawers.

I have my drawer boxes built and ready for installation.

Is the standard process to install the drawers with the slides and then install the drawer fronts? How do you get the drawer front aligned perfectly, especially with full overlay applications where I plan on only having a 1/8 inch spacing between each drawer and door.

What are your tips and tricks?


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Templates and or jigs.


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## pwalter (Apr 29, 2011)

I have used double sided tape with pretty good success.


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## weldoman (Oct 7, 2012)

Shims, double side tape, over size holes thru box front with washers to give a little fudge room before final fastening.


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## renners (Apr 9, 2010)

If you have handles with short screws: bore the handle holes in the draw fronts, shim the bottom draw to the correct position, attach drawer front to draw box with screws thru handle holes, bore pilot holes for drawer front from inside drawer box. Take it apart, put on the handles, use a countersink where the screws went into the drawer box to make a recess for the handle screw heads.
Then just carry on like that for the other drawers.
If you are using long (snap off) handle screws, line up the drawer front and bore the handle holes thru the drawer box and use the handle to hold the drawer front on while you bore pilot holes thru the drawer box. 
As weldoman states, an oversize hole will give you a bit of adjustment.


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Great tips. Thanks!


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Ok gentleman. I worked on putting these drawer fronts on all night this evening.

I used double sided tape, the 3m kind that is kind of thick.

I ended up with a not-so-perfect gap at the top of the bank of drawers that is thicker than the rest of the spacing and that gap is killing my anal self. Am I being too particular here?

This has ended up being quite challenging to get these drawer fronts all evened up. I used laminate countertop samples, stacked 2 high to create a 3/32" spacers and started at the bottom and worked my way up. I would use those spacers and then screw the front on from the inside of the drawer using a countersink bit and #8 screws that were hard as hell to screw into this hard maple face frame on these drawer fronts. I then yanked off the drawer fronts and pulled off the tape. I then pulled all the tape off and then tried to make the holes in the drawer bigger to give me more adjustment room, but then that made the holes almost as big as my countersink hole and my #8 screw would just go right through it. Frustrated, i went back to the tape and ended up with this gap.

And that double-sided tape is very sticky, and it's now almost impossible to pull the drawer fronts off….

I don't see how you can use both double-sided tape and oversized holes and I can't figure out how to make the oversized hole with the countersunk hole big enough to fit a washer…... I don't have a stop collar for a 1/2" bit which is what I would assume I would need to make the countersink for a bigger hole a washer would fit in.

Please help me get these drawers squared away!!!! I am so frustrated right now…...


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Here is my technique. The blog is for inset drawers, but overlay drawers are not much different.
http://lumberjocks.com/pintodeluxe/blog/34281


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

use a cam

without it

the law of averages is eventual failure

a "cam" pivots the centre where expectations fall short of making something fit


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## ksSlim (Jun 27, 2010)

Ordinary playing cards make great shims. Depending on brand, .005 to .010 thick per card.
Double side tape on the drawer.

Should give equal spacing on all fronts.


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

I guess I could use these washer head screws here:
http://www.rockler.com/m/product.cfm?page=10898&mt=more_info

But these don't look like they are meant to be countersinked.

Do you guys countersink your drawer front screws? Should I even care?


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## marcuscraft (Nov 14, 2012)

I generally use the technique renners said. If I do not have a hole for a handle, I'll still shim everything up and then use a couple dabs of hot glue to get the front stuck to the drawer. Pull the drawer out, clamp, drill, then pop the front drawer off and remove the hot glue.


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Well, I got it done.

I just continued on with the double-sided tape and my laminate countertop sample shims and it worked out pretty well except for the larger gap at the top, due to a 1/16" measurement mistake. I was able to close the top gap slightly by adjusting the salice undermount clips, which allowed me to raise each drawer +1mm to +3mm. Those clips turned out to be just the ticket….

Thanks for all the advice.

Project Reach-In Closet…..COMPLETE.

P.S. -
Do you guys use rubber bumpers on soft-close drawers? Things seem to work well without them right now, but just wondering….


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## BorkBob (Jan 11, 2011)

NICE work!!


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

I just found this link which looks like a great idea I am going to try out tomorrow. The technique uses oversized handle holes on the drawer box for fine tuning.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?140658-How-do-you-attach-drawer-fronts&p=1427807#post1427807


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## Buckethead (Apr 14, 2013)

Looks like all went according to plan to me!

Well done!


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Actually the first set of drawers I did were this off white built-in featured above.

My next set of drawers were this. I used double sided tape and clamps to hold them in place while I drilled countersunk holes and then screwed them on. -










This vanity is my next drawer project where I am going to try something different since these drawers are not adjustable like the concealed undermounts were on my last two sets of drawers. I'll post pics when finished in the next few days.


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

your drawer fronts look fine to me. YOU are the only one that can see the irregularity. they dont look broken to me and the old adage comes to mind here. "If it ain't broke….don't fix it."


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