How to make a do-it-yourself cabinet with drawers

Most often, furniture drawers are planned at the design stage of the cabinet. However, sometimes it becomes necessary to collect them already during operation. To make a cabinet with drawers with your own hands, you first need to determine their location and dimensions, select the guides, and also calculate the need for all the details. In the manufacture of the product, it is quite possible to do with a minimal set of tools.

Advantages and disadvantages

Any furniture design has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. The benefits of drawers are obvious to many people. Among the main advantages are:

• access to items is simplified;
• the practicality of the design can be easily assessed in kitchen furniture, since everything you need is immediately at hand;
• the use of drawers eliminates the need to sort out objects located closer to the user.

Before you make a drawer in the table, it is worth getting acquainted with some of the shortcomings of this design. However, these are more likely features of its manufacture, and not weaknesses. The most important among them are:

• Price. An increase in the number of parts leads to an increase in the cost of the entire structure. Having decided to do it yourself, you need to pay special attention to the choice of accessories.
• Reduced usable area. When using particleboard, it should be remembered that the thickness of the material affects the amount of free space. From this point of view, plywood looks more attractive.
• Time. Manufacturing is not the most difficult process, but it is rather laborious. First of all, this is true in relation to the home master, who first encountered such a design.

However, in many situations, the benefits still outweigh the disadvantages. That is why drawers are very popular.

Drawer Location

The best option is to place the boxes at a height of 1−1.2 m from the floor, embedding them between the shelves. You can make a drawer with your own hands and in a niche with a bar for hangers. When choosing a location, one should remember that he is moving forward and nothing should interfere with his movement. One of the most common mistakes at the design stage is the manufacture of a retractable drawer next to the sidewall, when the furniture hinge may be an obstacle to the movement of the drawer.

In sliding wardrobes, you should try to avoid places located close to the intersection of doors. When designing a product, it is worth giving preference to a modular design. As a result, the cover will be able to play the role of an additional shelf, and the sidewalls can be attached to the partitions with the help of coupling bolts. Among the advantages of such a module are:

• during installation, you will not have to release the cabinet from things;
• all adjustment work is carried out during the manufacture of the module.

If you assemble the drawers in size in accordance with a pre-designed drawing, then installing the module will be quite simple.

Guide selection

When designing a homemade box, you need to determine the type and length of the guides. These structural elements are among the most important. Now you can purchase guides of the following types:

• roller:
• telescopic or ball;
• metal boxes;
• sliding systems equipped with a closer and pushers.

Roller products are the most affordable option.However, this design has one drawback - it will not extend to the full length. Since the calculation of the length of roller guides is similar to telescopic, if necessary, you can replace one extension mechanism with a second at any time. Telescopic rails allow the drawer to be pulled out full length. In addition, they differ from roller by a longer service life.

Metal boxes are most often used in the manufacture of cabinets installed in the kitchen. Due to the nature of this design, the calculation of length is somewhat different from determining the dimensions of telescopic and roller guides. This is due to the fact that metal boxes play the role of the sides of a drawer. When using them, you only need to make the bottom and back wall.

Metal boxes are standardized, and their length is 250-600 mm in increments of 50 mm. At the design stage, it should be remembered that the length of the side of the box should exceed its depth by 20-50 mm.

Manufacturing recommendations

In order for the assembly of the product to go smoothly, first you have to decide on the dimensions of the box. If the circuit was executed without errors, then problems with its manufacture will not arise.

Product Sizing

First of all, you need to determine the dimensions of the product. First you will have to measure the height and width of the opening into which the drawer will be mounted. The width of the product should be 25 mm less than the internal opening of the cabinet. This will allow you to reserve about 30 mm for the installation of rails. The length of the drawer depends on the depth of the cabinet.

This parameter is required to select guides.. It is extremely important to first determine the dimensions of the future product and only then acquire the extension mechanism. The depth of the cabinet is measured with a simple tape measure. When creating a drawing, you should leave a margin of a couple of tens of millimeters, depending on the design of the furniture. Since the dimensions of the rails are standardized, it may be necessary to reduce the length of the product.

The next step will be to calculate the height of the walls of the product. Experienced furniture makers know that the height of the facade should be 40-50 mm more than the height of the drawer. Thanks to the free space left, the home master will have the opportunity to quickly set up the work of a home-made product.

Assembly tips

When the product drawing is ready, it remains to purchase all the necessary materials. To work from tools, a jigsaw, drill, and fasteners are required. In order for a self-made drawer to last for a long time, one should give preference only to high-quality materials and components.

Before assembly, all details of the future product must be treated with sandpaper. Then, an edge is glued along the edge. To do this, it is applied to the part and pressed with a hot iron. If an excess edge remains after the procedure is completed, then it must be carefully cut with a knife. You will have to use sandpaper again to remove the burr.

The next step will be drilling holes for fasteners. The largest hole on the back wall should not be through. Glue is poured into it, and then the dowel is mounted. This part should fit into the hole tightly without distortions. Then, side walls are alternately mounted on the dowels. The next step will be the installation of confirmations that tighten the frame of the product. These fasteners are wrapped with a hex wrench. After this, it remains to nail the bottom of the drawer frame.

The last step in the assembly of the box will be the installation of guides. Most often they are located in the middle. Full extension elements are sold in pairs and must be separated before installation. It is also important, when mounting the rails, to retreat about 3 mm from the end of the inner cabinet wall.

In order for the guide elements to be installed evenly, it is enough to adhere to a few simple rules:

• a small hole is drilled on the facade for mounting the handle;
• sliding elements of guides are applied and fastened on the reverse side through previously drilled holes;
• the product extends and the guides are attached from the inside;
• the hole for the handle is drilled.

When the product is assembled, the final adjustment of the guides should be carried out. Making drawers is not very difficult. To do this, the home master must be able to use basic tools and strictly follow the manufacturing instructions.