3
Cutting Through Drawer Lock Joints
1. Prepare the drawer sides, front and back. The length
of the sides should be equal to the desired outside
depth of the drawer. The length of the front and back
pieces should be 0.2
"
(approx.
13
/
64
"
)
longer
than the
inside width of the drawer. Prepare some trial pieces
of the same thickness (length and width unimportant).
The thickness of the front and back must be
1
/
4
"
; the
thickness of the sides can be
1
/
4
"
or greater.
2. Set the height of the bit to
1
/
4
"
. Position the router
fence so that it is just proud of the inner cutting edge,
as shown in
Figure 5
.
3. Using the trial pieces, create an end-grain and a face-
grain cut representing the front/back and sides of the
drawer, respectively. Note that each piece is to be
routed with the fence in the same location, as shown
in
Figure 6
.
4. Test the fit and make adjustments as necessary. When
assembled, the vertical faces of the cuts should mate
together and the outside surface should be flush (see
Figure 7
). A small gap between the diagonal faces
is permissible.
Table 2
illustrates the typical fit
problems and how to solve them.
5. Once the bit and fence are set to produce the proper
fit, rout all the drawer pieces.
A single clamp across the side pieces is sufficient for
gluing the box together.
1
/
4
"
Inner Cutting Edge
Fence
Figure 5: Setting the bit and fence.
Face-Grain Cut
Side Piece
End-Grain Cut
Front/Back Piece
Fence
Fence
Figure 6: Cut types.
Front/Back
Side
Mating of diagonal
surfaces.
Flush
Figure 7: Ideal fit.
