Drawer slip and bottom assembly

Detail showing how tongues on drawer bottom fit into grooves on the drawer front and sides. The drawer slip is pulled back.

The proper position of the drawer slip is tight to the side, engaged in the drawer front’s groove and snug to the bottom edge of the back. A short tenon on the front of the slip fits into the groove on the drawer front. The shoulder of the slip should fit tightly to the drawer front.

The second set of steps involved in constructing a handmade solid-wood drawer begins with making and gluing the drawer strips, which add an elegantly functional detail.

14. Make the drawer slips: Cut the slips from the same quartersawn material as the drawer sides. Saw the groove in each slip on the table saw before sawing the slip to width — about 1/16" wider than need be. Make an extra piece to check the fit of the tongues that you will make on the drawer bottom.

15. Clean up the slips: Plane off the mill marks on the grooved face and the top edge that will be visible from inside the finished drawer.

16. Make the front joint: The slip is held in the groove in the drawer front by a tongue, which amounts to a bare-faced mortise and tenon. Mark the shoulder with knife and try square, cut it with a dovetail saw, and clean it up with a chisel.

17. Polish the slip: Shellac and wax the top edge of the slip.

18. Glue the slips into place: Light spring clamps hold the drawer slips firmly to the sides. Check that the shoulder of the tongue is tight to the drawer front, and clamp the top edge of the slip tightly to the bottom edge of the drawer back.

19. Prepare the bottom: Glue up boards to make the bottom and plane to 1/4" thick. The long grain of the solid-wood bottom runs from side to side. This allows for shrinkage and expansion front to back. If the grain were made to run front to back, expansion of the bottom would either jam the drawer shut tight or break the case open. The bottom has tongues on three sides to fit the grooves in the slips and the drawer front. The tongue on the front is on the top face of the drawer bottom. The tongues on the sides are on the bottom face of the drawer bottom.

20. Size the bottom: Plane the end grain of one edge square to the front edge.

21. Make the first side tongue: Mark the tongue with a cutting gauge and cut it with a shoulder plane. Check it for a sliding fit using the spare slip.

22. Mark the second side tongue: Fit the shoulder of the first tongue tight to the bottom of its drawer slip and knife the shoulder line of the second tongue, using the drawer slip as a guide.

23. Cut to length: Leave 3/16" for the tongue beyond the shoulder line you just knifed and saw off the excess material.

24. Make the second side tongue: Cut the tongue with a shoulder plane and check it for a sliding fit with the spare slip.

25. Flush the slip and the bottom: Using the spare drawer slip as a guide, plane any excess from the top face of the drawer bottom to make the two parts flush.

26. Insert the bottom and square the front edge: Slide the bottom into place. If it doesn’t fit square to the front, remove and adjust accordingly. The bottom should slide in and out with little effort so it can shrink and expand easily.

27. Make the front tongue: The tongue on the front is on top of the drawer bottom. This means that if there is a little shrinkage in the drawer, any gap will be out of sight on the bottom. Even a dressmaker’s pin can’t fall into a crack.

28. Cut to length at the back: Leave the back projecting 1/4" or less.