In this post we will be making the drawer face plates. You will need a board at least 58" in length and 4" wide. Set your table saw to a rip the board to a width of 3 - 5/8" wide. This will be the height of each drawer face plate. After to cut the board you will need to place it down to 1/2" thick.
NOTE: If you don't have a planer you'll just have to leave it at the 3/4" thickness.
Once you get the board planed down to 1/2" thick you will be cutting each drawer face to size.
Each drawer face plate will be cut to a width of 13", so final measurements of all the drawer face plates will be 13" x 3-5/8" x 1/2" thick!
With all the drawer plates cut you need to drill a hole in the center for the drawer knob. Take a rules and a pencil and lay the rules diagonally from corner to corner and put a pencil mark in the middle of all four boards. Then do the same thing on the opposite corners.
Below you can see me marking the first center mark on the drawer face plate.
Now I'm putting the second center mark on each drawer face plate. This will give you an X pencil mark on the center of each board where you will drill the hole for the drawer knob.
Below are the type of drawer knob I'm using for this table, which I purchased at Home Depot.
You need a 3/16" drill bit to drill the hole on the drawer face plate. Set the drill bit in the center of the X and make a clean drill hole in the center of all four boards.
Below is the finished hole!
Now we need to mount the drawer face plate to the drawer! Use a small square to set the height of the drawer face plate to the table frame.
Set the square to 1/4" and place it on top of the drawer face plate measuring from the top down!
Use two clamps to hold the drawer face plate in place once you have the 1/4" measurement set!
CRITICAL: Make sure you don't see any of the inner drawer opening on any of the drawer face plate sides!
NOTE: You are clamping the drawer face plate to the actual drawer and not the table frame!
Here you can see the drawer face plate clamped in place, centered and secured to the drawer so you can finish drilling the knob hole through the drawer!
Use the same 3/16" drill as before and complete the hole by drilling in the same hole through to the drawer.
Now get the knob ready. I had to use some small washer because the bolt is a little too long. The washers bridge the gap and help hole the knob secure to the drawer.
NOTE: You could cut the bolt down a little and avoid using the washers, which is what I ended up doing later!
Just fit the three washers on the bolt and fit it through the hole going from the drawer out to the drawer face plate as shown below.
Once you push the bolt into the hole and through the drawer face plate, secure the knob on the bolt! Tighten the knob so it is secure, you can use a screw driver to hold the screw while you tighten the bolt.
CRITICAL: Don't over tighten the knob or you will strip the knob on the bolt and have to get a new one!!
Below is the drawer face plate attached to the drawer and centered on the table frame but not completely secure. Since you only have one bolt in the center the drawer face plate will spin around if the clamps are removed! You now need to drill a small hole on the inside of the drawer for a screw to secure the drawer face plate so it wont spin!
Only remove one of the clamps as shown below.
CRITICAL: DO NOT REMOVE BOTH CLAMPS!! If you accidentally remove both clamps you will have to use the square again to level the drawer face plate to the table frame!
With the one clamp removed you'll be drilling a small hole for a screw to secure the drawer face plate.
Here you can see the type of screw you will need to secure the drawer face plate. Use a #6 x 3/4" Phillips screw!
Below you can see all the components you will need to help secure the drawer face plate in it's final position.
Below you see a red plastic pressure cap that helps set the depth of a drill bit when drilling into wood material! This little device is great because you place it on any drill bit up to 1/4" and tighten it to a distance from the tip of the bit. Now when you drill into your material the drill bit will only go into the material as far as you set the depth of the cap!
If you use the device, you can set it to a depth of 3/4" as shown below! If you don't have one of these devices you can always use a little bit of tape around the drill bit!
Pick a point on the inside of the drawer that is about 1-1/2" from the edge of the drawer and right in the middle of the drawer inside face. See photo below!
After you drill the hole use a counter sink bit "shown below" to create a counter sink on the hole you just drilled. This will allow you to secure the screw and keep if flush with the inside drawer face. If you don't have one of these bits you can always use a 3/8" drill bit and drill just the opening of the hole to produce the same counter sink hole!!
Below you can see the counter sunk hole after you use the counter sink bit!
Now get one of the screws and secure it into the hole as shown below!
When you finish, the inside of your drawer should look like the photo below!
Below is the drawer face plate secured to the drawer and in its final position!
Below you can see all four drawer face plates completed!
See you at the next post!
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