Replies

1. 
   Crunk | Nov 11, 2004 12:50am | #1

   Rip the drawer fronts out of the apron stock, joint and re-glue the remaining pieces to make the apron.

2. 
   JohnWW | Nov 11, 2004 01:21am | #2

   The usual approach is to rip the bottom inch off of the apron, and then remove the section of the remaining wider piece where the drawer will go.  The three pieces are then glued back together, in their original orientation, with the gap for the drawer in the proper place.  The section you cut out for the drawer opening can later be used for the drawer face so the grain pattern will be unbroken on the finished piece.

   This approach works best with quarter sawn wood whose grain is exactly parallel with the long sides of the apron.  This will make the glue lines disappear and you will be less likely to have problems with wood movement as you do the cutting. 

   Make the apron blank a bit longer and wider than its finished dimensions and trim the apron to size after you glue it back together.  Don't forget to size the gap for the drawer to allow for a slight loss in the length of the drawer facing from the saw kerfs.

   The apron will be easier to work with and will have some useful structural strength if you move the drawer closer to the center of the apron and have full length strips on both the top and the bottom.  The top strip doesn't need to be as wide as the bottom strip, a quarter inch wide will do.  Lowering the drawer will also keep the drawer from scraping on the underside of the table top as the drawer is opened and will prevent the drawer from getting jammed if the top warps a bit.  

   If you move the drawer closer to the center, you can still use the same technique I described to create the drawer opening, except that you will have to rip strips off of both the top and bottom edges of the apron before you cut out the center piece for the drawer opening.

   John W.   

   
   

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   Edited 11/11/2004 10:02 am ET by JohnW

1. 
   JS1 | Nov 12, 2004 01:16am | #3

   Wish that I had asked the question earlier in the project.  The apron stock is already ripped, planed, jointed and tenoned.  Any other ideas?  I thought about just cranking the table saw blade up through the stock and finishing the cut with a jig saw and a file.

1. 
   BG | Nov 12, 2004 01:47am | #4

   JS,

   If you just crank up the blade you'll have an 1/8" kerf on top and bottom of the drawer..not such a good fit.  You can still apply John's suggestion....just adjust the mortice to the narrower stock by gluing in a shim...and use a dovetail saw on the crosscut..or something slim

   Edited 11/11/2004 5:53 pm ET by BG

2. 
   Froed | Nov 12, 2004 02:17pm | #5

   If you can afford to lose 1/4" of the apron length you can still use John's method, just adjust the back apron and tenon  as well.  You'll lose 1/8" of the apron height as well, which would need to be compensated for on the back & side aprons also.  If that's not possible, you could use a japanese saw to crosscut the drawer front out & a jig or coping saw for the rip.

   If it suits the design, you could also run cock beading around the drawer front to make up the length & width after cutting, which may help to hide differences in the grain between the beading and the drawer front.

   Whatever you do, you'll end up with some rework, but it shouldn't be too much if you're careful.

3. 
   JohnWW | Nov 15, 2004 03:39am | #6

   Please do not try to raise the saw through the stock, it is definitely a dangerous operation with a very good chance for kickback. 

   If you were going to do part of the cut with a jigsaw do all of it that way and be safe.  You can start the jigsaw blade without drilling a large hole by drilling a few, just touching, small diameter holes in a row along the cut line.  If you do go the jig saw route, you will have to work very hard to get a decently clean, square hole and you probably won't be able to salvage the cut out for a drawer facing, it will be too small for the opening.

   You could probably still use my original technique on the already made up apron and then rebuild the tenons, and correct the size of the rear apron, but it would be a lot easier to just start over with a new piece of wood.  The stock in the old apron won't be wasted, you'll be able to reuse the piece in another job later.

   Good Luck, John W.

1. 
   JS1 | Nov 17, 2004 03:13am | #7

   Thanks for all of the great suggestions.  After all of the responses to my original question, I decided to just get some new material and star over.  I can always use the old material on another project.  Thanks again.