Drawer story

Wood Castle’s manufacturing philosophy focuses on details. Nowhere are details more important than in the construction of our drawers. Drawers do the “heavy lifting”, as daily they’re pulled and pushed, filled and emptied. Since we warrant our furniture for the lifetime of the original owner, drawers require special attention to assure a lifetime of trouble-free use, whether in a home, office or hotel.

Below is a pictorial of a typical drawer’s construction.

A solid wood drawer front is scribed on the inside face to mark the fully inserted position of the drawer side. Note the previously cut dado grooves for side and bottom.

A slow-drying glue bead fills the grooves before insertion of sides and bottom. Wood glues offer extraordinary strength, often exceeding even the cellular strength of the wood.

A drawer side is inserted into the dado groove. This groove and drawer mate perfectly in a “French” sliding dovetail. Virtually as strong as an “English” box, dovetail, the sliding dovetail features excellent durability and stability regardless of temperature and humidity.

Staples augment the glue bond. Staples, with two “legs,” have twice the holding power of a simple nail or brad.

The three-ply bottom piece is inserted into the grooves of the drawer sides, dropping snugly down into the drawer front groove.

The basic drawer box is completed with the installation of the drawer back.

The drawer back is secured with staples shot through the drawer sides. The drawer bottom is glued to the drawer back.

Before all the glue beads dry, the basic drawer box is checked and adjusted for squareness.

Once squared, staples secure the bottom to the drawer back. The drawer is now as robustly built as any in the industry. But Wood Castle does not stop here.

On wider drawers, a 5/16-inch-thick hardwood strip is installed, spanning the underside of the drawer, front to back. Stapled to the front and back pieces, the strip greatly reduces sag under heavier drawer loads.

Fast-drying hot-melt glue seals all under-drawer seams, further enhancing strength and rigidity of the drawer box.

A quarter-round hardwood dust molding strip is installed with glue and staples in the back of the drawer box. It quiets drawer box rattle while adding joint strength and cleaning convenience.

Drawer glide hardware is installed in the final step. Perfectly matched to the case-side hardware, every drawer slides in and out with ease, with minimal lateral movement. The hardware is rated for drawer loads up to 125 pounds.

Our drawers, unlike those from other manufacturers, are not built to fit into a specific drawer opening. All our case frames meet tight specifications for drawer opening dimensions. Because of our accurate construction technologies, same-size drawers fit in any same-size opening, without the need for adjustment.

Wood Castle drawers: strong for living, for life.

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