Took me 4 hours to fix a drawer that should have been 20 minutes

I had a customer bring in this old oak dresser, one drawer just wouldn't slide smooth. Thought it was just wax the runners, maybe sand a little. Spent two hours messing with the glides, swapping them out, still sticking. Then I noticed the drawer box itself was twisted maybe an eighth of an inch from humidity over the years. Had to plane the side down and rebuild the dovetail joint on one corner, took another two hours easy. Anyone else ever fight a simple fix that turned into a whole rebuild?

3 comments

3 Comments

james_singh72mo ago

...and honestly even then it might not be straight. In my experience, that humidity twist is the kind of thing you don't catch until you've already wasted time on the easy stuff. I'd add that sometimes the drawer face itself can be out of whack, not just the box. You sure it wasn't the hardware warping too? Just a thought, take it or leave it.

murphy.barbara1mo ago

Grab a known straight edge or a long level and check the drawer face in place before you even pull the slides. I've spent way too long chasing a hump in the back of a drawer only to realize the face was slightly twisted from the factory clamps. That little warp plays tricks on your eye when you're running a square against the box. Pro tip: lay the face on a flat table and see if it rocks before you mess with anything inside. Humidity can definitely warp the face, but usually it's the drawer sides that swell and get sticky first.

loganl222mo ago

Hold up, hardware warping isn't usually the main culprit in humidity, that's more of a finish or wood issue.