Drawer Repair

published on

This vintage wood desk from The Ohio Desk Company needed a drawer repaired. The drawers are inset and glide along a center wood support. This guide not only keeps the drawer aligned inside the carcass, but also supports the back part of the drawer.

The need for repair lurks inside
Center drawer guide

The back of the drawer is designed with a notch that straddles the drawer guide; however, this drawer had suffered damage on the back that prevented it from operating correctly.

Overview of the Repair

  1. Remove the drawer back
  2. Saw off the bottom portion of damage
  3. Joint and glue in a patch
  4. Cut joinery in the patched area
  5. Reassemble

Disassembly

The desk is old enough to have been assembled with what appears to have been hide glue or, at least, a glue that's soluble with alcohol. Injecting the dovetails with denatured alcohol while also applying a spreading force with a clamp, the joint is slowly pushed apart without damage.

A syringe easily applies alcohol into the joint
A spreader clamp slowly applies force
The joint begins to move
A scrap board spreads the clamp force across the dovetail joint
Drawer back removed without damage

Install a Patch

An old piece of oak salvaged from a broken bed frame is ideal for this patch. The damaged portion is sawn off and the patch is prepared slightly oversized.

A scrap piece of oak will become the patch
Thicknessing and sawing the patch to approximate size
The two pieces ready to be jointed and glued

After glue-up, the patch is trimmed to match the original piece, making a perfect fit.

Glued and clampped
Planed to thickness
Sawn and planed to length

Cutting New Joinery

With the patch installed, the joinery can be cut. These are half-blind dovetails and the damaged portion included one socket on each side plus a groove for the drawer bottom. Transferring the tail angle, spacing, and position of the groove is straightforward. 

The joinery is laid out
The drawer bottom groove is plowed first
Saw the walls of the pins
The remaining waste is chiseled out
The almost-completed patch

The drawer can be assembled again (with hide glue). After assembly, the patch will still need planed down before cutting the center guide notch.

The drawer is glued and clamped
The patch still needs planed for a final fit
Simple workholding to saw the notch for the drawer guide
UHMW tape is applied to reduce the friction between the drawer and the drawer guide
The completed repair
The completed repair