Drawer Box Designer
Design drawer boxes for kitchens, workshops or furniture from body, front and bottom, each with its own material thickness. The front sits in front of the cabinet opening (overlay), flush inside the opening (inset) or is the finger-jointed front wall; the sides enter routed pockets or through mortises. The bottom is finger-jointed, captured in a groove all around or slid in from the back. Handle holes and the hole pattern for slides are right in the cut file.
Dimensions
Outer size of the drawer box without the front plate: width across the sides, height from the bottom edge of the walls to the top, depth from the inner face of the front to the outside of the back
Distance between drawer box and opening: slide clearance per side, clearance top and bottom. They define the opening size, the front size and the frame in the 3D view.
Space for the slide between cabinet and drawer, usually 12.7 mm (½″) for ball-bearing slides; 1–2 mm without slides
Top edge of the drawer box to the top edge of the opening
Front
The front plate sits in front of the cabinet and overlaps the opening all around by the overlap; sides and bottom enter pockets or through mortises from behind
Front beyond the opening edge per side, 0 = flush with the opening
Blind pockets from the inside, the outer face stays smooth. Sharp corners, no dogbones.
From the inner face of the front, recommended front thickness minus 4 mm (at least 2 mm left)
Handle
Centred horizontally on the front; spacing and diameter to match the handle
Centre to centre, common handles use 96, 128, 160 or 192 mm
Hole centre to the chosen edge of the front
Bottom
The bottom sits in a groove running around all walls and is captured when gluing up
Bottom edge of the walls to the bottom edge of the groove; the groove must stay below the first finger
From the inner face, recommended half the body thickness, at most thickness minus 2 mm
Extend the grooves beyond the inner span into the corner tabs (router radius compensation); at least groove depth minus half the clearance so the rectangular bottom fits the corners
Added to the groove width so the bottom slides in easily
Slides
Holes in both sides, right in the cut file
Hole centre above the bottom edge of the side
From the front edge of the drawer box (inner face of the front)
0 = round hole; slots along the depth allow alignment
Material
Sides and back
Laser cut compensation (0 = none)
Finger Joints
Target value, fingers are spread evenly along the edge (odd count)
Three material thicknesses
Body, front and bottom have their own thicknesses – for example 16 mm sides, 19 mm front and 8 mm bottom. The layout groups the parts by thickness and every part label states it.
Overlay, inset or finger-jointed front
Overlay, the front plate covers the opening all around; inset, it closes flush with the cabinet face (adjustable reveal); finger-jointed, it becomes part of the joint. The side tabs enter pockets (CNC) or through mortises (laser).
Bottom, handle and slides
Bottom finger-jointed, captured in a groove or slide-in. One or two handle holes referenced to the top or bottom edge, plus a free hole pattern for drawer slides. Export as SVG, DXF, PDF and STEP.
Tips for the drawer
- Cabinet opening: Measure the opening in the cabinet and choose the “Cabinet opening” dimensioning: slide clearance per side (usually 12.7 mm for ball-bearing slides) and top/bottom clearance are subtracted, the rest is the drawer box. The 3D view shows the opening as a transparent frame.
- Pockets: The pockets in the overlay front have sharp corners – round the side tabs slightly or clean the corners with a small cutter. The default pocket depth is front thickness minus 4 mm.
- Groove: Groove depth half the material thickness, groove width bottom thickness plus clearance; the groove extension runs the grooves into the corner tabs so the bottom stays a plain rectangle. With a slide-in bottom the back ends above the groove – slide the bottom in last and screw it to the back from below.
- Slides: Check the hole pattern of your slides (often a 32 mm grid) and use slots if you want to align the front later.