The fast and easy half-half-half drawer construction method

I love this sooooo much—thank you Stumpy!!

How do you make the 1/2 x 1/2 drawer without bring able to have a dado set on the table saw. Can it be made on a router table?

Nah I just use 1/4” groove

I like to use this type of joint for the front of the drawers but use a plain dado for the back panels that don’t get the same kind of stress. I cut the back panel so that it’s flush with the top edge of the groove for the bottom panel. When the drawer sides are all glued up and set I can just slide the bottom panel in from the back and secure it with a few screws or nails into the back panel.

Thanks Stumpy! Makes it easy, even in metric.

The throat plate on my SawStop jobsite saw flexed when cutting the boards in the vertical position using this method. When the board entered the blade, it cut to the proper depth. But the operation is very critical (having that board extending straight up) and so I was making sure that the boards were firmly seated against the table. With me positively biasing the boards against the table, as the boards exited the blade, the throat plate flexed and caused the cut to be deeper as the boards exited the cuts. This resulted in a disappointing outcome, with a poor fit between the drawer sides and fronts/backs. I was forced to recut the dados deeper and now the fit will be sub-par. I achieved superior results using a router table the last time I constructed drawers.

Very good video and makes perfect sense. Seem’s much simpler .

I'm interested in trying quarter-quarter-quarter drawers (or half-half-half as Mr. Nubs calls them) but I don't know the best way to pull it off if your 1/2" plywood is undersized because, as I understand it, dado stacks really only go down to 1/4".

Any ideas on the most foolproof way to do this otherwise, other than just using thicker plywood? 🤣

Excellent video and explanation showing how anyone can make first class drawers with this logical method.

Hey Stumpy Nubs, I don’t have a nice panel saw, but I do have a big router. Do you have a video to help me make drawers with a production router and a simple router table?

Great explanation, CAD file graphics help. However, is there a way if doing this when you don't have a dado stack?

I'm glad I found this video, very good explanation for various thicknesses of ply wood. As soon as I get my dado blades back from the sharpening shop I am going to give it a try. Here in northern, Ontario, Canada it is difficult to get true 1/2" Baltic birch but the Aspen ply that is available comes out to 15/32" (0.46875") thick - I'm just going to call it half inch. Hopefully it works.
Thank you for sharing!

My table saw does not have dado capability. I assume the same result could be done with on a router table wih correct sized router bit

There's a great video on YT where a guy tests all kinds of drawer joints vs glue. The glue wins hands down. Even on dovetails.

3 years later and still a excellent video.

I noticed in your sketches the groove is stopped where it intersects with the dado but your actual cuts go all the way through to the end of the board. I am having a problem with the little quarter inch corner nub that is left after the intersection of the groove and dado. It keeps falling off. I’m using prefinished half inch birch but it seems to have a lot of voids that I didn’t see when I bought the wood. Should I abandon this project or switch to pocket holes to save the wood?

So glad I found this video! I just watched Bob Katz demonstrate the quarter-quarter-quarter method but then got discouraged when I found out it would only work for plywood (or any material) that is actually 3/4" thick. Thank you for breaking this down so that I can still use this easy method of building drawers!

This and your finger joint videos are the most concise and clear I've been able to find, I'll be giving both these methods a try in the next few days for making fancy boxes and a bunch of road cases, thank you!

Your videos are great. Great topics, and you explain things very well. Question. Plywood is not 3/4" thick. It's 23/32" thick. If you are using a 3/8" router bit that's not half of the thickness. Will this cause alignment problems?

Stumpy, every time I ned to make drawers and can't quite put my finger on how to do it, this is the video I come looking for. EVERY TIME.

How can I use this method with a router, especially if I don't have a router but that doesn't fit exactly?

Not everyone has a table saw and even if I would have one I wouldn't have dado blades because they are not allowed here

God buddy! Your videos are so good and fantastically helpful 👍🏻👍🏻🏆

Watched this video many times over , learn something each time

very well explained

Can a router be used?

Can a router be used?

Wonderful one setup process. As a home repair mechanic, I see lots of factory drawer box failures in kitchen drawers. The design of this method if glued up correctly would be bomber. However, the forces of opening a heavy and or sticky drawer pull in the same direction line as the glue slot. Also a 1/4" or half the thickness of plywood remaining at the end may delaminate with repeated forces. Seems that a couple of brad nails on the sides of the front would help reinforce the setup. Copious glue on the front joints might help too.
Thanks for another terrific video.

Why not make a vertical panel jig for your table saw?

What adjustments do you suggest when using Blum type drawer closures?

Where do you find plywood that actually measures 0.50 or 0.75 inches thick? They all measure a little less so those dimensions you showed need to be adjusted.

Thanks! I have now used this method for 3 shop cabinets and it works great.
Please note plywood, even from the same stack is not always the same thickness. So I always cut all the sides of a drawer from the same sheet of ply.

I use my radial arm saw for this other than the grooved bottom, I don't rip with it. I use a spacer against the stop to cut the drawer front. You don't have to stand these up on edge even on a table saw using a removable spacer! Great video all the same.

I love your video! They're really clear and concise! One quick question about this one - when you cut the fronts and backs, how to you stop the groove for the bottom panel from making it all the way to the end? When I do this, I wind up with four little square holes on the sides. Thanks!

Do you have a link to the feather board used to the tall panels?

I wish you had shown more on assembly of these drawers. Applying glue, sequence of assembly, keeping it square so you don't blow out the narrow end of the dados, and minimizing glue squeeze out.

Thank you. I use metric measurements and most if not all what I watched in woodwork talk imperial.

I still get holes in the ends.

Always great infrastructure

Is any grain direction better than the other in plywood? I'm thinking about the narrow lip outside the dado.

Brilliant - gonna use this design to build my next drawer boxes. Thanks for the instructional, very easy to understand.

I came across this video some time ago. I just made three drawers using this method. Holy crap is this the best. Once the setup is done, you can mass produce drawers. I desperately need more clamps!

I always find your videos to be very useful, articulate and professional.

I am making a lot of utility drawers for my workshop to maximise cubic inch use of space. Some will carry a signifiacant load, so I am using 1/2" box strore plywood sides, ends and bottoms (prefinished by me prior to cutting to save labour sp gluing may not add much strength). I am using your method (1/2 1/2 1/2) but am thing of adding pocket screws front and back (using front facing pieces after). Two questions; is this overkill, and will pocker screws work with the 1/2 1/2 1/2 methind on 1/2 inch ply?

Stacked up feather boards??? I’ve never seen this and I wonder if I have the equipment to do it. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤣👍🏼

Is 1/2: plywood actually 1/2" thick?

I like you concept.

I usually use 12 mm baltic birch ply for my drawer sides, and 6mm for the drawer bottoms. The boxes are nice and strong, but I wish I had the ability to make all the cuts in 1 pass. My dado stack, as well as every dado stack I've seen for sale in the USA, has a minimum of .250", or 6.35mm. I have searched high and low for a 6mm grooving blade but have been unable to find one anywhere. It would be incredible if you could work with Ridge Carbide to make an 8", 6mm grooving blade! I would buy it in an instant!

When constructing drawer boxes, you also need to take into account the type of drawer glides you will be using. Blum undermount glides require that the bottom panel to be 1/2” from the bottom.

Very clear explanation, I will abandon dovetails and use this method!