Drawer retention device

[Weekend_Woodworker]

I am in the process of making a small shelf with a drawer in it. The drawer is only going to be about 170mm front to back. I am keen that the drawer has some way of stopping it fall out if pulled too far. Can you point me to a design of how to do this please?

Many thanks,

Mark

 

[Mike G]

This is a traditional drawer on wooden drawer runners, is it?

 

[Windows]

Here’s a pretty common way to do it:

 

[AJB Temple]

On some very old antique furniture, particularly in the low countries 17th century, I've seen ribbon or webbing used. This was fixed to the cabinet and went through a slot, hole or cut out in the back of the drawer and was secured by a loop and peg or just a knot. Cheap, simple to release and replaceable. Unsuitable for drawers holding heavy goods. Very small drawers (for jewels say) did not need retainers and powder drawers were meant to be removed completely. There is an excellent example in the Rijksmuseum but I can't find a photo sadly.

I've also seen a very similar method used to auto -close drawers, where the waxed ribbon was attached to a weight that dropped into a void. No idea how well it worked though. The one I was able to see had the ribbon attached close to the front of the drawer and underneath.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Here’s a pretty common way to do it:

Personally, I think that is a lousy way of doing it. It's common, yes, but not good. The button sticks down into the drawer and thus fouls everything along its way, and if the drawer is fairly shallow in the first place, it means you can't use the full height.
It's much better to put that peg on the inside face of the back of the drawer. It will still stop against the top of the apron, but nothing will get fouled along the way.

 

[Cabinetman]

This is one I came across, simple enough.
Crossed with Steve’s
Ian

 

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, that is much better.
S

 

[AJB Temple]

The only word of caution with the button method is you need to be able to get your hand in ideally. Thinking about it we have a huge rosewood cabinet in our dining room, and this has three oak and mahogany full width slip drawers with no stops. You would have to be a bit brutal to pull them out accidentally.

 

[Mike G]

Here’s a pretty common way to do it:

That's one of the reasons I asked about the drawer box. If the drawer has planted-on drawer fronts, then you have to pack out for the stop.

I think the biggest issue that WWW is going to run into is that wide-but-shallow drawers tend to wobble a bit side-to-side, and can get jammed on a slight diagonal. A 170 deep drawer is only just over 6-1/2" front to back, and unless it is only 4 or 5 inches across the face, it's going to be a bit finicky to get to run true and smoothly.

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

This is a traditional drawer on wooden drawer runners, is it?

Yes just wood running on wood. I had wondered about metal under mount slides but couldn’t find anything short enough.

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

Thanks for the ideas about the buttons. I am not quite sure how to make that work with the design I am building. The plan is to make wooden rectangle (top, bottom and two sides) and the drawer just to slide in the middle. I was going to make the drawer with blind dovetails at the front and through dovetails at the back with drawer base in slots in the drawer sides. Therefore the drawer sides act as runners against the solid wood base. Does that make sense?

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

The top surface will be 19mm thick. I was wondering if I could route out a recess in that, but it doesn’t give me a lot of depth to play with.

 

[Cabinetman]

Never seen it done but you could embed 2 rare earth magnets in the drawer sides and 2 in the sides of the cabinet, I would imagine that it would give enough drag to persuade people to stop pulling on the drawer at that point.
Ian

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

Ian thanks, that’s an interesting idea. I was wondering about Adrian’s ribbon idea, but not sure if it would get in the way when closing the drawer. I half recall the Rob may have done something small and neat at some point, but I can’t quite remember what.

I have started wondering if I could create a recess in the top surface with a bit of wood on a small pivot that allow the top of the back of the drawer to push past it, but drops down to stop it being pulled out. I am not quite sure how I would get the pivot to work. Something a bit like this that I have tried to draw in cross section.

 

[AndyP]

Many many years ago I bodged this solution with a promise that I would do it properly one day, as if

This requires the drawers to be a loose enough fit for them to be angled as they are slid in.

 

[Mike Jordan]

I can recommend this system that has retained the wide drawers in the top of my toolbox for years now.
The turn buttons are rotated through 90 degrees to remove the drawer. They project only a small distance into the height of the drawer.

 

[Cabinetman]

Ian thanks, that’s an interesting idea. I was wondering about Adrian’s ribbon idea, but not sure if it would get in the way when closing the drawer. I half recall the Rob may have done something small and neat at some point, but I can’t quite remember what.

I have started wondering if I could create a recess in the top surface with a bit of wood on a small pivot that allow the top of the back of the drawer to push past it, but drops down to stop it being pulled out. I am not quite sure how I would get the pivot to work. Something a bit like this that I have tried to draw in cross section.View attachment 31328

Yes agree the pivot wouldn’t be easy, how about something like this.
@AndyP Can’t quite see what/ how it works?

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

I can recommend this system that has retained the wide drawers in the top of my toolbox for years now.
The turn buttons are rotated through 90 degrees to remove the drawer. They project only a small distance into the height of the drawer.

That is a neat idea and far simpler than the what I had been working on. This is what I came up with this afternoon. I think it will need a spring in it to make it work properly.

 

[Mike G]

Yes agree the pivot wouldn’t be easy, how about something like this.
@AndyP Can’t quite see what/ how it works?
View attachment 31344

You'd make like this, wouldn't you, to avoid the need for a spring?

 

[AJB Temple]

How do you release it when you want to get the drawer out?

 

[Paisawood]

The only word of caution with the button method is you need to be able to get your hand in ideally. Thinking about it we have a huge rosewood cabinet in our dining room, and this has three oak and mahogany full width slip drawers with no stops. You would have to be a bit brutal to pull them out accidentally.

 

[Mike G]

How do you release it when you want to get the drawer out?

Push it up.

 

[Cabinetman]

You'd make like this, wouldn't you, to avoid the need for a spring?

View attachment 31350

Yes absolutely! Makes far more sense lol

 

[AndyP]

@AndyP Can’t quite see what/ how it works?

Does this image help Ian?

 

[Cabinetman]

Ah yes understand now thank you.

 

[AndyP]

It ain't pretty, but effective, and has survived like that since my first born was able to pull the drawer right out, so 20+ years now.

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

You'd make like this, wouldn't you, to avoid the need for a spring?

View attachment 31350

I think that would be a neat simple solution. My hesitation is what is the minimum length I could get away with? As the drawer is narrow front to back I am keen to make this as short front to back as I can to get as much drawer opening as possible. I guess I could use it sideways, but it wouldn’t be as strong like that.
The prototype front to back is only about 2cm.

 

[Cabinetman]

Not sure what you mean by the prototype being only 20 mm?
Anyway you said the drawer will be 170mm so lots of room to put your hand in and activate the sprung slip, I would have thought, set it in starting just behind the back of the drawer front when in the closed position, and length of the slip? I would say about 60mm, depends on how thick it is and how flexible I suppose.
That would give you about 4”, if that’s not enough maybe as you said you could mount it at a bit of an angle.
Ian

 

[GaryR]

Ian thanks, that’s an interesting idea. I was wondering about Adrian’s ribbon idea, but not sure if it would get in the way when closing the drawer. I half recall the Rob may have done something small and neat at some point, but I can’t quite remember what.

I have started wondering if I could create a recess in the top surface with a bit of wood on a small pivot that allow the top of the back of the drawer to push past it, but drops down to stop it being pulled out. I am not quite sure how I would get the pivot to work. Something a bit like this that I have tried to draw in cross section.View attachment 31328

II have done exactly that. Faced with leather to soften the stop. A brass pin is the axle.



You can see s few peeking out in the drawer openings.




They work but they do interfere with tall items in the drawer. If I were to do them again I would make them shallower.

 

[AJB Temple]

There is presumably no need for the stop to be either in the middle or very wide.

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

II have done exactly that. Faced with leather to soften the stop. A brass pin is the axle.

View attachment 31457

You can see s few peeking out in the drawer openings.

View attachment 31458


They work but they do interfere with tall items in the drawer. If I were to do them again I would make them shallower.

Hi Gary,

That is exactly the sort of thing I had been trying to make. Do you have any details of how you did the pivot? Did you put in a spring? Do you have any photos of the parts you made?

Thanks

Mark

 

[GaryR]

Hi Gary,

That is exactly the sort of thing I had been trying to make. Do you have any details of how you did the pivot? Did you put in a spring? Do you have any photos of the parts you made?

Thanks

Mark

I followed this method by Australian woodworker Neil Erasmus. No springs since the pivot allows the stop to drop by gravity. It took a few tries to get the geometry right but it wasn't difficult.


https://www.woodreview.com.au/how-to/pull-out-drawer-stops

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

Thanks Gary, that’s great.