So I’ve shown the front and rear bearers now I ‘ll show how I plan to connect the two. The joinery is really very simple. A full length groove and two stub tenons. These pieces will complete the enclosure of the dust and floor panels. They will also be the bearing surface for the drawers. In this instance a guide block will need to be fitted and glued into place to keep the drawers from drifting side to side during operation.
- Side bearer with drawer guide
- Side bearer for sliding door compartment
Two things of note. One is that I fitted the side bearer with a gap between the front and rear bearers. This should allow for any expansion and contraction of the front and rear bearers. The second thing to note is that, when the guide block is installed, the assembly mimics the tenon and bridle joint arrangement of the other bearer pieces. I would like to say that this was intentional and a meaningful design decision. Truth is, it’s purely by chance. If I stretch to claim the credit, I can attribute the credit to my subconscious. But that may be stretching things pretty thin.
Greg Merritt