Repairing Drawers And Other Woodwork Remedies

Drawers are subject to wear and damage through years of use. Here are some tips to repair them.

Sticking drawers
Sticking drawers can be loosen by sanding or planing the sides or bottom. Apply paraffin wax, soap, or powdered soapstone to remedy minor sticking. A slight re-adjustment of the drawer guides should do away with a great deal of work on a warped drawer. Unpainted parts could be covered using water paint, shellacked, and left to dry.

Loose drawer joints
When glue joints at corners exhibit signs of loosening, mend them with glue blocks to avoid dove-tail corners from breaking. Don't repair

loose corners using brads, as this might split the wood.

Shaky drawers
Screw a metal angle bracket inside the drawer, or a nail, or glue on triangular wood blocks. Expand screw and nail holes. Screw or nail holes frequently become enlarged, with consequent loosening of hinges, strike plates, latches, handles, and like fittings. Fill these holes with plastic wood or a softwood plug. Put back the fitting and fasten it firmly.

Wear around fittings
When wood surfaces around a fitting turn

seriously worn, take out the fitting, inlay a fresh piece of wood in the worn area, and refasten the fitting. If this isn't practical, relocate the fitting. Use the following method to relocate butt hinges for doors or lids:
1. Mortise the door or lid to a depth equivalent to the double hinge thickness. This does away with the second mortise and reduces the chances of an error in marking or mortising.
2. Fasten the hinges on the door or lid. Cut one screw just long enough to protrude about 1/16 inch through the hinge when it is closed and the screw is in place. File a point on this stub and set it in the hinge.
3. Set door or lid in position and press the hinge on the frame. Drill the screw hole in the frame at a point marked by stub screw. (Keep stub-screw marker for future use.)