Solid Wood Drawer Slide Install- A Tutorial

Alrighty folks, I'll try to ‘splain my wood drawer slide process.

First, find some sort of hardwood in your rack or cutoff bin that would be good for the slides. I used some 5/4 red oak in this case. Hard maple would be even better. 

Then, I make a jig out of scrap plywood and brads. I like to "sandwich" the drawer slide piece(oak in this case) between the plywood scraps. Then I nail it with a crosspiece and edge runners on the underside (pic below). This makes the jig the exact width you need.

Also, I make it so the groove is centered on the drawer side. This way the same jig will work on both sides of the drawer. With your jig made, rout out the groove with a pattern bit.

Routing with the jig in place.

Solid Bookmatched Furniture Panels- A Tutorial

They seem simple, but there is some technique to achieving great looking bookmatched panels. On a piece like this blanket chest I'm working on, I always start with the panels. They get the choice cuts, and I want to have some flexibility on the project dimensions depending on how the panels are turning out.