Author: StephenH
Subject: ouR escaPOD mods
Posted: 27 Sep 2016 at 10:24pm
One thing that made me scratch my head, wondering what the designers were thinking were the drawers for the RP-179 wardrobe. When I looked, there was easily six inches of wasted space behind the drawers. In addition, the drawers are shallow. There is a big opening and a little drawer. I decided to do something about it.
First a trip to Lowe's again to purchase materials. I got 1/2" birch plywood for the frame and 1/4" birch plywood for the bottom. I cut the framework so that it would retain the same width as the original drawer when finished. I cut the length six inches longer and the height 1-1/2" higher. I cut a notch for the bottom and assembled with glue and used a nailer to fasten the corners. I verified that the drawers were square. Then I sanded them to smooth the edges with 80 grit sandpaper on a power sander followed by 220 grit to smooth it out in preparation for the finish. I used 3 coats of satin polyurethane which I got in the spray can to seal and protect them.
I used the old front of the drawer to help guide me for drilling holes to fasten the faceplate. After I got it assembled and the sliders from the old drawer attached, I took it out for a test fit. While the additional 1-1/2" on the sides works well, it didn't work so well for the front and back due to the catch. Only adding 1" to the front and back panels would have worked. Since I have them built, I decided to make a notch for the catch both on the front and back panels. Once I did that, it fit well with just enough space top and bottom to clear the original opening without rubbing.
I still need to transfer the faceplate and sliders for the other two drawers. I hope to get that done tomorrow. Until then, here is a picture to show the difference between the old and new drawers.
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Edit: I would have liked to use the 3/8" plywood like the original drawers, but I could not find 3/8" birch plywood at either Lowe's or Home Depot. The only place I could find 3/8" birch plywood was at our local Michael's store. They would not have had enough to build all three drawers.
For anyone interested, I used a table saw to do all of the cuts except the notch for the catch. That was done with a jigsaw and a clean-cut blade.
Subject: ouR escaPOD mods
Posted: 27 Sep 2016 at 10:24pm
One thing that made me scratch my head, wondering what the designers were thinking were the drawers for the RP-179 wardrobe. When I looked, there was easily six inches of wasted space behind the drawers. In addition, the drawers are shallow. There is a big opening and a little drawer. I decided to do something about it.
First a trip to Lowe's again to purchase materials. I got 1/2" birch plywood for the frame and 1/4" birch plywood for the bottom. I cut the framework so that it would retain the same width as the original drawer when finished. I cut the length six inches longer and the height 1-1/2" higher. I cut a notch for the bottom and assembled with glue and used a nailer to fasten the corners. I verified that the drawers were square. Then I sanded them to smooth the edges with 80 grit sandpaper on a power sander followed by 220 grit to smooth it out in preparation for the finish. I used 3 coats of satin polyurethane which I got in the spray can to seal and protect them.
I used the old front of the drawer to help guide me for drilling holes to fasten the faceplate. After I got it assembled and the sliders from the old drawer attached, I took it out for a test fit. While the additional 1-1/2" on the sides works well, it didn't work so well for the front and back due to the catch. Only adding 1" to the front and back panels would have worked. Since I have them built, I decided to make a notch for the catch both on the front and back panels. Once I did that, it fit well with just enough space top and bottom to clear the original opening without rubbing.
I still need to transfer the faceplate and sliders for the other two drawers. I hope to get that done tomorrow. Until then, here is a picture to show the difference between the old and new drawers.
Edit: I would have liked to use the 3/8" plywood like the original drawers, but I could not find 3/8" birch plywood at either Lowe's or Home Depot. The only place I could find 3/8" birch plywood was at our local Michael's store. They would not have had enough to build all three drawers.
For anyone interested, I used a table saw to do all of the cuts except the notch for the catch. That was done with a jigsaw and a clean-cut blade.