About Our Process

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Selecting the right material

The "select" material makes our drawer box.  We start by purchasing select soft white maple, all of the boards we purchase are 10" or wider.  That material is then graded to be used as fronts and backs or sides.  We select the best material for the inside of the drawer, that will be the most visible to the end user.  We do allow mineral grain and color variations in our maple drawer boxes with most of that material held to the front or back of the drawer where it will not be visible.

Precise Rip Cuts

The cutting process begins on a Shelling FH5 beam saw.  Parts are rip cut to very accurate dimensions. The saw has a 5" book height so we can stack multiple pieces of lumber (or) plywood and cut them at the same time.  Please note that our drawer sides are cut 1/16" shorter than the fronts and backs.

Planning / Sanding

The boards are then thickness planned on a Cantek planner.  We offer solid maple drawers in 15mm (5/8") thickness and a true 1/2" material.  After planning the drawer parts are run through a wide belt sander and finished with 220 grit sandpaper.  

Shaping / Grooving

With the proper board thickness now achieved it is time for final milling.  The parts are then run through a shaper / sander to get the top edge detail, then off to get the dado for the drawer bottoms.  We have 2 dedicated grooving saws one each for 1/4" and 1/2" bottoms both with power feeders.

Finishing 

The processed material now moves onto our finishing department where it is coated with a water-based finished.  We finish both sides of the material at the same time to keep wider boards from cupping.  The material is then sanded between coats and ready for the final finish.  When our drawers are assembled - the interior of the drawer is already finished with no overspray.

Cross Cut

The finished material heads back to the Shelling saw for very accurate cross cutting.  This is where the stacking height comes into play, as we can cut many boards at the same time.

Dovetailing

Our final machining prosses is the actual dovetail joint.  This process is performed on Northtech idovetail machines.  The machines are CNC and very accurate, we cut multiple parts in the same pass.

Assembly / Notch / Final Finish

Drawer assembly is completed on Northtech drawer clamps.  Once assembled the sides get sanded flush on a 12" edge sander and then notched for Tandem slides.  The final step is to putty the dovetails joints (if needed) and hand sand the outside of the drawer boxes for the final two coats of finish, this seals the dovetail joint.