Expert: Eileen Cronk - 6/20/2006

Question
I have an antique buffett and the top drawer drags when pulled out on the bottom and is chewing up the wood on the bottom of the drawer.  I have discontinued use of this drawer as I want no further damage to the bottom of the side drawer boards on this piece.  What can I do to correct this situation and reuse the drawer?
Thank you.

Answer
Hi Twyla
Nice to hear from you.
You are very wise not to use the drawer until its fixed. Most people just carry on till there is serious damage done.
Now this is all guess work on my part as I cannot see the drawer, but its usually a combination of things that cause this and of course all are wear issues.
I want you to remove the drawer and turn it upside down on the floor and first check to make sure the entire bottom of the drawer is flat and not bulging upwards and shows no drag marks.
I am hoping that part will be ok or it will need replacing.
Next I want you to make sure the drawer is square.
This can be done with a hard cover book if you do not own a square. Simply shove the book flat into all four corners
of the drawer to make sure they are in square.
If not square you will remove the nails at the bottom back of the drawer, square up the drawer and renail the bottom.
Next I want you to look inside the buffet.
On both the left and right sides of the inside drawer opening you will see strips of wood that the drawer sits on and glides on.
I think you will see that these are badly worn down.
The proper way to fix these is by replacing, although I have often been able to remove these pieces and reverse them left to right. It just depends on the construction, and it will involve loosening the glue.
If you do not have the skills to cut new drawer slides then any wood shop will duplicate these pieces for you. Its a small inexpensive job.
The side drawer bottoms are getting chewed up as you say, but in most cases the above fixes will solve your problem however if the drawer bottom sides have already worn badly down they will need to be fixed.
The entire drawer will need to be taken apart. Not a big job, but great care must be taken to avoid damage to the dove tail joints assuming your buffet has them.
Dove tails must be tapped loose in the direction of the drawer front(hope this is not confusing, but if your hammer is swinging down the length of the drawer front you are correct) Never attempt to pull them back or never bend to loosen.
When I have the sides removed what I usually do is cut the chewed up piece off up to the groove that holds the drawer bottom or up to the first dove tail and glue a replacement piece on.
The damage determines how much will be cut off, and often I will have to recut the groove for the drawer bottom to slide into.
Twyla I hope I have not totally confused you with this and if so please get back to me right away.
I am hoping the last remedy will not be necessary, and if it is I hope you have someone who can help with it.
Kindest Regards
Eileen