Drawer (furniture)

A drawer

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Artist's illustration of a drawer box

A drawer /drɔːr/ (listen) is a box-shaped container that fits into a piece of furniture in such a way that it can be drawn out horizontally to reach its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinets, chests of drawers (bureaus) and the like.

## Contents

* 1 Construction
* 2 Handles and locks
* 3 Movement
* 4 Types of drawer slide
* 5 See also
* 6 References

## Construction

Drawers can be built in a variety of manners using a variety of materials. Wood and various wood composites, sheet metal, & plastic are common materials used for drawers and the furniture that the drawer is contained in.

Wooden drawers are often designed so that the front face is complete and the end grain from the side pieces does not show. The corners may be dovetailed for additional strength or for aesthetics,[1] and a half-blind dovetail joint may be used for the front corners to hide the joint. To attach the bottom piece of the drawer, a groove may be cut in the four vertical pieces to insert the bottom of the drawer.

## Handles and locks

Most commonly, one or two handles or drawer pulls are attached to the front face of the drawer to facilitate pulling it out from its enclosure. In some cases, drawers may have another means by which to pull it, including holes cut in the front face or a hollowed-out area to insert the fingers on the bottom side of the front face of the drawer.

Some drawers incorporate a locking mechanism to secure the drawer. This is commonly found in filing cabinet and desk drawers.

## Movement

Most older or inexpensive pieces of furniture and cabinets use wooden sliders, upon which the drawer slides as it is opened or closed. Wood slides can be lubricated with paraffin wax. Newer furniture and cabinets may use plastic friction slides, or more elaborate bearings slide, which will provide smoother operation with less binding. There are different types of bearing slides, such as linear ball-bearing slides, roller bearing slides, progressive action slides. Modern drawer slides are usually categorized in how they are mounted, including center mount, side mount, bottom mount and European mount drawer slides. Drawer slides are intended for use varying from light to heavy drawers and thus contain load ratings ranging from 75–450 pounds (34–204 kg). A load rating of 100 pounds (45 kg) is considered typical.[citation needed]

Drawer slides often have a mechanism to keep the drawer from accidentally being pulled fully from its enclosure.

## Types of drawer slide

Item | Type | Mounting | Pro | Con

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1 | Ball bearing drawer slides | side mount | full extension to achieve maximum use of space | visible when one opens drawer
2 | Center mounted slide | bottom mount at drawer center | invisible when one opens a drawer | light loading
3 | under mounted slide | at two sides of a drawer bottom | with built-in soft close | high cost
4 | European slide | side mount | heavy loading | limited space to slide out

[2][3]

## See also

* Cash drawer
* False bottom
* Roll-out shelf
* Drawer slides roll forming machine

## References

1. ↑ Jerzy Smardzewski Furniture Design, p. 67, at Google Books
2. ↑ Cabrera, Heilyn (2017), Drawer slide types, Hunker, https://www.hunker.com/13404023/drawer-slide-types
3. ↑ Slide Rail, Shelves that Slide, 2017, https://www.shelvesthatslide.com/pull_out_shelf_slides.htm

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