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Chest of drawers

A bedroom chest that lasts 20 years

Advanced template · dovetail or slide-mounted drawers, drawer-face proportions auto-balanced

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Chest of drawers design details

What's distinctive about this template

Wireframe — see structure
Three joinery tiers (dovetail / fixed slide / butt); wireframe shows drawer dividers

Drawer structure cutaway
Hide drawer faces — 6 drawer boxes positioned for Blum slides

Cabinet interior view
Toggle hidden-panel mode to see inner dividers, slide positions, shelf structure

Design highlights

What this template's algorithm handles for you

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Three joinery tiers

Dovetail / fixed slide / butt

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Auto hardware spec

Blum / Hettich SKU listed

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Face-width ratio

Equal / ascending / progressive

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Height 70–110 hint

Anchor to wall if taller

What this template builds for you

A chest of drawers is the most opened-and-closed piece of furniture in a home — twice a day, 365 days a year, 20 years = 29,000 cycles. Retail chests start failing in 5 years because they use the cheapest slides and stapled thin panels.

DIY lets you pick: top-tier dovetailed drawers (never go loose, last a lifetime), mid-tier ball-bearing slides (a $5 pair, 10 years easy), or entry-level wing slides (cheapest, 5 years before replacement). The template outputs the matching hardware spec and joinery for your chosen tier.

3–6 drawers, drawer-face widths either uniform or graduated (small-on-top-large-on-bottom is classic 1.4:1.2:1 Ming proportion). Depth 40–50 cm (clothes fold flat), total height 70–110 cm (taller needs wall anchoring for tip-safety). Retail chest of drawers: $200–500. Material cost: $80–150. But the bigger value is learning dovetails — that joint shows up in drawers, boxes, chairs, frames for the rest of your woodworking life.

Who this template suits

✓ Recommended for

· Building heirloom furniture
· Learning dovetail joinery
· Newlyweds or new parents needing storage

× Not for

· Bedroom dimensions unknown — measure first
· Want soft-close drawers (Blum TIP-ON hardware sold separately)
· Need it in days, not weeks (dovetails take time)

Parameters you can adjust

The algorithm auto-computes dimensions, joinery, and material usage.

Drawer count

3–6 drawers; > 6 starts to want a wardrobe instead

Face proportion

Uniform / graduated (small top, large bottom) / custom

Depth

40–50 cm (clothes fold flat)

Joinery tier

Dovetail / ball-bearing slides / wing slides

Chest of drawers common dimensions

These numbers come straight from this template's adjustable ranges and defaults, so they update whenever the template does.

Dimension	Adjustable range	Template default
Length	up to 1300 mm (130 cm)	800 mm (80 cm)
Width (depth)	up to 600 mm (60 cm)	450 mm (45 cm)
Height	up to 1500 mm (150 cm)	900 mm (90 cm)
Panel thickness	9–35 mm (0.9–3.5 cm)	18 mm (1.8 cm)
Leg height	0–400 mm (0–40 cm)	70 mm (7 cm)

Main dimensions list only the upper bound: the template has no meaningful lower limit. Values in mm with cm in brackets.

Enter sizes, get everything

Six deliverables in one pass — print A4 and walk into the shop.

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Engineering views

Front / side / top auto-dimensioned

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Perspective

3D rotatable, explodable, see inside

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Joinery detail

Every joint zoomed and dimensioned

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Cut list

Per-part sizes, board-foot conversion, waste estimate

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Cut layout

Optimized stock layout, minimum waste

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A4 PDF

One-click print for the shop

Real generated output

The screens below are actually generated from the Chest of drawers template — apply your sizes and they update live.

Engineering views
Front / side / top fully auto-dimensioned

Cut layout
Algorithmic nesting, minimum waste — hand to the lumber yard and cut straight from it

Cut list
Per-part sizes with board-foot conversion, printable for the shop

Build steps
Stock prep through finishing, every step timed

3D perspective
Rotatable, explodable, see the joinery inside

※ These regenerate live whenever you tweak size, wood, or style

When you'd build one

Wedding gift

Built for a daughter's dowry — dovetails last 200 years, more meaningful than cash.

Nursery

Newborn clothes are tiny but many — build a 6-drawer low chest.

Heirloom

Walnut or cherry, the grain darkens with age, grandkids will still use it.

Awkward bedroom

Wall space is 12 cm short of standard — custom build is the only fit.

4 preset variations

Swap styles in one click — no need to re-adjust every parameter from scratch.

Uniform 4-drawer

Four equal-height drawers, dovetailed carcase — heirloom basics.

Graduated 5-drawer

Top two small drawers for accessories, bottom three large for clothes — usage-frequency matched.

Inset-front

Three full-extension slides, drawer fronts overlay the carcase — modern seamless look.

Plinth-base

80 mm plinth base lets the robot vacuum slide underneath — modern convenience.

FAQ

Are dovetails hard?+

Depends on how you do them. Hand-cut dovetails take 50 reps to smooth out; a dovetail jig (e.g., Leigh) gets you there in 30 minutes. The algorithm sets dovetail spacing to 0.5 mm precision; cut to the lines and you'll be fine.

Do slide-mounted drawers need dovetails?+

No. Blum / Hettich concealed slides work great ($20–40 per pair). Dovetails are the "do it the best" choice.

Which wood?+

Walnut is gorgeous but expensive. Oak is durable. Cherry darkens beautifully. Birch is cheap and a good learner — start there.

Drawer-face reveal?+

1.5–2 mm gap on all four sides (wood movement). Humid summers will close that gap.

Anchor to wall?+

Anything > 90 cm tall needs an L-bracket into the wall stud. In seismic zones, anchor every chest — especially the one near the bed.