Once a drawer box has been configured and saved (See Designing Drawer Boxes in this manual), there are three ways it can be added to a cabinet or assembly. These are done from the Cabinet/Assembly Editor.
- It can be added to and made part of a cabinet along with a drawer front in the Door/Drawer Editor. It will then automatically resize with the cabinet.
- It can be added to and made part of a cabinet without a corresponding drawer front using the Drawer Box Editor. It will automatically resize with the cabinet.
- It can be added to the workspace as a Display Item where it will be saved with and reload with an assembly. It can be associated to a cabinet where it will save with and reload with the cabinet but will not resize with the cabinet. It must be part of the cabinet and not just associated with it to resize.
In this area we will cover adding a drawer box to a cabinet using the Drawer Box Editor. This editor is used when we want to add drawer boxes to a cabinet opening without adding corresponding drawer fronts.
From the Cabinet/Assembly Editor with a cabinet loaded, you reach the Drawer Box Editor either using the icon in the top toolbar or by right clicking and choosing Area – Drawer Box Editor.
Before we start we must select the drawer box we want. Press Drawer Box Selection to launch the Drawer Box Designer. Operation of this area is covered in a separate area of this manual.
At this point you must load a drawer box design. You can modify it if needed. You also do not need to worry about size since it will be sized automatically for the cabinet.
When the drawer box you want is displayed, press Set Default. This design will then be used whenever a drawer box is added until you change it. If you want two different drawer boxes on the same cabinet, load the first and set it as the default. Add it to the cabinet. Then, press Drawer Box Selection again, load the second design, set it as the default and add it to the cabinet. Each drawer box is a different design.
There are a series of parameters that define how a drawer box is added.
In the Construction Settings for this cabinet there are two areas that define this. In the Add Door/Drawer Settings area, there is a section that defines a drawer box that is added in conjunction with a drawer front. These settings are used when a drawer box is added in the Door/Drawer Editor.
There is also a separate area called Add Drawer Box Settings which defines a drawer box that is added in the Drawer Box Editor.
Remember, to add a drawer front with a corresponding drawer box, use the Door/Drawer Editor. To add a drawer box without a front use the Drawer Box Editor.
The parameters from each of these areas are presented to you each time you add a drawer box. You are then given the opportunity to modify them for this one installation if you want. Any modifications you make during the installation process do not change the parameters you set in Construction Settings, they only affect this one drawer box. Therefore the best approach is to set the parameters in Construction Setting to the most common parameters you use and then modify only those that need to differ when you install them.
Let’s look at the installation parameters for a drawer box.
There are four basic types of settings for each drawer box. The first area defines insets. These are actually clearances from the cabinet to the drawer box.
The next area is for specifying overall dimension “increments”. This might take a little explaining. Some people like to build drawer boxes in fixed increments, that is they want the dimensions to be in even 1/32, 1/16 or 1/8 inch increments instead of building random sized boxes. This area allows you to specify the increment you want drawer boxes built in.
When increments are specified, the system will always round down to the next increment. Also, the insets or clearances specified are now minimum insets and the actual inset may be slightly larger when a dimension is rounded down.
The third parameter area specifies how high from the bottom edge of the drawer side the drawer slide is located. This is also the zero point for the mounting hole pattern for the slide. This information is needed so that the mounting hole pattern can be added to the drawer box side and the cabinet end.
The final parameter is the Drawer Box to Drawer Box Gap. This is used whenever more than one drawer box is added to an opening.
The process of adding a drawer box is easy. Highlight the opening and press Add Drawer Box. You are again presented with the installation parameters which you can modify if necessary.
The software allows you to add a stack of more than one drawer box vertically to an opening. You can place several drawers in a single opening.
If each of these is the same height, it is quite easy. Simply indicate the quantity at the top when the installation dialog appears and press OK. If you want to stack drawers of different height it is slightly more involved but still not all that difficult.
In this case, you will need to add each different sized drawer one at a time.
As an example, leave the quantity as “1” and set the height of the first drawer. Then you must decide whether you want the resulting opening at the bottom or top. If you set Adjust Bottom the drawer will be placed at the top of the highlighted opening and the remaining opening will be left at the bottom. If you select Adjust Top, the drawer is placed at the bottom of the highlighted opening and the remaining opening is left at the top.
You can, at any time, add multiple drawers of equal height to an opening but this will fill the entire opening. You cannot leave a gap when installing multiple drawers.
Now, simply press OK.
Once drawer boxes have been added, they can be deleted by highlighting them (left click to highlight, Ctrl and left click to highlight more than one) and pressing Delete on the keyboard or clicking the Delete icon on the top toolbar.
Note that you can inset the front of a stack of drawers and then add a door into the opening in front of the drawers in the Door/Drawer Editor.