A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of furniture that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinets, chests of drawers (bureaus), desks, and the like.
Drawers can be built in various ways using a variety of materials, including wood, various wood composites, sheet metal, and plastic.
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.
See also: Drawer pull. One or two handles or drawer pulls are commonly 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 its front.
Some drawers can be locked, notably in filing cabinet and desk drawers.
Drawer slides often have a mechanism to keep the drawer from accidentally being pulled fully from its enclosure.
With the simplest kinds of mounting, the drawer cannot be pulled out sufficiently to see the full interior, without pulling the drawer completely out of the cabinet, often leading to the contents being dumped on the floor.[2] [3] There are at least two ways to make the full interior of a drawer visible, while still being completely supported by the cabinet. One way places the back of the drawer such that it is fully visible when the drawer hits the stop -- the interior of such a drawer is much shorter than the sides of the drawer.[2] That visible back of the drawer may be a false back that conceals a secret hiding place behind it.[4] Another way uses full extension drawers, which have full-extension drawer slides, also called telescoping slides, a kind of that support the drawer even when the drawer is pulled entirely out of the cabinet.[3] [5] [6] [7]
A drawer slide or drawer runner is the part of a drawer that allows it to move. There are various types of slide mechanisms with different features, for different uses, at different price points.
Examples of uses are in home furniture hardware, office appliances, and industrial equipment, including kitchen cabinets, oven slides, rails for sliding doors, and fridge slides (for coolers).
A good slide rail is defined by smoothness, tight tolerance and load capacity.[8]
A soft-close mechanism is a special feature that slows the drawer's velocity in the last part of closing, then closes it automatically. The user gives the drawer a gentle push to engage the mechanism, and the drawer closes smoothly and quietly without the possibility of slamming.
See also: Guide rail and Linear-motion bearing