You still have to get the projection perfect - although the slotted screw holes in drawer slides will help.

I bought a Bosch jobsite saw when I was making some built-ins in our last house (picture), and I think I've used it on every project small or large since. It's got a nifty folding stand so I can push it out of the way of the cars in the winter, and while I'd dearly love a bigger/better table saw, it's basically big enough for everything I do, and a bigger one wouldn't be as easy to store. Now they've got the same saw with a Sawstop-type brake (for more $$$).

photos of drawers:




What you are seeing in the first photo is the actual drawers, built from 1/2 cheapo plywood.

The second photo shows the false front approach, with the tight-fitting nicer veneered fronts (still plywood, though one could use real wood) just set in front of the drawer area -- not yet precisely positioned and attached.

Unfortunately i ran out of the nicer veneered plywood sheets so the bottom two drawer false fronts have a bit more pattern than i would like -- i havent decided yet whether to go buy some more plywood, or assemble it as is.

make a new face for the top drawer?

ps. for those wondering -- that top center shelf is for a center speaker -- ive already built a nice custom speaker grill cover for that area.

that's an interesting idea regarding router.. i do have a small one and could conceivably clamp a piece of wood in place at the proper angle to act as a guide and use a straight bit.. though it wouldn't take much to mess it up..

I'm inclined to agree.
I may try tweaking the gaps first (since the drawer rails have an adjustment for this) to see how much i can fix invisibly, and then cutting new face frame to cover up any remaining gap that i don't feel comfortable fixing with rail adjustments.

OK, had a chance to look at your pictures now - That's a wide opening; 1/8" isn't very much across that distance. If it were mine I'd try remaking the drawer front with the angle at the top--since you wanted to redo the drawer fronts anyhow. You could try it with a scrap first and see if someone else can tell.

Other ideas:

• Use a router with a flush-trim bit to completely remove the overhang on that shelf (so the bottom of the face frame is flush with the fixed shelf behind). Problems: Width won't match rest of face frame, you'll have to remake the drawer front to make it taller, the corners will have to be hand-trimmed.
• Mark the level line with a pencil and cut off the excess freehand with a full-size circular saw. It's actually pretty easy (perhaps with practice) to cut to a line with a skilsaw, but you run into problems where the cut is less than the width of the blade (which would be most of the cut, in your case).
• Glue a second, wedge-shaped face-frame piece to the underside of the current one. This would be really hard to make without a tablesaw. Or glue a larger piece there, then trim it.
• Find a use for the excess gap: Put a IR receiver or a pinhole camera or a tiny Cody or a Knight-rider LED array in the space. Tell people you planned it.
• Buy a bullnose plane and trim it that way instead of using sandpaper. Draw a line first.
• Get that board off - saw the joints at right and left, being careful not to damage adjacent face-frame boards. Use a chisel behind it, and cover any damage with the new face-frame board.
• Redesign that area - put a protruding bullnose molding on it or something. Or a little shelf for remotes.

The most important, and hardest, part is not pointing out the flaws to people who see what you've made. It's almost impossible to resist, but no one notices if you don't.

On another matter.. anyone here ever tried wood "dyes" as opposed to normal stains? holy cow i am a convert!
I've been testing tons of gel and standard stains trying to get the right look on this birch+maple, and the blotching was noticable.  Tried a wood dye and wow! the clarity and evenness is remarkable. 

Where did you get them; what brand?

the only thing left for me to decide is if i'm going to try to brush on a finish or buy a sprayer..

More photos, please!

The thing that always has scared me off getting into a spraying system is the "cost" in time and energy of keeping the whole setup clean. Shoot, I usually wind up throwing away brushes after they sit in paint thinner for a few months. Thus I usually either use rags or disposable foam brushes.

There's a guy in my church who built his own kitchen cabinets and finished them all with rattle-cans of spray lacquer. They look great.

Latest cabinet photos:




Note 1: The cabinet has not yet been "finished" -- i just wanted to see what it would look like -- i have to remove everything and put many coats of polyeurethane on to give it some sheen and protect the wood.

Note 2: It's significantly darker than I planned/wanted -- I tested dozens of stain formulas but in the end i got carried away.  I think lighter would have been more interesting but perhaps this will turn out to be ok.

Note 3: You'll notice on the top view two black lines -- that was a last minute improvisation to fix what were white-unstained lines caused by wood putty between the face frame and carcass, and white glue connecting to strips of veneer on the plywood.

Note 4: If you look at photo 2 you can see gray dots where nail holes are -- I made a big mistake by filling nail holes and gaps with "stainable" (hah!) wood putty before staining.  Bad mistake.  I've since learned the proper way to do it is to sink the nails, then stain, THEN fill with colored crayon, etc.  I did what i have done when painting when the putty can be sanded down and covered -- not appropriate for staining.