leelewis•1mo agoProlific Poster

Vent: That one customer who watched YouTube and thought they knew better

Had a guy last Tuesday in Austin insist I was routing his drawer fronts wrong because some video said to use a 1/4 inch bit instead of the 3/8 I always use. He stood over my shoulder for 20 minutes telling me how to do my job. Any of you ever deal with a customer who thinks a 10 minute tutorial beats 15 years of experience?

4 comments

4 Comments

oliviat171mo agoMost Upvoted

3/8 instead of 1/4 for drawer fronts? That's crazy talk.

felixfisher1mo ago

Well, hang on @oliviat17, I gotta push back a little here. 3/8 isn't totally crazy if you've ever had a drawer front warp on you after a humid summer, you know? 1/4 is definitely the standard and it works fine most of the time, but for wider drawers (like over 24 inches) that thin plywood can start to bow in the middle. I've seen it happen in a few kitchens where people went with the cheaper option and regretted it later. So maybe not for every build, but for larger fronts it's actually a pretty solid move.

the_zara13d ago

Yeah totally agree with you on that. I've had clients call me back after a couple years to fix drawer fronts that sagged with 1/4 ply and it's a pain. 3/8 is overkill for most stuff but if you're building something that's gonna see serious daily use it's just peace of mind.

stella_murray13d ago

You know, I had a client once who insisted on using 1/4 ply for a set of 30 inch wide pantry drawers. I tried to talk them into at least 3/8 but they said I was just upselling them. Fast forward two humid summers and the fronts looked like sad little smiles every time you opened them. Now whenever I build something over 24 inches I just default to 3/8 and call it my "I told you so" insurance policy. But hey, what do I know? I'm the guy who once used MDF for a drawer front because I was out of plywood and thought I was being clever. Never again.