OK, so the bed is progressing well (if it wasn’t for that whole return-to-work thing I had to do this week, I might be done!) and I now turn my attention to the under-bed storage drawers. These babies are going to have to hold a lot of stuff. Wrapping paper. Cold weather gear (yes, we do travel north sometimes during the colder months, wise guys), Electronics boxes with all the parts and pieces we don’t need.

So, I am going to need to build six drawers that will be pretty sizable and will have to stash quite a bit of gear. Since this bed is not an heirloom piece of furniture (believe me, it’s plenty durable and nice to look at, but I don’t expect to see it in a museum any time in the next century), the whole idea of hand cut dovetails in carefully selected figured maple is right out.

So, what then? I could turn to a specialty router bit with a drawer-lock type joint. You know, the type that cut mating profiles that nest together to create a tight joint. Meh, I don’t think I want to wait for a bit to be delivered.

How about a drawer that uses dowels to lock the sides to the box?  You know, that could work, but there’s the whole alignment thing to deal with…

Of course, I could turn to the old table saw trick I used on my friend Paul’s home office center… Just using the table saw with a dado blade.  Nah, too many blade changes make my head hurt…

Biscuits? Splines? Machine cut dovetails? Finger joints? Aaaaargh… too many choices!

You know what? That’s it. This is utility cabinetry that we sleep on. I’m thinking now why not just go for pocket screws and be done with it? The sides of the boxes are going to be made with plywood anyway, so no need to get all fancy with them.

Plus, I plan on attaching some false fronts to the drawers to match the rest of the bed cabinetry, so you know what, I’m thinking that’s the way to go.

There. Decision made. Now, back to the shop!