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DIY Tip: Use Playing Cards as Spacers

When doing DIY projects or making furniture, you often need spacers to fill in gaps around drawers and doors and finding the right thickness can be tricky, but this idea does away with all of that.

13/10/2022

 

 

 

 

Using spacers around drawer fronts allows you to position the drawer fronts to be perfectly aligned with precise gaps all around.

 

 

Spacers and shims are terminologies for items commonly used when doing woodwork or making furniture such as kitchens, drawer units, cupboards, and cabinets. Spacers and shims make it easier for you to align and space whatever it is you are fitting so that it fits properly. Before we look at how you can use playing cards as spacers, let's look at the difference between spacers and shims so that when you come across these in a project or tutorial, you will know what is referred to and how to use it.

 

 

 

Accurately measured and cut spacers make life easier and cut down time usually spent on measuring out. They also give you more control over a project, leaving your hands free for essential tasks when installing hardware or fittings.

 

 

 

 

What is a Spacer and what is it used for?

Spacers have many uses in woodwork, from fitting drawers to filling gaps or protecting one surface from another to accurately space between elements being mounted. Spacers can save a lot of time spent marking pieces or trying to place floating pieces accurately within an opening, especially when fitting drawers and inside drawer front or cabinet doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are Shims and where do you use them?

Shims or wedges come in handy when you are installing furniture that needs to be level or for making slight adjustments. They are also valuable when fitting window or door frames where the perfect level is essential. Usually made from scrap pieces of timber, these wedges are placed underneath furniture or fittings to make them level when floors or walls are not. Use them when fitting kitchen or bathroom cabinets, floor- or wall-mounted units and cupboards, or when installing door and window frames

 

 

 

 

Because of their wedge shape, shims are excellent at levelling out cupboards and cabinets before being fitted. Simply fit the shim underneath the piece and gently tap until your spirit level or laser level shows displays precise straightness. Trim off the end of the shim to hide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to use playing cards as Spacers

Many woodworking projects require that you use spacers of a specific thickness. Finding the right thickness can be tricky unless you already have scraps or items that you know are 2mm, 3mm, or other thicknesses. A pack of laminated playing cards in your toolbox or workshop will alleviate the necessity of struggling to find what you need, and you can use as many playing cards as you need to fit small gaps.

 

 

 

 

It can be tricky to fit drawers and drawer fronts so that they are perfectly aligned all around. Using playing cards lets you select enough cards for a 2mm or 3mm gap around the drawer or inside drawer front for accurate fitting.

 

 

 

 

When fitting a drawer or drawer front / face that fits into a frame, it is important that the spaces around the drawer be even all around and using playing cards as spacers provides that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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