Building large drawers, what wood and jointing technique?

Twister666 · 2 Sep 2012

Hi,

I'm fairly new to wood working and have built cabins beds for my boys with carcasses underneath for large drawers (700d x 500w x 200h) and wonder what the best material for building the drawers would be, ply/mdf/solid and recommended thickness or at those sizes whether I should consider a box frame lined with thinner ply?

Also what is the best jointing technique for the drawers considering that they'll be used by less than sympathetic kids and a wife who loves to stuff as many clothes per drawer as possible! I own a 'joint genie' and biscuit joiner but suspect that box joints may be the way to go?

My tools are basic but have a router and small router table and a chop/table saw combo unit. Can you recommend a affordable jointing jig to speed the process as there will be twelve drawer to building total? I already have a 'joint genie' which performed brilliantly on the rest of the build but the one I have is only good on 16mm+ stock and 8mm dowels.

Thanks in advance.

Iain

Cheshirechappie · 2 Sep 2012

Solid wood, about 1/2" to 5/8" sides, 1" fronts, 1/2" back, 3/8" bottom, joints dovetailed. By far the strongest, most lasting solution. The joints can be cut by hand or by using a router jig; handcutting is not as daunting as it may appear.

Lord Kitchener · 2 Sep 2012

Alternatively birch plywood is very strong, and attractive when varnished (use Ronseal matt water based for best results). The large number of laminations means that where the edges show nobody will think anything of it.

For joining, as long as the stock is 15mm then ppocket screws work well if there are going to be false fronts, otherwise biscuit joints will do very well too.

Racers · 2 Sep 2012

Hi,

I have made 1000x 400x 500mm draws from 12mm birch ply with biscuits and a 6mm ply base that are very strong and have lasted well.
Make the sides lap the front for the strongest joint when using biscuits, and glue the base in.

Pete

Twister666 · 2 Sep 2012

Thanks for your replies, I'm probably going to go down the 15mm ply route with biscuits but thought I'd put it out there in case I'd missed something really obvious to those with more experience.

Cheers,

Iain