I am making a bed for my daughter and it has 6 drawers underneath. The drawers will be 22 1/4 inches wide and 26 inches deep and 5 3/4 inches high. I am using 1/2 birch plywood as the sides, front and back of the drawer box and will have a 3/4 inch drawer front with overlay (3/8). The extension slides will be full 26″ slides by accuride.
My question is what thickness should the bottom be? I was planning on using 1/4 inch plywood, but I am nervous that this is too thin. Should I use 1/2″ or should I use another method for making the bottoms sturdy?
I have received advice from this forum for my headboard and footboard construction and really appreciated the input, however I forgot who had advised me on that, so putting this into the “Assign an Expert”.
Thanks!
John
Replies
Hey, John—
I'm a big advocate of thicker-than-usual drawer bottoms, for one simple reason: They speak of quality.
In your case, you're building fairly large drawers. That being said, 1/4-in.-thick plywood should suffice. Although they may bow a bit in the middle when loaded, the bottoms will hold the contents securely and wear fine over the years, especially if it's multi-ply plywood, such as Baltic birch.
However, 1/4-in. bottoms sound 'tinny' when objects are placed upon them. On all but the smallest of drawers, such as jewelry drawers and other diminutive fare, I try to beef up the thickness a bit. If you can get it in your neck of the woods, 3/8 in. plywoood makes great drawer bottoms, as does 1/2 in. ply. In your case, I would use either of these, and avoid the thinner stuff. Either way, be careful to leave enough drawer-box width below your bottom grooves. Locating the grooves 1/2 in. above the bottom of the drawer box is standard practice and should work fine for your application.
Also, since your bottoms are plywood, I would go ahead and glue each bottom into the drawer grooves. (You can do this even if you're using solid-wood sides, fronts and backs.) Gluing the bottoms in place will significantly improve the strength of your drawers' corner joints. The only drawback with this technique is that future repairs are a bit more difficult, and will possibly warrant building an entire new drawer should a bottom ever need replacing.
OK, I cannot resist a plug: If you want to know more about drawermaking, check out my new book, due for publication this fall. 'Building Doors & Drawers' has a wealth of information that should help you build high-class drawers with a minimum of fuss.
Good luck!
—Andy Rae
Hello Andy!
Sorry to take so long to thank you for the advice, but I have been traveling and the drawer sides have been sitting in my garage waiting my return! I appreciate the guidance and will use your advice! Also will look out for your new book. Congratulations on that.
John
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