material for drawer bottoms

[Dave Lame]

Would appreciate some advice.

For 1/4" drawer bottoms. What is relative strength of :

1. plywood
2. MDF
3. hardboard
4. other (your suggestions, other than solid wood)


Thanks

Dave

[Mike Harrison]

1/4" ply. Much more durable than your other two options, both of which are much more brittle.

[Erik Stol]

+1 on the plywood.

[Paul Steiner]

+1 Plywood I really like baltic birch for drawer bottoms.

[Richard Wolf]

Unless the drawers are small, think about 3/8 ply. It makes for a much better feel and adds no cost to the project. We get sucked into copying what large manufactures do, we never think about doing it better.

Richard

[Dave Verstraete]

+1 on plywood.....6mm Baltic Birch

[Von Bickley]

+1 on Plywood...... :)

[Bob Rossi]

BB plywood.

[Dave Zellers]

Plywood. Without question.

Ditto on the sizing up for larger drawers and also consider the weight of the drawer contents like kitchen equipment. 1/2" for those drawers.

[Dave Gaul]

Another vote for ply!

[Jay Allen]

Another vote for thicker bottoms. You can even rabbet the bottom edge to thin it, if you would rather stick with a 1/4" groove. Thicker bottom just "feel better" on all but the smallest drawers.

[Jerome Hanby]

Guess it depends on the usage of the drawers. Shallow kitchen drawers could use hardboard. Funny, the only time I've done that is to repair a drawer that had the hardwood bottom busted through. That feels like a vote against hardboard:eek:. Don't think I'd ever use MDF, a lot of weight and not much strength. For the small amount of material and the exact same amount of work cutting it, I'd have to go with everyone else and pick plywood.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Plywood. And unless the drawer is really small, by all means use 1/2" BB. Makes a world of difference.

[lowell holmes]

I have read the entire string and I see Baltic Birch is a favorite.

It used to be one of my favorites, however, the recent very poor quality of BB has caused me to not use it it.

I've had trouble with it de-laminating as well as being bowed.

What gives? Has nobody else had my experience with it?

[Frank Drew]

If it's a drawer for a clothes dresser, a nice touch is to veneer the inside face of the drawer bottom with an aromatic wood like Spanish cedar, or, better yet, Lebanese cedar if you can get it; for woolens like sweaters, etc,. red cedar is nice. Veneer the other side of the ply with something similar but less expensive.

I agree that 1/4" can feel pretty flimsy in larger drawers, but 1/2"? Are you putting anvils in these drawers?? :D

In addition to not being as strong as solid or ply, masonite or mdf look awfully low-rent in a drawer that's meant for any location outside your own shop, IMO.

[lowell holmes]

My question is about BB. It distresses me to have plywood split because of veneer failure. I have been experiencing that for a couple of years using BB. I have resorted to using a good stable cabinet grade plywood with fewer veneers.

I use plywood or solid wood for drawer bottoms, but I will not use BB untill I find some that has integrity.

I am curious if any of you have had the problem with BB that I have.

[Neil Brooks]

I agree that 1/4" can feel pretty flimsy in larger drawers, but 1/2"? Are you putting anvils in these drawers?? :D

At first, I was thinking the same thing, but ... take a second, here.

You will NEVER need a stepladder, if you can merely open a drawer, and then stand inside it, to reach whatever it was you were trying to reach.

And .... that's NOT a bad thing ;)

[Nathan Allen]

Heck I've even used 3/4" ply on a couple drawers in a kitchen cart. There is almost no chance they will ever fail.

[Charles Wiggins]

For utility - 1/4" luan
For fine WW - 1/4" hardwood ply

[glenn bradley]

+ "however-many" on ply.

[Roger Feeley]

I needed to replace the bottom of a drawer in an antique buffet. The drawer was 40" wide and about 20" front to back. I built a brace down the middle.

I was replacing my kitchen cabinet doors and had saved the panels. I simply turned them decorative side out and modified two of them to fit.

I think Fine Woodworking has a recent piece about using hardwood for drawer bottoms and they like using raised panels.

In my case, the oak was free. Lots of cabinets to to the landfill. Such a shame.

Barring the oak, I would echo the BB plywood. Over time, the plywood will warp under weight but only if you store heavy stuff. Particle board is the worst.

When I redo the drawers to go with the doors, I will use oak for the big drawers and plywood for the small ones.

[Lee Schierer]

For utility - 1/4" luan
For fine WW - 1/4" hardwood ply

I'm with Charles, I've made dozens of drawers with 1/4" luan and 1/4" ply without a single failure or sag problem. Ive made dresser drawer that are 30 x 18 and I can put the drawer on the floor bottom side up and stand on the bottom (235#) with no problem. In a shop drawer or kitchen drawer holding tools or pots and pans I would go to 3/8.

[mreza Salav]

I admit I'm quite surprised at responses.
If it's a kitchen drawer (where heavy pots and pans go into) yes, I can see the issue of strength, but if it's a drawer for a chest in which you only place cloth what is wrong with a plain white surface MDF 1/4" boards?

If you want to use BB ply and finish it too (to make it smooth), sure, that's good too.
But I cannot see anything wrong with either one.

[Joe Leigh]

For utility 1/4" ply is fine, but for anything nicer it's 3/8" poplar raised panel to fit a 1/4" groove:

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q226/lj61673/100_0181.jpg

[Neil Brooks]

For utility 1/4" ply is fine, but for anything nicer it's 3/8" poplar raised panel to fit a 1/4" groove:

Sincere question, here.

If you taper the edges of the 3/8, to mate with a 1/4" groove, don't you -- in effect -- have only the strength of the 1/4" ply ?

Wouldn't the tapered edges automatically become the weak link in the chain ?

:confused:

[EDIT: I guess, in thinking about it, you'd certainly reduce the risk of the center cracking, but .... ]

[Erik Christensen]

but I make all my drawers out of 3/4" BB including the bottom. I use all dovetail joints and glue the bottom to the dado in the drawer sides. Sure I give up 3/8" or so on the interior dimension but that is a good trade off for me.

I only use blum tandem under-mount slides and attach to all 3/4" BB cabinet case with spax 1/2" screws.

I HATE flimsy drawers.

[Jay Allen]

If you taper the edges of the 3/8, to mate with a 1/4" groove, don't you -- in effect -- have only the strength of the 1/4" ply ?

Wouldn't the tapered edges automatically become the weak link in the chain ?

Yes, but if you were putting that much total weight in the drawer you would already have problems with the guides or the sheer drag of the drawer against wooden runners. Or you would break the bottom of the groove.
The point of a heavier bottom is mostly about sagging in the middle, but I like them because you can just feel/hear the difference when something stikes the bottom.

[David Prince]

I am all for strong drawers but 100% 3/4 material seems over-kill unless you want to crawl in the drawer for tornado warnings! :eek: (and you use up part of your weight rating just for the drawer material)

I have never had any problems with 1/2 sides and 1/4 bottoms. If I were expecting something very heavy then I could see beefing up the drawer.

[Greg Portland]

It used to be one of my favorites, however, the recent very poor quality of BB has caused me to not use it it.

I've had trouble with it de-laminating as well as being bowed.

What gives? Has nobody else had my experience with it?
Lowell, where are you getting your ply and what brand is it? I agree that the stuff from the big box stores tends to be absolute garbage. Personally, I've had a lot of luck with Appleply (brand name).

[Chip Lindley]

For utilitarian drawer bottoms, 1/4" hardboard has strength and decent looks. It's cheaper than sanded plywood. MDF or PB are too thick, and waste precious drawer depth.

For kitchen and bath drawers I enjoy using that white epoxy-coated 1/8" hardboard glued over 3/16" mahogany underlayment. That sandwich is a strong, cheap solution for easily cleaned drawer bottoms.

When high-end drawers are built, (decent) 1/4' hardwood ply is used, with 1/2" thick, solid-wood drawer sides. All surfaces are sprayed with flat or satin varnish so drawers will not suffer staining.

[Bud Millis]

Depends on what your doing. For furniture I like a solid wood bottom, popular. Kitchen/bath/shop cabinets I would go with plywood.

[Joe Leigh]

Yes, but if you were putting that much total weight in the drawer you would already have problems with the guides or the sheer drag of the drawer against wooden runners. Or you would break the bottom of the groove.
The point of a heavier bottom is mostly about sagging in the middle, but I like them because you can just feel/hear the difference when something stikes the bottom.

Exactly. No sag, better look and a much different sound when closing. Besides, it's much more work this way so that makes it better,right? :D

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Granite.

;)

j/k. +1 on the plywood.

[Dave Lame]

Guys, thanks for all the advice and experiences:), but does anyone have the numbers on the strength of the materials?

Dave

[Frank Drew]

Guys, thanks for all the advice and experiences:), but does anyone have the numbers on the strength of the materials?

Dave

I don't, but you might be able to dig up some data somewhere. However, most of us, I think, get a feel for different materials and develop a pretty good sense of what's appropriate for various applications (sock drawer vs hobart mixmaster drawer). Aesthetics and personal preferences also come into play in making these choices.