Drawer material???

[cal lidderdale]

I'm building a counter for a coffee shop. 17' long with lots of drawers and shelves all on drawer slides. Cost is a factor so I'm looking for suggestions on what to use and function trumps looks. The load should be medium with a fair amount of use and I've decided to dovetail the joints. So, with that in mind I've looked at plain MDF and I don't think that will make the cut. Wandering through HomeDepot today ... 3/4 pine would work, then there is the pre-painted MDF? from the trim area. Then I ran across the fence section 1/2x5 cedar - and the rustic look would work also.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Chuck

[Todd Burch]

I use 1/2 baltic birch - you can't buy it @ HD.

Do you not have a proper lumber supplier near you? It would probably be cheaper than HD and also have better quality products.

My supplier stocks prefinished 1/2" baltic birch in various widths for drawer box material. (I don't use it, but a lot of people do).

For my dad's kitchen, I'm using quite a bit of 1/2" birch ply (4X8 sheets, not the 150mm x 150mm (60"x60") 1/2 baltic birch). He wanted me to use it for all the drawers, because it is so much cheaper than the baltic birch. I said I would not do it because it's not very good material.

Well, since I screwed up a sink base cabinet the other day, he's now getting it as a garage workbench/cabinet, and he didn't care how I configured it for doors/drawers. So, I made 4 drawers for it, all out of left over scraps of the 1/2" birch ply that he wanted me to use on his house. What a load of JUNK. The outer veneer is so thin, I sanded through many parts of it when removing the dried glue from the box joints. There are so many voids in the edges, I used about 1/3 of a small tub of wood filler on the top edge of the 4 drawers, just so the top edges of the drawers would not look like swiss cheese. The long sides of the drawers (the 19" dimension) bow so much when pulled on that I could probably bend them out far enough so as to see the edges of the 1/4" ply drawer bottom that is set into a 1/4" deep groove. I'm dreading mounting slides to them, as I expect the 7/16" screws will come close to puncturing through, and, not have very much to grip due to the crumbling inner veneers. Big mistake. (But, partially done as a "I told you so" exercise.)

As you expressed, dovetailed MDF drawers are not a good idea for a commercial application, unless you are using really high end slides (which would take all the stress out of opening and closing the drawers), and even so, there are better ways to join the edges than dovetails, like confirmat screws. Plus, high end slides are going to cost A LOT more than high quality stock for drawer sides.

Pine would be a fine choice. If you are willing to take the time to dovetail pine, that would be an excellent drawer box.

1/2" birch ply for not-too-wide shelves would work fine enough, just apply a solid wood front edge, but 3/4" would be a better choice and hold nails and screws better.

Todd

[Jim Rimmer]

+1 on using baltic birch.

[glenn bradley]

(4X8 sheets, not the 150mm x 150mm (60"x60") 1/2 baltic birch).

150mm x 150mm = 60" x 60" ??? :D:D:D

[Todd Burch]

Oops. 150cm x 150cm. :o

[Mel Fulks]

Easy to do ,nobody uses centimeters any more . As I have written before , the metric system is still being refined. Everything now seems to be expressed in millimeters until you get up to a kilometer. Maybe the computers just aren't capable of understanding it.

[Lee Schierer]

Tulip Poplar makes excellent drawer sides and is less costly than Baltic Birch. Plywood, even Baltic Birch doesn't retain lots of strength in dovetails. Most hard wood dealers sell it at a price well below Home Depot.

[Von Bickley]

My vote would be 1/2" baltic birch.......