What wood for large drawers (24x30)

[Brian Elfert]

I am building some really large drawers for a cabinet in an RV. 24" wide by 30" deep. This is most definitely not furniture grade and I will use pocket screws to assemble the drawer boxes. What type and thickness of wood should I use?

I was thinking about Baltic Birch plywood for this, but I did some searching on the forum and read a number of comments about BB plywood quality going down. ApplePly would be a bit difficult to get for me. I saw the ApplePly folks sell drawer sides already finished, but the shipping doubles the cost. I've thought about just ordering the BB plywood from Menards, but no idea how good that stuff is.

[Bradley Gray]

More important than the sides on big drawers is to use thicker bottoms.

[Lisa Starr]

I have some 36" x 30" drawers in my shop built from 1/2" Baltic Birch with pocket screws corners. The bottoms are also 1/2" BB in a dado groove. They've held up well.

[Jim Becker]

Half-inch quality plywood with the same half-inch material used for the bottoms. Those drawers are similar in size to those I use in my high-end tack trunk commissions and they take a beating no problem

[Brian Elfert]

More important than the sides on big drawers is to use thicker bottoms.

I am planning on at least 1/2” thick bottoms.

[Brian Elfert]

Half-inch quality plywood with the same half-inch material used for the bottoms. Those drawers are similar in size to those I use in my high-end tack trunk commissions and they take a beating no problem

What do you consider good quality plywood? Is Baltic Birch plywood still considered a good product? I found posts here on Sawmill Creek going back a decade stating that BB plywood has gone to crap and not recommending it for drawer sides.

[Jamie Buxton]

Are you using side mount slides? If so, the drawer sides have be thick enough that the mounting screws don’t penetrate through. Real half-inch screws are in danger of going through 12mm Baltic birch. I’d step up to thicker plywood, or use undermount slides.

[Brian Elfert]

Yes, side mount slides. I bought 1/2" drawer slide screws from Rockler. I purchased the slides months ago so no sending them back to switch to undermount.

It sounds like I might need to make the boxes from 3/4" plywood then due to the screws.

[Mike Cutler]

Brian
I have drawer of approximately the same dimensions 32" wide, 24" deep, 12" tall. It spans the area under our Microwave.
The drawer itself is 4/4 maple sides and back and the front is 5/4" cherry. The drawer bottom is 1/2" baltic birch and it is supported by a pair of Gras, undermount, heavy duty, soft close, drawer slides.

[roger wiegand]

I'd use BB if you have a source for the real thing. A lock rabbet joint for the corners is quick and easy to cut and way, way stronger than pocket screws. If you use plywood you can glue the bottom into its rabbet which increases strength and rigidity tremendously.

If you choose to go with solid wood sides I'd haul out the dovetail jig and bang out quick and dirty dovetails. Even a badly fitting dovetail will be stronger than almost any other way of putting drawers together. With a jig simple, evenly spaced through dovetails take only marginally longer than screwing them together.

[Brian Elfert]

I'd use BB if you have a source for the real thing. A lock rabbet joint for the corners is quick and easy to cut and way, way stronger than pocket screws. If you use plywood you can glue the bottom into its rabbet which increases strength and rigidity tremendously.

If you choose to go with solid wood sides I'd haul out the dovetail jig and bang out quick and dirty dovetails. Even a badly fitting dovetail will be stronger than almost any other way of putting drawers together. With a jig simple, evenly spaced through dovetails take only marginally longer than screwing them together.

I don’t have a dovetail jig. I’ll look into doing lock rabbet joints.

[Jim Becker]

What do you consider good quality plywood? Is Baltic Birch plywood still considered a good product? I found posts here on Sawmill Creek going back a decade stating that BB plywood has gone to crap and not recommending it for drawer sides.

Your source can certainly make a difference. BB or similar, is desirable for this job because it looks better and typically has no voids. I generally use the same veneer plywood I use for the project I mentioned so it's not multi-ply like BB, but even shop grade is pretty good. Occasionally, there is a void, so I have to remake a component if it's not going to be hidden. I purchase sheet goods from a sheet goods supplier, not retail.

[Dave Sabo]

I would use a metal drawer box system like BLUM Tandembox or Legrabox with a 5/8" thick bottom.

Grass's Vionaro is also a good, quality choice.

[Rick Potter]

I picked up some 'Baltic Birch' somewhere that was made of fir plies. It is nowhere near as good as real Baltic Birch made of birch plies all the way through. I just had them load it in the truck without checking it.....my fault.

The real stuff weighs much more than the phony's, and the surface layer on the real stuff is MUCH thicker.

[Jamie Buxton]

Yes, side mount slides. I bought 1/2" drawer slide screws from Rockler. I purchased the slides months ago so no sending them back to switch to undermount.

It sounds like I might need to make the boxes from 3/4" plywood then due to the screws.

My hardwood dealer sells 18mm baltic birch plywood for a perfectly reasonable price -- $75 or so for a 4'x8' sheet. It is real baltic birch, so it is 100% birch -- strong, and with great screw-holding power.

[John Jardin]

1/2" thick bottoms and 3/4" sides are overkill!
There is cabinetry and there is fine wood working. Of coarse, your project is cabinetry.
If some day need to build drawers for a fine woodworking piece, I'd suggest you research Garrett Hack articles on solid wood drawer construction.
But for this project "cabinetry", BB with 1/2" sides and 1/4" bottoms with a 24" span is sufficient.

[Ron Selzer]

can grind the point off of the screws to shorten them
need to use a pilot hole,
or if painting the inside of the drawers grind the screw tips off inside the drawer before painting

[Jim Dwight]

It may be useful to remember that solid wood is stronger than plywood. Even softwood shelving wood is stronger than the best plywood of equal thickness. It is also lighter. It could be used for big drawers too. It will not be as flat, however, and if you need a deeper drawer than ~11 inches you would have to glue it up.

[Brian Elfert]

My plan now is to use Hard Maple or Poplar with dovetails. Hard to believe that Menards prices on Hard Maple are cheaper than a local lumberyard that specializes in hardwoods and softwoods.

[Jim Matthews]

Poplar is grown in North America, mills readily and takes paint well. It's my choice for drawer sides.

Hard to beat squared plywood for bottoms - it makes for Seasonally stable drawers.

3/4 is quite heavy, but it provides sufficient glue surface that only a few pins will be needed to hold.

If you're making more than 4 in the same size, plywood is a huge time saver.

If you're taking your time, traditional drawer building is like following a timeless recipe. With standard drawers, I use "slips" rather than mill the sides with a groove.

[Brian Elfert]

Poplar is grown in North America, mills readily and takes paint well. It's my choice for drawer sides.


Isn't Hard Maple also grown in North America? I bought a bunch of select pine at Menards recently and it is made in New Zealand! I know we have lots of Pine here in the USA.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, the maple sold in North America, unless something special, is generally grown here, too. Tulip Poplar is a huge lumber crop throughout its range, mostly in the eastern side of things, and is a staple of the furniture industry because of its reasonable cost and adequate strength for the job. Both poplar and maple would work fine for this project...the maple is going to be a little sturdier simply because it's harder and stiffer than the poplar. The actual difference for the size of the job will not be significant, IMHO.

[Brian Elfert]

I am leaning towards poplar because it is probably 25% less expensive than the hard maple. One thing is this RV sits in very hot humid conditions in the summer and very cold conditions in the winter. The RV is planned to move into a new garage next year, but no HVAC.

[Frank Drackman]

Don't rule out soft maple. Around me the price is similar to poplar. It is my go to wood for anything that will be painted or used as a secondary wood. I find it perfect for drawers.


I am leaning towards poplar because it is probably 25% less expensive than the hard maple. One thing is this RV sits in very hot humid conditions in the summer and very cold conditions in the winter. The RV is planned to move into a new garage next year, but no HVAC.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, and "soft maple" isn't..."soft"... :)

[Brian Elfert]

The interesting thing is the regular maple at Menards is more expensive than the hard maple they sell. One difference is the regular maple is S4S and the hard maple is S3S.

I know that a good hardwood store would probably beat a big box store on price, but the one lumberyard I went to on Saturday that has a shed full of hardwood is more expensive than Menards by a fair bit. The other place I know that sells hardwood is probably a 100 mile round trip.

[Andrew Seemann]

I am leaning towards poplar because it is probably 25% less expensive than the hard maple. One thing is this RV sits in very hot humid conditions in the summer and very cold conditions in the winter. The RV is planned to move into a new garage next year, but no HVAC.

Hi, in our climate I would definitely not use hard maple, it is too unstable for this application and going from hot & humid and to cold & dry as a bone will make that worse.. Plywood would be ideal.

I haven't had any problems with the quality of Baltic Birch that I have gotten here, either from Youngblood when they were around or now Industrial Lumber and Plywood. If you are a MN WWG member, can order from Industrial Lumber, but with the covid thing, they might not be doing will call, so you might be stuck at at $300 minimum order. Their website does list places that you can order through for Retail sales, like Siwek, Stewart, Forrest Products, etc. Menards likely could get Baltic Birch from somewhere as well. If you spec 5x5 you likely will get the real thing.

That said, the simplest thing would probably be to get some 3/4 hardwood plywood from Menards; make sure it is the good USA made stuff, not the imported one. I usually use Natural Birch or Maple for these kind off applications. It has a fir or poplar core and is more stable than Baltic Birch. You can dado in the bottom, and there is enough meat in the sides to screw into the front and back easily. Dovetails are beyond overkill for this application:) Glue and screws should work just fine. You can even wrap the edges in solid wood if you want to be fancy.

[Brian Elfert]

I haven't had any problems with the quality of Baltic Birch that I have gotten here, either from Youngblood when they were around or now Industrial Lumber and Plywood. If you are a MN WWG member, can order from Industrial Lumber, but with the covid thing, they might not be doing will call, so you might be stuck at at $300 minimum order. Their website does list places that you can order through for Retail sales, like Siwek, Stewart, Forrest Products, etc. Menards likely could get Baltic Birch from somewhere as well. If you spec 5x5 you likely will get the real thing.

That said, the simplest thing would probably be to get some 3/4 hardwood plywood from Menards; make sure it is the good USA made stuff, not the imported one. I usually use Natural Birch or Maple for these kind off applications. It has a fir or poplar core and is more stable than Baltic Birch. You can dado in the bottom, and there is enough meat in the sides to screw into the front and back easily. Dovetails are beyond overkill for this application:) Glue and screws should work just fine. You can even wrap the edges in solid wood if you want to be fancy.

I went to Siwek Lumber on Saturday. They have a pretty good selection of real 5x5 Baltic Birch plywood, but not cheap.

Right now what to do is a toss up. Half the people here say to use plywood and the other half say to use solid wood. Some of the first replies were not to use pocket screws as not very strong. My tool collection is pretty crazy ranging from pretty much junk to high end stuff. My table saw is a $99 Craftsman table saw I bought to do rough cutting of plywood outdoors some years ago. I don't have a dado blade. I also don't have a router unless you count the Makita cordless trim router I just bought to trim laminate. On the other hand I have a nice Makita track saw with two tracks and a Makita sliding miter saw.

I saw a video on Youtube with a guy who had a custom saw blade made to make plywood drawer joints. I can't find the video now to see if he ever got the blade into manufacturing. (Not in my Youtube history for some reason.)

[Jim Becker]

Brian, personally, I'd use the plywood for this kind of project for the "changing environment" reason that Andrew mentions. I've also found over time that paying the cost for "the good stuff" is worth it though reduced aggregation and better long-term results. The material cost in the long run is balanced by those things.

[Brian Elfert]

Brian, personally, I'd use the plywood for this kind of project for the "changing environment" reason that Andrew mentions. I've also found over time that paying the cost for "the good stuff" is worth it though reduced aggregation and better long-term results. The material cost in the long run is balanced by those things.

Plywood is actually a little less expensive than solid wood. I just don’t know what kind of joinery to use without a router table or a dado blade.

[Jamie Buxton]

Plywood is actually a little less expensive than solid wood. I just don’t know what kind of joinery to use without a router table or a dado blade.

There's a joint used for drawers sometimes called a lock rabbet, or sometimes a tongue and groove. In plywood, it works well. There's facegrain-to-facegrain glue surfaces. You cut the joint only with a table saw and a regular blade. No router or even dado blade.

[Jim Becker]

Plywood is actually a little less expensive than solid wood. I just don’t know what kind of joinery to use without a router table or a dado blade.

I'm going to horrify a few folks, but for large drawers like this, I use butt joints and screws with the bottom glued inside of the drawer for maximum strength. I personally use 1/2" material for this and trim head screws. The majority of screws are hidden by the slide hardware, the screws from the sides into the back are invisible, and the few in the sides to the front can be decorative if spaced evenly and driven flush or plugged. One could also use dowels in leu of the screws at the sides to front joint to pin things (like a through mortise that is small and round) to dress things up while using the screws elsewhere. Trust me, these things will not come apart with all that glue surface. And there's zero end grain showing other than at the tops. The tops of the sides can be rounded over for comfort with a small roundover bit and a router.

[Andrew Seemann]

I'm going to horrify a few folks, but for large drawers like this, I use butt joints and screws with the bottom glued inside of the drawer for maximum strength. I personally use 1/2" material for this and trim head screws. The majority of screws are hidden by the slide hardware, the screws from the sides into the back are invisible, and the few in the sides to the front can be decorative if spaced evenly and driven flush or plugged. One could also use dowels in leu of the screws at the sides to front joint to pin things (like a through mortise that is small and round) to dress things up while using the screws elsewhere. Trust me, these things will not come apart with all that glue surface. And there's zero end grain showing other than at the tops. The tops of the sides can be rounded over for comfort with a small roundover bit and a router.

I'll second this approach. Butt joints with glue and screws are far more durable than the fine furniture crowd would ever admit to. My mother has kitchen drawers from 50+ years ago that have the drawer sides rabbeted into the fronts with only white glue and 4 penny nails holding them together, and they have never failed. With plywood you get some side to side glue surface, and if you slightly angle the screws you get good purchase, even in end grain (pilot drill the screws in the plywood), similar to a pocket screw jointer. Alternate the screw angles so you get a "dovetail" effect with the mechanical fasteners.

[Brian Elfert]

I'm going to horrify a few folks, but for large drawers like this, I use butt joints and screws with the bottom glued inside of the drawer for maximum strength. I personally use 1/2" material for this and trim head screws. The majority

You don't worry about the drawer bottom expanding and contracting when glued? It varies here from quite dry in the winter to very humid in the summer. I saw people on Youtube fastening drawer bottoms and it just didn't seem quite right.

[Andrew Seemann]

If the front, back, and sides are plywood, they should be expanding and contracting at the same rate as the plywood bottom (if they are all the same kind of plywood), so it shouldn't be a problem, even in our climate. Solid wood would be a problem as you suspect.

If you are worried, you can make a dado on your table saw by doing it one saw kerf width at a time. That is what I do when I don't want to dig out the dado blade for a few dados. You can then either glue it in place in the dado or leave it loose. If it is loose you could still shoot some screws into it from the sides/front/back; there will be enough give even if it moves a little.

Baltic birch is strong enough that you could probably screw the whole thing together without glue and it would hold together fine. You do need to pilot drill it though.

[Jim Becker]

You don't worry about the drawer bottom expanding and contracting when glued? It varies here from quite dry in the winter to very humid in the summer. I saw people on Youtube fastening drawer bottoms and it just didn't seem quite right.
Nope. It's plywood just like the sides. I fit the bottoms as precisely as I can and once the glue dries, it's "one thing".