Building a dresser - need design advise

[Alex Berkovsky]

I just started my second project - a dresser (http://store.woodstore.net/dresser.html) which a couple of SMC members have already built.

I am not particularly thrilled about the carcase design of the dresser; I think it's going to be way too heavy if I use 60"x17 3/8" ply for two drawer divider shelves (Parts G).

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i232/jarhead8286/Woodworking/th_Dressercarcase.jpg (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i232/jarhead8286/Woodworking/Dressercarcase.jpg)

Can someone please offer alternate methods for drawer divider frames considering that the sides are plywood.

[Lee Schierer]

I agree that your dresser is going to be exceptionally heavy if you build it the way it is drawn. I prefer to make frames inisde to be the structure. It isn't seen and it is lighter weight. I rip 1 X 5 poplar into strips about 2-1/8 wide and make rectangular frames with lap jointed corners. Any place there are vertical dividers, I add a cross piece in the frame with a dado/lap joint. The spaces in between on the horizontal frames are filled with 1/4" luan plywood set into grooves, to keep lost articles of clothing from dropping down through the carcase. The vertical dividers I leave open. The frame is strong enough to prevent wracking of the entire dresser once it is all assembled. I attach the frames to each other and to the side panels with pocket hole screws instead of biscuits. (You're goning to need several sets of hands and lost of clamps to glue that assembly up) If you make the frames all square as they are glued up, then the sides are square when they get attached and this makes installing drawers easier when everything is square.

I also use metal drawer slides because they work well and last a very long time without headaches like seasonal sticking and powdered wood/finish.

Lee

[Ron Fritz]

Try this link. It may not be the right size, but you can easily change the dimensions. http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_improvement/furniture/1273366.html

[Charlie Plesums]

The popular mechanics approach is what I was going to recommend, but with two changes...

Make the runners (H) slightly thicker than the front rails (F) in the plan, so that the finish on the front rails is not worn away by the drawer movement. 1/16 inch (1/32 top, 1/32 bottom) works fine.

In your plan, make the center divider (Center piece H, plus I and J) a single vertical piece of plywood, so that it can carry the load of the drawers on either side of it.