Your preference, panel or solid sides?

[Julio Navarro]

I know its a matter of function or even taste, but which construction method do you prefer for building cabinets, chest of drawers and dressers, solid sides or paneled etc?

[Steve Clardy]

I prefer panel construction for my own
But being in business, it depends on the client, money, etc.

[tod evans]

julio, it depends on the style and function.......solid sides when propperly constructed are stronger than paneled sides and are easier to clean...02 tod

[Mike Goetzke]

I actually built a dresser based on a Wood magazine design that had both. Paneled sides over 3/4" ply.

Mike

[Scott Henderson]

I know its a matter of function or even taste, but which construction method do you prefer for building cabinets, chest of drawers and dressers, solid sides or paneled etc?

In this piece, I will use both. Panel on the interior pieces (5 unit etertainment center) where only the inside part shows, and solid for the two end pieces cause it looks kinda elegant if done right.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/bonely/IMG_3469.jpg

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

It depends.
That is the most articulate responce I can muster.

[Gary Keedwell]

I had panels on the sides of kitchen cabs and my peninsula and have received great comments.

Gary K.

[Charlie Plesums]

For building chests of drawers or dressers, if you use solid wood sides, remember that the front of the dresser will be a different distance from the back of the dresser, depending on the season. Therefore if you use wood rails for the drawers, the long grain basically doesn't expand and contract, so must somehow float where it is attached to the front and back. The last one I built this way I glued the dividers between the drawers at the front and back, but left the rails a generous 1/8 inch shorter, floating in the front and back dividers with loose (not glued) tenons.

Given the effort involved, I prefer floating panels or plywood. Most of the depth when you use a floating panel is the long grain of the rails, so the drawer rail can be firmly attached to the stiles at the front and back. Plywood is even easier because the expansion issues go away.