Secondary Wood for drawers

[John Leslie]

Morning All,

I am working pair of cherry nightstands for my kids that involves constructing drawers, which I have never done. I would like to save a bit o cash and use secondary wood for the drawer construction and am looking for recommendations. Is Poplar the only obvious choice for the frames? How about the drawer bottoms? I would welcome your suggestions and advice regarding wood selection.

Thanks,
- John

[Jim DeLaney]

Poplar is a good choice, and is one of the most economical choices. You could also use Alder, or Baltic Birch plywood. You don't really want to use a softer wood where wear could be a problem.

Plywood is also a good choice for the drawer bottoms. I'd use Baltic Birch or a hardwood ply.

[glenn bradley]

I second Poplar. Looks good, finishes well if you choose to finish the no-show parts of the drawers and machines well. I also like 1/2" BB ply; stable, machines well and with a coat of shellac is actually nice to look at depending on the function.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi John,

I don't know where you are located, which sorta helps. In general, I use the least expensive hardwood for where I live, but have also used Pine, Douglas Fir, Tamarack, Cedar, etc., depending on the application.

These days for non-commissions or low ones, I tend to use Baltic Birch ply for the reasons Glenn states.

Take care, Mike

[Nancy Laird]

9-ply Baltic Birch 1/2" plywood for the sides, front, and back. For the bottoms use 1/4" plywood or double-sided melamine. (The melamine is easier to keep clean, particularly in a kitchen.) I presume t
hat you are putting a separate front on the drawer??? Do a slight round-over on the top edges and WAX with MinWax finishing wax rather than spraying. Drawer bottom should slip into a dado and not be glued--slide bottom into the dado before attaching the back. Drawers are held together with #0 biscuits and glue, no dados, just butt joints with biscuits.

The Baltic birth 9-ply is extremely stable and you won't have a worry down the road with warp, bow, or twist as you might with solid pieces.

An overlay drawer front of your cherry is held on with drawer-front screws (put the handles on the fronts before attaching the fronts to the drawer box).

Good luck.

Nancy

[John Leslie]

Nancy, yes I have a cherry front that will hide the wood used for the drawers. Thanks all for your feedback, it was very helpful.

- John

[Ken Salisbury]

Poplar has been the draw box material of choice for fine furniture makers for years. I have made all the drawers for my projects for over 50 years using poplar. It is also highly resistant to warping. I prefer birch ply for the bottoms.
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[Jim Becker]

I also use poplar most of the time...because I have a ton of it. As an alternative, soft maple and even pine gets used. Drawer bottoms these days are usually sheet goods, but if I wanted solid stock there, I'd use poplar or maple.

[Russ Massery]

I use poplar for the sides and birch ply for the bottoms.

[Rick de Roque]

Since I have alot of Ash I use Ash for the sides and bottoms. Looks good with the contrast with cherry or walnut. If I didn't have the Ash I would use poplar.

Rick

[chip hamblin]

I also am a fan of using ash for drawer sides. I believe that being a little harder than poplar it should wear well and the grain that shows when the drawer is opened is (imho) a better companion to either cherry or walnut. I tend to use Baltic Birch for drawer bottoms.

[Mark Rios]

I really like maple for the sides, fronts and backs and BB for the bottoms.

OTOH, as has been mentioned, BB works good for the whole drawer (other than the front finish piece) and can look quite nice when the tops are edged with a roundover.

[lou sansone]

ash has a similar look to chestnut which in my neck of the woods was a very popular secondary wood for 18th century pieces. I also like poplar and soft maple for drawer sides.

[Chris Jenkins]

Baltic Birch Ply machines like a dream, but can get pricey. A sheet out by me costs about $100 at the local hardwood dealer. Which isn't too bad if you use it correctly.

Their is a mill down a few miles from me that sells soft maple, that has worked out well for me in the past as well.

Chris

[Gary Keedwell]

I purchased a big bundle of poplar last year (good price) and have been using it for drawers and painted projects for LOML. Love the stuff. Been using it for 15 years. Not exclusively of course, but for interior parts that do not show. It is stable and machineable.

Gary K.

[John Leslie]

Thank you all for your input. I probably should have done this the first post, but attached is a photo of the work in progress.
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- John

[Nancy Laird]

Baltic Birch Ply machines like a dream, but can get pricey. A sheet out by me costs about $100 at the local hardwood dealer. Which isn't too bad if you use it correctly.

Their is a mill down a few miles from me that sells soft maple, that has worked out well for me in the past as well.

Chris

Chris, you are getting ripped off big-time if you are paying nearly $100 a sheet for 1/2" BB ply. We have been paying under $20.00 a 5x5' sheet at our local lumber dealer (the last time we bought that I can find a sales ticket for was in 9/04). I'm sure the price has gone up since then, but not even near $100 a sheet. I don't know where you are, but if there is a Lumber Products outlet near you, you should be able to get that BB ply at a MUCH better price. (You can put your location in your profile.) Lumber Products may be a western company, but you really should look around for a better price.

Nancy

[scott spencer]

In addition to poplar, birch, and alder, I used to see alot of oak used as drawer sides.

p.s. the preliminary pic looks great! Love the design.