What to Use to Make the Bottom of a Drawer
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Drawer bottom material?
I'm making new doors and drawers for our kitchen. I'm at the stage where I have to get drawer bottoms made, and I'm trying to decide if I want to wimp out and buy Baltic birch plywood or use solid wood.
I've got nine drawers to make. Everything else is solid in these drawers and doors.
What do you guys use? Most of you go with �" bottoms?
Cameron Reddy
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Why not meet in the middle with 1/2" hardwood ply. Just match the veneer species with what you are using. It would give you the matching asthetic you want with cost and time savings.
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In most situations i use 1/4" birch, if the drawer is more than 18" wide I then use 1/2" Baltic birch. if you do choose to go with solid wood bottoms let me know how that goes, I always assumed solid wood would expand and contract too much, I like my dados pretty tight, Good luck either way
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Ramsey,
I'll orient the grain running from side to side so that the movement will be front to back. Then I'll extend the drawer bottom out the back a little and secure it with a screw in a slot that will let the wood move.
Last edited by Cameron Reddy; 04-26-2010 at 12:43 AM.
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Plywood would be a better choice than solid wood, it is more stable. The more plys the better
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Van, what source do you use for your ply?
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For easily cleaned kitchen/bath drawer bottoms, I have used 1/8" hardboard with another thickness of 1/8" white (or almond) epoxy-covered, tempered hardboard, meant for shower surrounds. It's cheap, cleans up easily and does not stain; great to preclude ugly drawer bottoms after a few years of service. Wood or plywood bottoms must be finished to prevent eventual ruination, which adds an extra step.
On a few jobs I've gone really fancy with drawer bottoms and used high pressure laminate over 1/4" ply to compliment the countertops.
Last edited by Chip Lindley; 04-26-2010 at 4:38 AM.
[/SIGPIC]Necessisity is the Mother of Invention, But If it Ain't Broke don't Fix It !!
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I've been using 5mm Luan. I daddo 3/8 up from the bottom so if a drawer gets very wide, I resaw a piece of pine to 3/8 thick and glue it to the luan, front to back on the bottom side as a stiffener.
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The only reason our ancestors used solid wood for drawer bottoms was that they didn't have plywood or MDF. Many people line their kitchen drawer bottoms so really nice plywood (special hardwood) may be a waste. I'd use birch plywood. I've also used melamine faced MDF with very good success.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
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I do 1/2" ply on all my drawers no matter what size. I do not care about the loss of 1/4" height in smaller drawers vs having a common setup for all - one dado width, common offset for 1st dovetail, etc. I have an HVLP sprayer and shot 2-3 coats of clear water poly on all my drawer boxes no matter how the drawer front is finished so cleanup is not an issue.
I think the biggest advantage of a ply bottom is that you can glue it in place so you have a very rigid drawer box that much stronger as a unit and resists racking in use.
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I use 1/4" Baltic Birch, with the grain orientated front to back.
Solid would be a giant waste of material and time for kitchen cabinets. For some special piece of furniture, I'd entertain the idea, but only if I wanted a tounge and groove, or beads or something.
1/2" anything can be difficult to hide if you are building dovetail drawers. Unless you're doing something other than half blind-1/2", there just isn't enough room.
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Originally Posted by Karl Brogger
I use 1/4" Baltic Birch, with the grain orientated front to back.
Side note. I use 1/4 on all my drawers. If the drawer is oversize I glue a 1/2" x 1" stiffeners in the bottom.
Last edited by Glen Butler; 04-26-2010 at 4:59 PM.
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Just for looks. My kitchen cabinets at home, (which I didn't do), has the grain running side to side, looks odd to me, especially after doing a few thousand of them in the shop going front to back.
If you're cutting out of a 4'x8' sheat then you will also waste less if the grain is going side to side. I buy 1/4" in 5'x5' so, no difference in usage.
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Thats funny you didn't do your own kitchen. Was it before you started cabinetry?
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Originally Posted by Glen Butler
Thats funny you didn't do your own kitchen. Was it before you started cabinetry?
I have drawn up plans though......
What to Use to Make the Bottom of a Drawer
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