I am working on my first carcass piece - a chest of drawers. I am now starting on the drawers. On labor day I did a lot of planning and my results were aggravating. I decided to take one drawer at a time. The Front is cherry (1 in thick). I just jointed it straight and square and fit it to the hole. No problem.
The sides and back are soft maple (3/4in thick). I jointed those 3 pieces and planned them down to 1/2in thick (my arms were tired). I know I planned them dead flat and parallel. A couple of hours after planning to thickness I was going to fit those 3 pieces and all 3 warped in just a couple of hours!
The maple was kiln dried, bought from a reputable supplier, rough cut months ago, stored in my shop on stickers on top of a table on edge. I did everything right, so I thought. What gives?
One possible problem - I removed most of the waste from one side of the board. To remove form both sides I would have to joint one side flat, flip, remove some material, join flat, flip and repeat over and over. That just seems stupid.
BIG QUESTION - These drawers are BIG (8 to 12in deep, 30+in across). Would it hurt anything to leave the sides and back 3/4in thick? I have read 4 or 5 old books recently that cover drawer making (Bernard Jones, Charles Hayward, Wearing, J&CM). Most recommend 3/8in thick stock for drawer sides/back. I guess that just keeps it light? Hayward said that anything thicker would be to gangly (or something to that effect). I don't mind heavy furniture. I figure it would be better to be heavy and stable than light and moving. What to do? I have no supply of 1/2 thick material.