Drawer box wood thickness rough - what to buy

[Robert Trotter]

Buying rough lumber

I am going to make some drawers for a couple of projects and I have to buy some wood. To date I have used recycled wood so just make do with what I have. But I will be buying rough lumber for the coming projects. The cabinets will be one in white ash and the other in maple. I am thinking of white ash for the drawer boxes. And was thinking of 12mm or 1/2 inch thick. So do I buy 4/4 rough ash and plane it down to thickness (or close enough as it will be hand tool project) or do I buy 5/4'' or 8/4" stock and rip it and then plane it to probably a finished thickness of just under 1/2". I would have to rip the boards with a panel saw. and the boards would be from 100mm to 200mm widths. It will take some work but I am not in a hurry. the drawer sizes range from 600mm wide down to 200mm wide.

I wanted a light colored wood for the sides as the carcase would be ash. Any sugestions for alternative light woods would be welcome also. Other than poplar. Ash is cheaper. How about pacific coast maple? White? Stable? Will it yellow? PC Maple 23mm is reasonable price.


Just as an afterthought - what is white ash likr to work with hand tools only. Anything to watch out for?

[Bruno Frontera dela Cruz]

If you have access to a band saw I would buy 5/4 or 6/4 and resaw it to near 1/2"

[Zach Dillinger]

I'd probably buy 5/4 and resaw it, even if you are doing it by hand. Resawing by hand isn't hard, just take your time with a big, properly sharpened rip saw. No electrons need be sacrificed for this task. In my opinion, buying 4/4 and planing it down to 1/2 is wasteful, both of your time and your material. Why pay for 50% more wood than you will actually use?

Ash works fine with hand tools. It can be a little stringy, but you should be ok as long as you don't get too ambitious with your plane adjustment.

[David Weaver]

Soft maple is a nice white wood for drawers, and about like cherry to work.

I don't like the look of poplar unless it's uncommonly white, though I guess it doesn't matter much.

I would probably, if I were ripping/resawing the stock by hand with a panel saw, go with decent quality clear white pine and if you're concerned about wear, put a runner on it of something that's not quite as hard as ash (you'd rather the runner wear than the ash or maple frames).

You'll not want to resaw maple or ash by hand into a thickness good for a drawer, unless you're just looking to build skills and strength.

Though white pine seems lightweight, you'll have to decide whether or not you really need hardwood drawers. I think the answer is no most of the time, and some of the more modern furniture I've seen with thick hardwood drawer sides and thick backs, I wonder why someone would want such heavy stuff for furniture.

(I just noticed you're in japan, do you have any clear softwoods that can be had relatively cheaply? I think paulownia might be a little too light, but I'm not aware of what else is common in japan).

[Todd Burch]

I just buy 4/4 and plane to thickness. Doing this actually allows me to use a bit warped, crooked or twisted boards that I would normally not want to use for anything else.

Todd

[Russell Sansom]

Unless your drawers are gigantic, ripping sides out by hand shouldn't be a daunting chore. If you're not experienced at it, leave yourself some width to plane down. A rip saw won't always go exactly where you want it to. You probably need a touch more than 5/4 lumber if you expect to rip it into two 1/2" slabs and have enough width left on each half to get two finished parallel faces.

For its mechanical properties I prefer poplar sides, but it isn't always pretty. Mohogany is used a great deal in the furniture of our forefathers, but, of course, it's dark. Perhaps a light cherry would suit your purpose? It's a little easier to make a perfect looking dovetail with hardwood front and softer sides.

Fir works pretty well but it can dry out after 50 or 60 years. And it's not especially pleasant to saw and chop precisely for dovetails. Pine is enjoyable but basically takes chisels set up for paring. It crushes easily and working with it is an acquired taste. I keep a set of chisels just for dovetailing pine, but most people don't.

[Chris Griggs]

If you only have a couple drawers and they are not more than say 4" high resawing 5/4 by hand may be a good option. I did this a few times, but found it to be more time consuming than I wanted, so now when I need 1/2 stock I just buy 4/4 and have the lumber yard run it through the thickness planer for me. Yes, the waste bugs me, but I really don't enjoy resawing by hand. This is why my first major power tool purchase when I have a more permanent shop, will be a BIG A** band saw. Also keep in mind that resawing has the potential to lead to a lot of wood movement so after you get around to resawing it you'll want to let it acclimate for a couple weeks. This is another reason why I prefer just to have the lumber dealer mill it. I just bring it home and by the time I get around to working on it its already acclimated.

I agree with Dave, soft maple is a great wood for drawer sides. I'll often use poplar as a secondary wood as well but since drawer sides will be seen at times, I consider drawer boxes somewhere in between primary and secondary - the soft maple is nice option for these more visable secondary components. Its nice to work, stable, and a nice even light color. I generally keep a board of soft maple around that's already been thicknessed to 1/2" so I have it ready to go when I need it.

[Trevor Walsh]

What ever you decide to work with be sure that it's well acclimated, and stable. Milling several times isn't a bad idea, square, well fit drawers will be tough with warpy stock.

[Chris Griggs]

What ever you decide to work with be sure that it's well acclimated, and stable. Milling several times isn't a bad idea, square, well fit drawers will be tough with warpy stock.

Yes. If you take the route of having the lumber yard mill it to thickness for you, have them thickness it about 1/16" oversize so that you do the final milling yourself when you're ready to use it. My lumber yard doesn't exactly take their time to evenly move material and small bites when I get wood thicknessed. It a coarse quick operation that is usually done with one heavy pass through their thicknesser, so there is often tear out and the wood is especially likely to move when that much planed off from one side in one fell swoop. I'm always glad to have that extra 1/16 on there!

[Robert Trotter]

Thanks guys for all the advice.

I have mainly used recycled wood so when I have ripped it by hand I have had no problems with movement afterwards as it has been used before and has been sitting around so long. Buying rough lumber is a new experience for me and I have to buy it over the internet (can't go select myself) so I am probably fretting too much. Sorry about the outpour of doubts but I am trying to draw on your experience...

One of my concerns was that when I ripped any stock (bought rough lumber) it might warp or move and then by the time I got it straightened out and finished I wouldn't be left with enough thickness. As Russell says, I might need a little more than 5/4 for this. So I was thinking I would get the 8/4 stock and rip that and with the occasional wonky cut I'd still have about about 20mm (3/4) rough to plane down. Not too much planing.

But then I thought about the time ripping and possible problems due to stress in the wood and thought I might just go for some Pacific coast maple which I can get in 23mm rough thickness and plane this down.

My thinking is that the PC maple is cheaper and not quite as hard as ash so should not be as much work. But I have not used it before. Will it keep its colour over time (unfinished)?

EDIT: Soft maple is quite expensive here so out.

OR...
since the drawer components are not very long (400mm and 600mm longest) the movement in the wood may not be that much a problem??? Just get the 5/4, cut to just over length and rip each shorter piece, plane a bit off the other side to expose both side of the board to new wood and stack it for a while to acclimatize.


My largest drawer for this project is 600mm wide x 400mm deep and 170mm high. Not that big. What would the minimum side thickness be?

Then again, I could go for the 5/4, try my routine to see what the outcome was. And if I had to, maybe not cut right on center but just off to make sure I get the right final thickness then use the slightly thinner stock for the smaller drawers of the cabinet. These being in the 200mm wide x 70mm high and 300mm wide 85mm high

Doubts everywhere!

MORE QUESTIONS on preparing new lumber:
the wood will be kiln dried.

For another project - a bench seat- I will be getting some 8/4 white ash. I want to make a slat type seat so need to rip the boards into strips for finished widths of 50mm or 2". final length of about 1200mm cut from 10' planks. I also need to cut legs and other members.

1. How wide should I cut the rough widths?
2. Should I let the planks acclimatise as is, then cut?
OR
3. Should I, when the lumber arrives, cut the boards into rough sizes straight away and then stack and sticker (spelling?) the small rough sizes?

Thanks for your advice and help.

Rob

[Jim Neeley]

Should you decide to plane down 4/4 lumber, I recommend taking about the same amount off of each face. This should reduce movement because both sides of you planed board should have ~equal moisture content.