Drawer Bottom on deep drawer

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I am building drawers with an inside dimension of roughly 15.5" wide by about 26" deep.

There are three different drawer heights; roughly 4", 7", and 10" tall.

My initial intent was to make all of the drawer bottoms from 1/2" plywood, but, for the 4" tall drawer, is 1/4" likely to be sufficiently thick?

[Ole Anderson]

Will a 1/4" difference in depth really make a difference in the usability of the drawer? I would opt to go with 1/2" bottoms on everything.

[Rich Engelhardt]

How thick is the 1/4" material?
The undersized,, *** 1/4" *** ,,crud I see on the shelf @ the borg is way too flimsy.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

How thick is the 1/4" material?
The undersized,, *** 1/4" *** ,,crud I see on the shelf @ the borg is way too flimsy.

Good point.... I was thinking about using the 1/4" material because I managed to get a bunch of 1/4" Oak faced stuff for about $0.50 a piece... and each piece is probably about 1/3 to 1/4th of a sheet. I was looking to use it up. It was from the borg, however, so it probably falls under the category that you mention. It is MDF core.

My other 1/2" plywood is either cherry or mahogany.... Well, I don't know how much mahogany I will have left over, I need to "use what I need" first.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Will a 1/4" difference in depth really make a difference in the usability of the drawer? I would opt to go with 1/2" bottoms on everything.

For sure it is not about the extra depth. To date I have only used 1/4" ply for bottoms on much smaller drawers. Worked great on 14" wide by 6" deep (no surprise).... My last set was probably closer to 9" wide by 12" deep. No problems in either case.

[Peter Quinn]

If the material were 1/4" Baltic birch, I say ok. But 1/4" veneer face MDf? I think you are pushing it at that span. Perhaps if you work in a support bar front to back from underneath to cut the span in half you could make it work.

[Jeff Duncan]

OK I have 2 thoughts on this, my first is in general I make all my drawer bottoms out of 3/8" material. Reason being is that is the largest groove I can make that will fit between the dovetails on my boxes, and it's strong enough for most normal sized drawers.

My second thought is more specific to your situation. If you already have a bunch of material your just looking to use up then I'd go ahead and use it. If it seems too flimsy you can do a couple things. One method is old school....you glue some thin hardwood strips across the bottom to re-enforce it....simple but works like a charm Second option would be to double up the 1/4" to get your 1/2" bottoms. Ideally if you had a vac press you could glue them together for the most rigid panel. However even without gluing them if you sandwhich two panels together you'll still increase the load capacity of your drawers.

good luck,
JeffD

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Sounds good.... So expect that the 1/4" I have is insufficient as is and so I either support (double, add something to strengthen), or I use the thicker. Thanks!

[Alden Miller]

I'd go with what Jeff suggests and glue the 1/4" sheets together (that's the cheapskate in me). I had a bunch of 1/2" ply that was too narrow to use for most things I wanted. I cut them to 32" lengths and glued them together to make very sturdy shelving stock...

-Alden

[Alan Bienlein]

1/4" is plenty strong for bottoms in a drawer that size. I have 1/4" for drawer bottoms in drawers that are at least twice that width and have had no problems. Unless you plan on stepping inside the drawer for some odd reason your 1/4" will be just fine.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

1/4" is plenty strong for bottoms in a drawer that size. I have 1/4" for drawer bottoms in drawers that are at least twice that width and have had no problems. Unless you plan on stepping inside the drawer for some odd reason your 1/4" will be just fine.

In other words, you are suggesting that it is at least worth testing.... Worth a test, should be easy to do.

[Darius Ferlas]

Unless you are planning to store tools, books and such in those drawers, 1/4" is more than enough.
I made a couple of drawers of somewhat similar size - 35" x 20" and 9" deep. I used 1/4" too.

[Jim Neeley]

Assuming you'll be insetting the bottom in a groove that's up from the bottom, install the 1/4" and try it. In the space between the bottom and the runners you can always glue in another piece. You don't need the bottom inset in the sides, just up near them to prevent sagging.

Another approach is to use 1/2" BB plywood and cut a rabbet around the perimeter down near 1/4". This lets you use a groove mount bit not lose too much depth while still leaving the extra 1/4" of drawer side stock to keep the bottom from breaking loose.

Jim

[Alan Bienlein]

In other words, you are suggesting that it is at least worth testing.... Worth a test, should be easy to do.

Yes that's what I'm saying. You'll be fine using it.

[Charles Wiggins]

I am building drawers with an inside dimension of roughly 15.5" wide by about 26" deep.

There are three different drawer heights; roughly 4", 7", and 10" tall.

My initial intent was to make all of the drawer bottoms from 1/2" plywood, but, for the 4" tall drawer, is 1/4" likely to be sufficiently thick?

Andrew,

For me it would all depend on what was going to be stored in the drawers. If these are general purpose drawers for that would hold clothes or pots and pans a decent 1/4" hardwood ply (not the BORG stuff) should be fine. If they are shop drawers I would do 1/2" ply on the 10" deep but probably stick with 1/4" luan on the 4" and 7" UNLESS I was going to store a lot of hardware, or my gold bar collection in them.