Question about Bench Build

[David Huston]

I am planning on building a bench seat with a drawer for our entry way. The cabinet is 48 inches wide and will be supporting a 53 3/4 inch wide top. I am planning on laminating two pieces of 3/4 inch ply for the top then edge banding it with soft maple. My concern is supporting the top with such a wide cabinet. I have it drawn out with just stretchers front and back to support the top. Will probably pocket hole the front stretcher into the face frame and nail the back stretcher into the cabinet back. Any thoughts on whether this will be enough support? Also on the drawer, will be using 1/2 Baltic birch and 1/4 bottom. Will this be sufficient for the drawer? Using Blum undermount slide and will probably use thier lateral stabilizer to keep from racking. Drawer will be used for blankets and probably the occasional toy! Thanks for the help!!

Bench Builtin.jpg

[Kent A Bathurst]

What is the other dimension? 48" x ???"

2 pcs laminated 3/4" plywood is one very, very stable chunk of stuff.............not to mention heavy as all get-out.

[David Huston]

The depth is 20 inches.

[David Hawxhurst]

the bench will be fine with or without the stretchers to support the top/bench seat. as for the drawer that would be one really wide drawer so i would use 3/4" for the sides. you will need additional support for the drawer bottom that wide. i would consider making two drawers unless you really need it that wide. i use 1/4" for drawer bottoms that are ~24" x ~22" and have pretty heavy loads in them so my thinking is with proper support it will work. i know a lot of folks around here prefer to use 3/8" or 1/2" for drawer bottoms, but most of the drawers i build use 1/4" ply for the bottom. it works for me.

[David Huston]

Thanks for the help so far. Next question! I am building a five piece flat panel drawer front for this drawer. Would a 1/4 inch tongue on the stiles be sufficient or should I go to 3/8? Also with a plywood panel would you allow any room in the joint for it or cut it to fit tight and glue it? Thanks!

[Jamie Buxton]

Thanks for the help so far. Next question! I am building a five piece flat panel drawer front for this drawer. Would a 1/4 inch tongue on the stiles be sufficient or should I go to 3/8? Also with a plywood panel would you allow any room in the joint for it or cut it to fit tight and glue it? Thanks!

So let's be clear. You're making a frame-and-panel front, with a plywood panel, right? If so, yes, glue in the panel. It acts as a great big gusset for the corner joinery, and holds the frame together. The front is much much stronger if you glue in the panel.

I make that construction all on the table saw. You have the stiles running the full height. I'd run a single dado up the inside edge of the stile. It is whatever width the plywood panel wants, and both the panel and the tongues on the ends of the rails fit into it. Run the same dado on the inside edges of the rails. So you do one setup to run dados on all four frame members. Then you do another setup to mill the tongues on the ends of the rails. Then you glue it up. And yes, I'd make the dado 3/8" deep, not 1/4" -- more glue area.

[Jerry Miner]

Doubled-up 3/4 ply is overkill for the top of that box, IMHO. I have a similar box that I built out of pine about 20 years ago. It has a 3/4" pine top and is holding up quite well.

I completely agree with Jamie on your drawer front joinery: glue in the panel. Go 3/8" deep (or more) on the grooves.

[Lee Schierer]

Doubled-up 3/4 ply is overkill for the top of that box, IMHO. I have a similar box that I built out of pine about 20 years ago. It has a 3/4" pine top and is holding up quite well.

I agree with Jerry you will regret the doubled up ply lid. I made two benches like this.deacon1.jpgdeacon2.jpg The seat is 3/4" red oak and both benches are doing well after nearly 10 years. I would add a runner front to rear on each side under the lid to give it some support. I used a piano hinge full length across the back of the lid for support. The front of the lid overhangs the front edge about 3/4 inch so you can get a grip to open the lid.

[Jamie Buxton]

I agree with Jerry you will regret the doubled up ply lid. I made two benches like this. The seat is 3/4" red oak and both benches are doing well after nearly 10 years. I would add a runner front to rear on each side under the lid to give it some support. I used a piano hinge full length across the back of the lid for support. The front of the lid overhangs the front edge about 3/4 inch so you can get a grip to open the lid.

Why would the OP regret it? Remember that his design uses a drawer, so he's not lifting the top.

[David Huston]

The top is not a lid. Will eventually have a cushion made to go on top. Will probably go to just one piece for the top then. Always up for saving some wood!!

[Jamie Buxton]

The top is not a lid. Will eventually have a cushion made to go on top. Will probably go to just one piece for the top then. Always up for saving some wood!!

You've got folks here telling you different answers about how thick your seat should be. You don't know much about us, so you don't have a good way to know if we know what we're talking about. You can easily do an experiment for yourself. Cut a piece of 3/4" ply the size of the top. (There's no downside here; you're going to use at least one layer of ply.) Sit on it. Observe the deflection. Decide if that's okay for you. If it is too much, go for two layers.

[David Huston]

I ran the numbers on the Sagulator and came up with only 0.10 inches of deflection with a 300 pound total load. And that assumes it is just a fixed shelf. This will actually have support along all four sides. I don't really know why i though I need two pieces to begin with as most kitchen cabinets don't have a full plywood top and the support hundreds of pounds of counter tops with no problem. Thanks for all the help. Now if I can just find some time to build this!