Drawer frame flexing when pulling handle due to large 44" width -possible solutions?

[Tom Bender]

Back before plywood and modern glue there were reasons to make slip in bottoms. If you're doing that now you're stuck in an incredibly old rut.

[Lee Schierer]

12 mm frame, 5 mm front ( plan) not executed yet. Wait a second. Why does the drawer need two handles? I only bought for one.I fitted one test drawer and it is ultrasmooth. I disabled the soft close mechanism which should cut down on flex.

I would never make a drawer that wide with a 3/16" front panel, let alone one that is 40" wide. I made a lateral file with two drawers that were 36 inches wide, but like all my other drawers the sides were 1/2" poplar all the way around. When I was looking at drawer slides I noted that the specifications for the slides limited the maximum width of the drawers. You basically need more robust drawer slides for wider drawers that have a bit more side play tolerance than regular slides.
slides.jpg

[Dan Hahr]

1. Everything needs to be glued to everything else, unless you use solid wood.
2. Very flimsy design due to the small dimensions.
3. Use 5/8" minimum sides, back, and sub-front.
4. Add drawer face of 3/4" and screw on through sub front. A 5mm front is a waste of time.
5. 44" width is very wide for a drawer. If you are putting heavy stuff in it, you will need to be using at least 1/2" bottoms.

Unless your drawers are for light stuff like maps, they are way too underbuilt to last.

Dan

[James Jayko]

It's plywood. Just glue the bottom in.