Thickness of plywood panels

[Carl Eyman]

I am making 2 end tables of cherry. They each will contain a drawer and a cabinet below for magazines. I am using frame and panel construction. Yesterday on a TOH rerun Norm was making panels somewhat similar for a This O H project. He chose 1/2" plywood and put a 1/4" tenon all the way around. He said his panels would have been too flimsy otherwise.

Now I can't follow his lead, exactly, because I don't know where to get 1/2" cherry plywood, I have already bought the 1/4" and am spending more on this project than it may be worth. Should think about stiffening them up a bit? The largest panel is about 17" square. I could add an extra rail or stile to shrink it, or I could glue on a fake rail or stile. If I did that on the interior of the cabinet, It'd never bee seen

[Jim Becker]

If you can't get 1/2" versions of the ply you want, but have 1/4" thickness available...laminate it together.

[Matt Meiser]

I used frame and 1/4" ply panel construction on doors for my entertainment center almost 5 years and they are holding up great to every day use. I used them on my soon to be completed bathroom cabinets too. Even a 1/4" ply panel over 17" is going to be pretty stiff if the ply is decent quality (and I'm assuming that cherry is pretty much only available in good quality.)

[John Schreiber]

My instinct (worth what I paid for it) says 1/4 inch panels are sufficient for an end table. Unless perhaps it's for a child's room where it's likely to get bashed
from the side.

The panels are mostly to keep the piece from racking and from that point of view, yours are 17" thick.