Making drawers from aromatic cedar

[Tim Malyszko]

Last night my wife and I were in Restoration Hardware and I was looking at their furniture. All the interior drawer parts including the bottom, were made of 1/2" solid aromatic cedar. I really like the way it looked and it smelled fantastic. The dovetail joinery looked cool also since the cedar was quite a contrast to the darker woods on the drawer fronts.

I've lined a few of my projects with aromatic cedar, but never thought of making the interior drawers out of it, but thought the idea was pretty cool. I have about 10 bf of aromatic cedar that has been sitting around and this would be a good use for it. Has anyone ever tried making drawers out of aromatic cedar? Do you see any issues doing so?

Thanks in advance.

[Ron Blaise]

Hi Tony:
The biggest problem I have with Cedar is that it is brittle. you have to be careful with glue-ups too because of the oily nature of the wood. Other than that it machines and finishes well. Pre drilling is recomended for holes close to an edge, stuff like that.
Regards,

[Marlin Williams]

Yea like Ron was saying about it being brittle. As long as they drawers will not hold a lot of weight then they should be ok. But also I have seen some clothes absorb the smell of ERC. Maybe you like that but some might not.

[Tim Malyszko]

The biggest problem I have with Cedar is that it is brittle. you have to be careful with glue-ups too because of the oily nature of the wood

Yea, the brittleness had me concerned also.

As long as they drawers will not hold a lot of weight then they should be ok. But also I have seen some clothes absorb the smell of ERC. Maybe you like that but some might not

If I end up building new bedroom furniture, I would put a few drawers in the bottom of an armoire to hold nothing but wool sweaters. Personally, I love the smell of the cedar, but I definately noticed the scent when I pulled my sweater from the cedar lined chest that it has been sitting in all summer.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Jim Heffner]

Why not just make the drawers in your usual and customary fashion and line the drawer with thin cedar strips? It would have the same effect as a drawer made of cedar and you would not have to worry about the other problems that cedar has.

[Tony De Masi]

I'm with Jim on this one. I've done this on a few drawer projects and also some custom storage areas below dormer windows.

Tony

[John Keeton]

Tim, the cedar will repel moths, but it will also "tint" light colored wools. I wouldn't suggest you put white woolens in cedar drawers. On the odor/aroma, that will lose some of its intensity over time.