Timber for drawer sides and backs?

[Forbes]

Hi, I am about to embark on a large chest of drawers (9 drawers). All the wood on show, including the drawer fronts, will be American White Oak, to match other furniture in the bedroom. The bottoms of the drawers will be 6mm birch ply, but I was wondering if I could make the sides and backs of the drawers out of some other hardwood which would be cheaper than the American White Oak but still nice to work, and to live with. Some years ago I used some stuff for this purpose from Travis Perkins which was reddish and light but a bit coarse and splintery - it may have been Meranti - but I didn't really like it too much but it was all they could offer. I would welcome any suggestions for a suitable timber. I could, of course, just order some extra AWO. Whatever it is, I think I may ask the timber yard to resaw it for me to about 14 or 15mm , to finish on about 10mm, as my attempts at resawing have been a bit hit and miss.
Thanks for reading, Forbes

 

[markymark12]

I would stick with the oak myself.

For all the work you are going to put into it is it really worth the spoiling of it for the few extra pounds??

i would be very careful of resawing down from thicker stock, of what is going to be kilned dried, the in balance of the moisture contend from face to centre will most likely cause cupping which may be difficult to resolve.

Better to take from 1" stock and reduce by flipping through the planer so equal removal from both faces.

 

[9fingers]

10mm seems a bit narrow but then again you don't say how wide the drawers are.
You will almost certainly need to use drawers slips to secure the base.

see this recent thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/post ... tml#464874.

As for your question.... Maybe English ash which is reasonably priced and quite well behaved.

good luck

Bob

 

[OPJ]

I'd also be inclined to stick with oak. It's durable and very hard wearing, which is an essential requirement for traditional drawer construction.

 

[mr grimsdale]

I wouldn't bother with AWO it's horrible stuff. If oak is what you want why not use British. and keep the AWO for the backs and sides?
Better - redwood will do for back and sides - given normal use it'll be good for 100 years or so.

 

[Chris Knight]

QS oak is the ideal for drawer sides and as has been said - given the work you are putting into it why stint on the materials unless it's absolutely essential.

IMHO, many people make drawer sides far too thick and 10 mm is plenty for almost any piece of furniture - I tend to shoot for 8mm myself. If the drawers are wide, you will likely need muntins anyway.

If you use a cheap secondary wood then ash or poplar are among the least expensive hardwoods.

One of the reasons to use a hard hardwood is to resist wear. Wear can be overcome in other ways such as by the use of slips or the NK design which is essentially a sliding tray. The tray has all of the drawer's sliding surfaces which you fettle to fit the cabinet perfectly. After you've got a good fit, you make a drawer box and fix it to the tray. The drawer box itself does not touch the cabinet.

 

[mr grimsdale]

QS oak is the ideal for drawer sides and as has been said - given the work you are putting into it why stint on the materials unless it's absolutely essential.

That'd be a very high spec for drawers with AWO fronts!

...
One of the reasons to use a hard hardwood is to resist wear. Wear can be overcome in other ways such as by the use of slips ....

With trad design wear isn't much of a problem with drawers unless exceptional use is entailed. Slips are good - which can be hardwood if wear is really a problem.

 

[woodbloke]

I wouldn't bother with AWO it's horrible stuff. If oak is what you want why not use British

Again, I find myself agreeing with Mr Grim here...oak is the best choice for drawer sides, and preferably English quarter sawn, if you can find some - Rob

 

[Forbes]

Many thanks to all of you who responded to my request for advice. I clearly should have given a bit more info about my project. First, it is not intended to be a masterpiece but a serviceable and useful piece of bedroom furniture that will look decent, and also will match a built-in chest of drawers that I made some years ago, a run of built-in wardrobes and a bedside cabinet, not to mention a bedstead that was actually bought from a shop. That means American White Oak. And the piece should not cost an arm and a leg, or be too tricky to make. ( I am a very slow worker.) The top and sides will be AWO veneered MDF.

I plan to use metal drawer slides, as I did before. With simple bottom fixing slides the ply drawer bottoms sit on the flange of the slides and the drawer box (front, back and sides) sits on the bottom, pinned and glued. That means that the weight of the contents of the drawer is transmitted through the bottom to the slides and hence to the carcase. There are no runners or kickers and no dust from wood rubbing on wood, hence no need for dust panels. And no need to even think about using slips.

Having said all that, I now question my own assumption that I wanted to use hardwood for the sides. Thanks mr grim for suggesting redwood, I'll think about that, although I don't understand why you hate AWO so much.

The larger width drawers will be 600mm by 500 deep: I don't think that I will need muntins with 6mm birch ply.

Thanks to markymark for the warning about resawing. Losing well over half the timber in the planer does make me wince, though, but not so much as throwing out two warped pieces. Perhaps that issue wouldn't apply so much to redwood.

As regards the thickness of the drawer sides, 10mm looks about right to me, and is the same as has been used in the older pieces of furniture in our house. With the way I will be using bottom fixed slides, there is no serious loading on the sides, unless someone sees how many sweaters can be stuffed into one drawer.

Thanks to waterhead37 for the reference to the NK design. After googling NK and reading lots of stuff I think I get the idea. I might make use of it, adapted to metal slides.

Thanks again, your contributions much appreciated, Forbes

 

[mr grimsdale]

...
I plan to use metal drawer slides, as I did before. ....

In which case any old sh^te will do for drawer sides, even mdf :roll: as long as it will hold a screw.
Go for the cheapest.

 

[Mark.R]

I am using Tulip wood, and cutting it down from 30 to 15 mm to make the drawer sides and backs with 10 mm veneered mdf for the drawer bottoms. I read that it may pay to reduce the timber thickness by takingequal off both sides to prevent cupping if it was taken all off one side.

Please let me know your views regarding tulip wood for drawers. Is`nt it also clalled Poplar?

 

[eoinsgaff]

Another option for re-sawing is to get a thicker piece of lumber and divide it three ways rather than two. That helps to reduce potential movement. Air dried wood is also a better option than Kiln Dried.

Eoin

 

[promhandicam]

...
I plan to use metal drawer slides, as I did before. ....

In which case any old sh^te will do for drawer sides, even mdf :roll: as long as it will hold a screw.
Go for the cheapest.

I'm just waiting for woodbloke to have to agree with you twice in the same post which will be some sort of record :shock: :lol: :lol:

 

[Forbes]

Mark.R, Yes, I understand that Tulipwood is the same thing as Poplar. I just spoke to a man at Sykes Timber in Atherstone, who suggested that timber for drawer sides, as did waterhead37. He is having a think about the resawing question and will get back to me. As regards your veneered MDF drawer bottoms, if you have wide drawers I would be a bit concerned about them sagging over the course of time, but should be fine if they are small and lightly loaded.
Forbes

 

[Mark.R]

The sagging is something I havent considered until now! Perhaps I will incorporate something to go across the underside to prevent this.

Thanks again.

Mark.r

 

[simuk]

I wouldn't bother with AWO it's horrible stuff. If oak is what you want why not use British. and keep the AWO for the backs and sides?
Better - redwood will do for back and sides - given normal use it'll be good for 100 years or so.

Why is AWO horrible stuff & what make British better?

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Air dried wood is also a better option than Kiln Dried. Eoin

Eoin, Why? Please expand on that and explain your reasoning. Slainte.

 

[OPJ]

Why is AWO horrible stuff & what make British better?

Well, I don't know about Jacob but I prefer the grain in English oak; it's got much more character and that can make a big difference in your work. European oak though, is quite bland and almost straight-grained at times, which makes it better suited to joinery work. I don't think American oak has as much character and, certainly, red oak isn't as durable as others.

 

[woodbloke]

...
I plan to use metal drawer slides, as I did before. ....

In which case any old sh^te will do for drawer sides, even mdf :roll: as long as it will hold a screw.
Go for the cheapest.

I'm just waiting for woodbloke to have to agree with you twice in the same post which will be some sort of record :shock: :lol: :lol:

...ain't gona happen, there are limits :lol: - Rob

 

[maltrout512]

Air dried wood is also a better option than Kiln Dried.

eoinsgaff I too would like to know.