Wardrobe drawers

[stuartpaul]

It's design time for her ladyship again!

New wardrobes will be built in MR MDF and painted. We both want significant drawer space so will be looking to have these built into the bottom portion. I was initially going to continue with MDF and whilst I've had success in the past wonder if birch ply would provide longer lasting, more robust drawers?

They'll be full extension with planted fronts almost 1100mm wide and up to 250mm deep. Thoughts turn to 18mm ply and whilst I know it's not cheap I'd rather spend the money up front on decent materials than repair later!

Thoughts?

 

[Richard S]

Birch ply is definitely the way to go over mdf for drawer boxes but 18mm is overkill, 12mm will be more than adequate and look much more elegant. 18mm would also add significantly to the weight meaning you might need to look at the capacity of your intended runners, an 1100 wide drawer box is going to be a hefty piece even before you start to fill it.

 

[ColeyS1]

Sounds like we're making something very similar.

My reason for using birch ply was I liked the look of it and intend to leave them just clear varnished. If you plan on painting them I see no reason why mdf wouldn't do the job

 

[Sgian Dubh]

That's quite a shallow drawer, especially with it being so wide. Even on drawer slides there could be some racking issues, so you might consider breaking the drawer width into about half, i.e., two drawers each about 520 mm wide, this accounting for some sort of 18 mm thick central drawer divider upon which to mount the slides. I'm not sure where you've managed to source your full extension slides, but it's hard to find many shorter than 250 mm which, with an inset planted front 18 mm thick, will need a cabinet depth of +268 mm, e.g., Häfele's catalogue number 432.44.925 which is 250 mm long. If the front is an overlay, you'll still need a cabinet depth of +250 mm because you always need a bit more cabinet depth than slide length, usually at least 4 - 6 mm. Slainte.

 

[petermillard]

That's quite a shallow drawer....

I think the OP might mean drawers 250mm high, rather than deep (front to back). Agree that 250mm full extension runners are hard to come across.

Pete

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I think the OP might mean drawers 250mm high, rather than deep (front to back).

He might Pete. I hadn't thought of that with the standard nomenclature for drawers being width, depth and height. Slainte.

 

[doctor Bob]

I think the OP might mean drawers 250mm high, rather than deep (front to back).

He might Pete. I hadn't thought of that with the standard nomenclature for drawers being width, depth and height. Slainte.

Yes but common sense may suggest a wardrobe up to 250mm deep would be useless.......... :lol:

 

[stuartpaul]

I think the OP might mean drawers 250mm high, rather than deep (front to back).

He might Pete. I hadn't thought of that with the standard nomenclature for drawers being width, depth and height. Slainte.

Oooops! Sorry.

I did indeed mean 250mm high. They will be in the region of 550mm deep - final dimensions yet to be agreed.

Still be looking for some full width (approx 1050mm) drawers within the design.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Yes but common sense may suggest a wardrobe up to 250mm deep would be useless..........

Also true. But I've fitted odd sized drawers into deeper cabinets, e.g., for the sake of concealment of what's really there in free standing cabinets, and to accommodate awkward architectural features in built-ins, etc. Slainte.

 

[ColeyS1]

I started my wardrobes over a year ago and couldn't figure out why I didn't finish them. Measuring up the drawers and all became clear. Depth of drawer 490, length of runners......500 :lol:

 

[doctor Bob]

I started my wardrobes over a year ago and couldn't figure out why I didn't finish them. Measuring up the drawers and all became clear. Depth of drawer 490, length of runners......500 :lol:

If they are undermounted then your dimensions are correct, the runners have a 10mm projection past the drawer.

 

[ColeyS1]

These bad boys need the back cutting out to support the weight of the drawers ! :lol:

 

[Chrispy]

The under mount /concealed drawer runners that I use and I'm sure they are all the same are designed to take a maximum of 16mm drawer side, so I usually thickness drawer sides at 15mm and dovetail them. So you could use either 15mm birch ply or 16mm veneered MDF, ash or beech can be quite nice, and is easy to work with.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

The under mount /concealed drawer runners that I use and I'm sure they are all the same are designed to take a maximum of 16mm drawer side, so I usually thickness drawer sides at 15mm and dovetail them. So you could use either 15mm birch ply or 16mm veneered MDF, ash or beech can be quite nice, and is easy to work with.

You can make thinner drawer sides than this, say 12 mm birch ply, and to compensate for the lack of thickness you make up a 3-4 mm shim that fits under the drawer bottom between the inside face of the drawer side and the outside face of the metal inverted U shaped slide extrusion: I usually make these shims about 50 mm long X about 12 mm wide and rub joint one in place somewhere near the back of the drawer side, i.e., two per drawer. The shim isn't need at the front because the locking devices position the slide in the right place, but you do need to inset the front locking devices by the shim thickness - a spare bit of shimming gives the appropriate spacing as you position and screw the locking device, but the shim doesn't need gluing in. Using these techniques I've made solid wood drawer sides as thin as 8-10 mm to go with undermount slides. Slainte.

 

[MatthewRedStars]

I started my wardrobes over a year ago and couldn't figure out why I didn't finish them. Measuring up the drawers and all became clear. Depth of drawer 490, length of runners......500 :lol:

If they are undermounted then your dimensions are correct, the runners have a 10mm projection past the drawer.

That works for most (Blum etc.) but one brand requires a 500 box for a 500 runner... Grass? Hettich? Can't recall. But it's always wise to check the catalogue before cutting anything.

 

[doctor Bob]

I started my wardrobes over a year ago and couldn't figure out why I didn't finish them. Measuring up the drawers and all became clear. Depth of drawer 490, length of runners......500 :lol:

If they are undermounted then your dimensions are correct, the runners have a 10mm projection past the drawer.

That works for most (Blum etc.) but one brand requires a 500 box for a 500 runner... Grass? Hettich? Can't recall. But it's always wise to check the catalogue before cutting anything.

Grass are 490, I use hettich as well but can't remember the dimensions

 

[sammy.se]

Sounds like we're making something very similar.

My reason for using birch ply was I liked the look of it and intend to leave them just clear varnished. If you plan on painting them I see no reason why mdf wouldn't do the job

Hi Coley, what type of joint is that and how did you do it? Looks really nice!

 

[Mr T]

Sgian Dubh said

You can make thinner drawer sides than this, say 12 mm birch ply, and to compensate for the lack of thickness you make up a 3-4 mm shim that fits under the drawer bottom between the inside face of the drawer side and the outside face of the metal inverted U shaped slide extrusion: I usually make these shims about 50 mm long X about 12 mm wide and rub joint one in place somewhere near the back of the drawer side, i.e., two per drawer. The shim isn't need at the front because the locking devices position the slide in the right place, but you do need to inset the front locking devices by the shim thickness - a spare bit of shimming gives the appropriate spacing as you position and screw the locking device, but the shim doesn't need gluing in. Using these techniques I've made solid wood drawer sides as thin as 8-10 mm to go with undermount slides. Slainte.

Why bother with shims? Why not just make the drawers narrower so the inner face of the side aligns with the slide? I use about 10mm sides with an 11mm gap between the side and the carcase giving the 21mm between the side inner face and the carcase that's usually specified.

Chris

 

[Jacob]

Have a look at some old drawers/wardrobes.
You will find that in general they use much less material than any of the above suggestions, don't have bought runners (saves a lot of money, and space) are easier and cheaper to make and often work perfectly well for hundreds of years.
Some of the suggestions above are seriously over the top - 18mm ply - what are you going to keep in these drawers, bombs, motor-bike engine bits or something? Really heavy underwear?

 

[Mr T]

Jacob said,

Some of the suggestions above are seriously over the top - 18mm ply - what are you going to keep in these drawers, bombs, motor-bike engine bits or something? Really heavy underwear?

I think 18mm was the suggestion of the OP. Everyone commenting has agreed with Jacob that 18mm is a bit OTT 10 or 12 mm would be fine.

Chris