drawer stock dimensions

1/2” is good. I think that 3/4” would actually be too thick also making it too heavy… in my experience 1/2” is the sweet spot for that size drawers, robust but not overly heavy and bulky.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

that’s sort of what I was thinking.. .3/4 seemed overkill for such a small drawer.

what kind of joinery would you use? box joints work well with ply? or should I just stick with dado and rabbet joints?

-- Pabs

1/2 inch is plenty, but let my opine on another aspect of this.

When you say you have a sheet I assume this is plywood. Personally, I do not like plywood for drawers other than for the bottom. It’s hard to get good, strong joints with plywood.

Just my opinion.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

I like to stick to box joints esp with ply drawers as it create a lot of gluing surface and friction which makes the drawers very rigid and with a very strong joint- yes, even from plywood.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

how big do you make your joints for the box joint?

-- Pabs

If I’m lazy (mostly) and it’s not too big of drawers, I’ll use 1/8” blade = lots of fingers for larger drawers. or 1/4” (dado blade with just the 2 external blades)

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I always go with 1/2 inch for the sides, rear, and bottoms. I generally go 3/4 for the face. I’ll often go 3/4 for the rear, just for ease of dovetailing. I hate anything less than 1/2 inch on drawer bottoms, so I’ll usually raise-panel them to 1/2” for the dado. Good luck!

Hey Purp, is there any rule that says you can’t stack two regular (non-dado stack) blades with a shim in between?

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

I’ve made very durable drawers from baltic birch plywood-my entertainment center is going on 10+yrs of constant use. While I won’t argue with the opinions expressed here regarding joinery, have gotten good results with a more simple tongue and groove joint to fasten the drawer sides/fronts together. Plenty of gluing surface, and simple/fast to cut.

-- Gerry

The up side to making it from 3/4” is that if you happen to have a home invasion you can whip the drawers out and bludgeon the invaders to death with them and just slide them back in place afterward.

I’ve made plywood drawers before and chose not to use any fancy joinery preferring instead to use corner blocks, glue, and screws. The drawers were bullet proof. Not a particularly classy joinery method, but sturdy as hell and it was plywood, come on.

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.