Solid Wood or Plywood for Drawers?

Solid wood.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Dennis, how did you come to that opinion?

It is all about looks. Plywood is a very practical material for drawers. In any kitchen where money is an issue I use plywood drawers. Same with furniture. They are just as strong as an Omnijig Dovetail Alder drawer, but the ladies don’t go googly eyed over plywood. Both materials work, both can do the job. The rest is all opinion. Then again with poor workmanship, or cheap materials, you might as well make them out of melamine.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Solid. I usually use hard maple for drawer sides and backs. Ply for the bottoms.

I have never used ply for dovetails, but I could see potential problems. Also, you would see the ply edge from the top of the drawer, unless you edge banded it.

Go with solid.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

I do both solid and baltic birch drawer boxes. It depends on the level of project.

I am currently building a paint-grade banquet and it will have two large drawers coming out the ends. These drawers will be made from baltic birch.

These same clients had me build an entry bench that was stain grade from tiger maple. That project called for solid maple drawers.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

So do those who use solid wood use quarter sawn? What cut is best for solid drawers?

I have only used plain or rift sawn and not had a problem.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Have any of you ever used Spanish Cedar for your drawers? If so, what are your opinions of it in this application?

I use both plywood and solid material for my drawers depending on the end use of the project, much as Todd is describing. I use plywood in those situations where the end result is not as demanding such as for shop furniture. For those situations that involve a more visible use I use solid material.

Another difference I have with the two is in the joinery. Plywood works better for me using dado/rabbet or simple butt joinery. I generally use drawer lock joints with solid material. The other drawback with plywood is the exposed plys. To get a better looking drawer these need to be edge banded.

For furniture I have only used cherry, maple and oak for drawer material. But Spanish cedar should work just fine.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Put me in the both camp.

For fine furniture, I prefer solid wood drawers, usually with a high ply count baltic birch bottom. I prefer clear pine or cedar for most solid drawers. This is in cases where there is not a false front, some sort of dovetail or finger joint holds it all together, and a metal slide is not involved. I’ve done two reproductions where I used solid wood for the drawer bottom, similar to a backwards raised panel, simply for accuracy reasons. I think good plywood out performs solid wood for drawer bottoms and dust baffles.

For cabinetry and built-ins, I like high ply count, void free baltic birch for the drawer sides, front and back, as well as the bottom, which attach to a solid face. The visible edges get edge banded, and these drawers are typically installed with metal slides. These drawers will often be assembled with pocket screws and glue, with the screws installed in the front and back panels. The front slots are hidden by the false front, and the rear are only visible when the drawer is removed. I can build lots of strong, square drawer boxes very quickly using this method with good plywood.

To sum it up for me, metal slides and simple joinery get plywood, fine joinery and fitted wood slides get solid stock. Bottoms are almost always good ply, unless historical accuracy is required. I never, ever, use metal slides on fine furniture.

No matter what material I use, I normally do not finish the insides of my drawers. They insides get either a sanding to 320, or hand planed.

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its all about the “budget”.

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

For fine furniture I always use oak. It will last forever.

For my cabinets in the shop I used ply.

Both will work.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

though i’m a plywood manufacturer,if not think about budget,i’ll prefer to solid wood

-- china

This is kind of interesting to see where people fall on the subject.

I would prefer solid wood but “building to budget” is a term that comes to mind.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I agree with Todd this is very interesting. I appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

CessnaPilotBarry, I’m glad you brought up finishing. Why no finish on the inside? Why finish them all?

What type of cedar do you use? I hear Spanish Cedar can leak sap for quite a while after cutting if not kiln dried properly. I am drawn to the benefits of cedar, though. I like the smell and stability factor it brings.

I don’t finish the inside because I don’t think it’s necessary. A very fine sanding or planing polishes the wood enough to let it develop a patina. The very smooth wood actually feels very nice to touch.

The downsides of finishing the inside of a drawer include:
- The inability to fine tune a solid drawer’s fit at a later date
- The possibility of a finish stink that never goes away, and possibly transfers to the contents
- The possibility that some finishes will stick to or react with the drawer’s contents.

I used to finish the insides of my drawers, ‘till I realized none of the antiiques I’ve seen or owned had finished drawers A piece of furniture that I built six years ago, and finished the drawers inside and out, still stinks when I open the drawers.

On the same token, I believe that staining the inside of a drawer is a no-no.

When I use cedar inside the drawers, I use either Western Red or Eastern White. If it’s properly dried for furniture, I have not had problems with sap. Cedar sold for decks, siding, etc… is not as dry as the stuff I buy from my hardwood dealer. I’m not familiar with Spanish Cedar. so I can’t comment on it.

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I prefer solid, either soft maple or yellow poplar especially on fine furniture. However plywood is permissable in cabinetry if you are using metal drawer sides.

I always use iron on veneer to hide the plys when using plywood. It makes it look real good and the ladies really like it better.

That’s my opinion.

Charlie M.

-- God makes the wood beautiful--I simply rearrange it to make it more useful, hopefully.

I use sheet goods for the bottoms only, as I am not fond of seeing the laminated edges on a drawer box, but the bottom line is time and money, especially if you are a business person. As the other gentlemen have noted it’s the client’s choice.

As to Spanish Cedar, which I routinely use in jewelry boxes in some form (love the smell), I have not been happy using it for a bottom – it’s rather soft and dings easily. I sometimes use resawn SC laminated to the inside of a lid (unfinished), or for ledger strips to hold up tills or trays, dividers etc. Usually what I have on hand has been dry for a long time so I haven’t had much sap bleed, and I usually burnish it with very fine grit sandpaper to close off the pores.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I have lined the bottoms of some drawers with countertop laminate. These drawers were intended to house shoes and required a more durable surface for the bottom. White laminate is bright and holds up well. The rest of the box I sprayed with pre-cat lacquer and it has held up well. These drawer boxes were made of baltic birch.

I have had a very positive response to the baltic birch drawers from my clients. They see them as a high quality plywood alternative to solid wood. Keep in mind I prefer wood appropriate to the project.

I have not had an issue with my finish continuing to smell after a long period of time due to continued gas-off. I know guys locally that have had an issue with this. It may be more or less an issue with specific products.

Maybe CessnaPilotBarry can expand on that a bit?

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I used prefinished drawer sides from a cabinet supplier. They come in 4-12” widths (2” increments) with the groove already cut. Dovetailed them on an omnijig no problems. Yes you do see the ply then, however as everyone else has said, it’s all about the budget. Prefinished 1/4” maple ply for the bottom.

I agree about the smell. My wife is very smell sensitive and a couple of the projects that sprayed poly or lacquer in them, she claims the smell lasts a month or more and sometimes she can smell it still years later if the shirt was on the bottom of the drawer for a while

I use pine or poplar for solid if I do on low cost projects. However I have recently come across a bundle of 5/8 mdf melamine with a gray overlay. Left over from job of someone that knows someone, type of thing. Solves the finishd vs no finish debate, without the cost. Then I use hardboard masonite for the bottoms

The item I was using as a stinky example is a sideboard I built that has maple drawer sides attached to a QSWO front. That finish is ML Campbell Ultrastar. Six years later, I can still distinctly smell it when I open the drawers. I also have an item finished with Waterlox that has a ratehr obvious smell. I’m pretty sure that I’m slightly desensitized to Ultrastar, as I use lots of it, so a “civilian” might really object. <g>

A Todd mentions the laminate for drawers that will see dirt, I should note that one of my usual drawer materials for closets is melamine.

In a “duh!” moment, I just realized that I could take advantage of the many colors and patterns of laminate, attached to BB ply, for some really cool drawers with a reasonable amount of work. Thanks for that tip!

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Glad to spark a moment of genius.
Between this thread and the other one on HVLP’s & lacquer I am picking up info from you.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com