Soliciting Advice About a Till For a Chest

[hankgillette]

I am working on a toy box for my grand-niece. I picked a plan for a blanket chest from Wood Magazine (March 2012), as the best combination of attractiveness and matching my skills. The carcass is 3/4" oak plywood with 1/2" and 1/4" solid oak trim.



Something that I would like to add that is not in the plan is a till. I am considering a till about half the length of the chest, using 1/2" oak 3-4" deep. Would 1/4" plywood be strong enough for the bottom?

I am also unsure about the size of the rails. I was thinking 3/4" x 1 1/2". I was also worried that glue might not be sufficient to secure the rails to the carcass, so I was planning to also add some wood screws, which would be countersunk and plugged for appearance.

Am I in the ballpark, or should I just go with the chest without a till?

[jasfrank]

That's a pretty piece. It depends on the load whether 1/4" ply would work on the bottom of a till. But I highly doubt you would overload it.

[Anji12305]

You're making this for a child?

1/4" won't support the weight of a kid, hiding inside.
If you do use finer plywood - place gussets underneath to span.

[Joel H.]

If the question is: Is 1/4" OK for the bottom of the till, then yes it should be OK. The bottom of the box should be 1/2" thick to hold all the contents.

Just a note: I wouldn't put handles into 1/4" panels on the side (as it looks to me).

Joel

[hankgillette]

Joel H. said:

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Just a note: I wouldn't put handles into 1/4" panels on the side (as it looks to me).

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Yeah, I wasn’t as clear as I should have been. The sides and bottom of the chest are 3/4" plywood. I was only asking about 1/4" plywood for the bottom of the till.

[Paul K. Murphy]

One has to interpret what you've written. If the construction is what I think it is, the frame and panel appearance is sham. If that is the case, and I think it is, glue will be more than enough to hold the wood pieces to the case. Screws will not be necessary.
If the 1/4" material is secure around its perimeter, it will be strongest. Drumskin-like, its strength will derive from construction, rather than its thickness alone.

[Halfathumb]

Okay. Back to school. What is a till in this application?

[mikefm101]

I've made a few tills like what you are talking about. One for a Roy Underhill inspired tool chest, another for a large drawer in my router table.

1/4' ply would be fine for the base, but one thought is at even half the size of the chest it seems like a large till. I might split the bottom in two, with a solid oak strip in the middle to reinforce the ply. If the ply is inset into grooves in the till, like a drawer is normally built, this strip can just be hidden underneath the ply. The strip can be half-lapped into the till sides and glued and/or screwed to the sides.

Alternatively, you could have a divider in the till the 1/4" ply is nailed to for the center reinforcement.

The rails at 3/4" x 1-1/2" should be plenty strong; I might even go to 3/4" by 1" wide. I am assuming the 3/4" side is facing up and is what the till would slide on. If the cabinet carcass is solid wood then let me suggest you include room for expansion/contraction via "sloppy screw holes" in the rail. I'd likely do it such that the middle screw fits normally, with the end ones having the wider holes.

Hopefully that all makes sense.

Mike

[Cooler]

At the risk of sounding uniformed, what's a "Till"?

[mikefm101]

Cooler said:

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At the risk of sounding uniformed, what's a "Till"?

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A till is a tray, sometimes sliding sometimes fixed, within a chest.

Photo below is a tool chest with two sliding tills.



Mike