Kitchen drawer height?

[Pirate]

I want to make new boxes for our kitchen cabinets.
The opening is roughly 4 1/2".
The box is 4" high.
Any problems, if I make new boxes, 3" high?
Another question.
Drawer bottoms.
Thickness for 12" and 19" wide top drawers, with 4 1/2" high opening in face frame?
Glue in plywood bottom?

[KC]

I want to make new boxes for our kitchen cabinets.
The opening is roughly 4 1/2".
The box is 4" high.
Any problems, if I make new boxes, 3" high?
Another question.
Drawer bottoms.
Thickness for 12" and 19" wide top drawers, with 4 1/2" high opening in face frame?
Glue in plywood bottom?

Why would  you want to make the drawers less deep?  
 

For the kind of stufff that we put in kitchen drawers, I wouldn't hesitate a minute to use 3/8" for the bottoms... and might even go 1/4".  I don't really see a reason to glue in the bottom, assuming the back piece is shorter so you can nail the bottom to it.

[Roly]

I want to make new boxes for our kitchen cabinets.
The opening is roughly 4 1/2".
The box is 4" high.
Any problems, if I make new boxes, 3" high?
Another question.
Drawer bottoms.
Thickness for 12" and 19" wide top drawers, with 4 1/2" high opening in face frame?
Glue in plywood bottom?

If you are using undermount slides you may want to make the sides higher as they take room under the drawer. Nothing wrong with gluing in bottoms if you want.  1/4"or 3/8" is more than enough for that size drawer.   Roly

[hbmcc]

Commercial (and custom) kitchen and bath cabinetry is the most wasteful of space of any furniture. You can make cabinets any size or height you want. If it's custom you can even throw away the standard 3" increments of box sizing units. The best thing I could do is dump that worthless cabinet door and convert all of the lower cab. to deep drawers. Lots of people bump the counter height to 37/38 inches. 

So, have fun.

[fredhargis]

I doubt the 3" sides would be a problem, you would still have the same clearance to put things in there, but ditto to what Roly said about undermount sides. As for the bottoms, unless they are very wide drawrs, 1/4" will be quite good....and gluing them in (I always do that) will make the drawer box quite a bit stronger.

[EricU]

only thing I worry about is stuff falling over the edge.  Otherwise, I think it's fine.

[jteneyck]

1/4" bottoms for all but pots and pans and pantry type cabinets. They get 1/2". And, yes, I glue them in, which makes the drawer very rigid.

As for height, I make them the max allowed by the slide I'm using.

John

[Roly]

I want to make new boxes for our kitchen cabinets.
The opening is roughly 4 1/2".
The box is 4" high.
Any problems, if I make new boxes, 3" high?
Another question.
Drawer bottoms.
Thickness for 12" and 19" wide top drawers, with 4 1/2" high opening in face frame?
Glue in plywood bottom?

What is the reason for making them 3" ?    I also agree with making cabinet space all drawers, a lot easier to gain access when you get older, like me.   Roly

[Edwin Hackleman]

I want to make new boxes for our kitchen cabinets.
The opening is roughly 4 1/2".
The box is 4" high.
Any problems, if I make new boxes, 3" high?
Another question.
Drawer bottoms.
Thickness for 12" and 19" wide top drawers, with 4 1/2" high opening in face frame?
Glue in plywood bottom?

3" is too shallow. Your wife will yell at you when a few utensils jam against the face frame when she trues to open the drawers. If your drawer frames are made right, a glued-up bottom means nothing and can cause trouble in the future. For example, what if the bottom has to be replaced for some reason? Try to remove it if glued in.

[Stwood_]

If using side mount slides, I always built the boxes 1" less height than the cabinet opening