Drawer Secondary Wood

[Bozz]

What wood do you folks use for sides/backs of your drawers? I was planning on 1/2” pine from the bog box store but I’m concerned about warping. I setting up my DT jig and don’t expect that BB ply would be a good option. Ply for the bottom, of course.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[EdL]

5/8 soft maple....

Inexpensive & stable.

Ed

[Phil S.]

I use poplar - cheap, no resin, easy to work, few knots.  I haven't had any trouble with it warping.  I usually finish it with shellac to seal it once the drawer is together.

[Tapper]

Going to be making quite a few shop drawers soon. Gong to repurpose some straight grained pine I have collected over time. It's all 3/4 and pretty flat fortunately. I'll joint one side and then plane them all to 5/8". Were I going to purchase material, I'd probably take a hard look at maple. Plywood for the sides and backs just never appealed to me - YMMV.

Doug

[Stwood_]

Ply, #2 oak, or poplar

[ianab]

Good quality and properly dry pine is actually more stable than most hardwoods (it shrinks less with moisture changes).

Problem is finding good pine, some of the fast grown plantation stuff is a bit squirrely, and it's not usually dried down to furniture moisture levels. 

Pine can be maybe 30 different species of tree, with varying wood characteristics. I've have no worries about using clear grain NZ Radiata for that sort of use, but plantation Loblolly? That's what gives pine a bad rap.

[Bill Wilson]

What wood do you folks use for sides/backs of your drawers?  I was planning on 1/2” pine from the bog box store but I’m concerned about warping.  I setting up my DT jig and don’t expect that BB ply would be a good option.  Ply for the bottom, of course.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Don't know what other sources you have available to you for wood, but around here I can buy rough sawn poplar or soft maple for less than what Lowes wants for their S4S clear pine craft wood.  Now I have to resaw and plane it to make drawer sides, but I don't do it all that often, so it isn't a problem.

[FrankAtl]

Maple or Poplar for me.

[Cooler]

I use poplar but a few years back Home Depot had a special on "white wood" in 4 foot lengths.  No knots, straight and clean.  I used that for the pullouts on my kitchen cabinets.  All blind dadoes.  All still solid after about 14 or 15 years.  I have no idea what "white wood" is exactly.  It cut like pine.  But clear with not even small knots.

[jteneyck]

I like 1/2" BB plywood for any modern design piece, soft or hard maple for traditional work.  I've never tried cutting DT's in BB plywood but suspect it will chip out at the corners.  I use finger joints for BB ply drawers.  


I've just never been a fan of poplar or pine for drawers even though they were and are still commonly used.  Both are easy to work and perfectly good for that application; they just don't have the look and feel that appeals to me.  


John