Quarter, quarter, quarter drawers?

[AHill]

Most of my shop drawers were constructed with that method. I have drawers which have 100 lbs of stuff in them and no issues at all with durability and strength. I usually use 1/2" BB ply for the drawer carcase and apply a false front of a nicer wood. As others have stated, it doesn't matter what the thickness of the wood is. You can still use 1/4" as the depth of cut and distance from the edge on 3/4" thick wood. It'll still provide plenty of strength, but keep in mind that half the thickness on 3/4" or 1" thick wood would unnecessarily reduce the usable depth of the drawer. Not a lot, but it might matter to some if the drawer is not very tall to begin with. If you want the extra depth, cut all the dados in the drawer sides, front and back first, then reset the fence to 1/4" away from the blade and cut the drawer bottom grooves last.

EDIT: I was incorrect about making the 1/4" cut work on stock that isn't 1/2". If you did, you'd have issues with the same setup not working for the front and back. You can use thicker stock, but as mentioned before, you would adjust the dado width to be half the thickness of the stock, and half the distance from the edge. So, for 3/4" stock, a 3/8" dado 3/8" away from the fence works. My observation about reduced usable depth still applies.

[FS7]

That is an excellent, clean, and very strong drawer construction method.

It's also wholly unnecessary. While I know it's not a popular opinion (and my own adherence to detail elsewhere makes me a hypocrite) I have never had a drawer fail in my entire life regardless of how I built it. The overengineering of drawers is comical and there are dozens of ways to quickly and cleanly make strong drawers that will take whatever abuse you throw at them.

The first drawers I ever made were done probably 15 years ago (I'm not that old) and were nothing more than finish nails and butt joints. No glue. They are still solid and I use that desk almost every day. What's probably worse is that there are no pulls - they are inside a cabinet and have holes drilled for finger pulls, so I'm actually stressing that joint (pulling on the nails) every time I open the drawer.

I usually use loose tenons now, sometimes through, sometimes hidden. I used to use mostly pocket screws (concealed for the most part). Sometimes I use screws plugged with dowels. I have been meaning to try Cooler's method of removing the screws and using through dowels for substantial additional strength.

[stoppy]

Have been watching a bunch of YouTube vids on the various means of drawer making. I have seven inserts to make for an old beer cooler backbar with probably four drawers each. You’re right, all the vids I watched, showed construction techniques the resulted in strong drawers that will not fail, at least in my remaining lifetime. Since I’ve never made drawers I’ll probably use a couple different methods to find a comfort level.

[rwe2156]

I've tried it once. My understanding is in order to work the ply has to be 1/2", the dado width 1/4".

He affirms this in the article.

[AHill]

That is an excellent, clean, and very strong drawer construction method.

It's also wholly unnecessary. While I know it's not a popular opinion (and my own adherence to detail elsewhere makes me a hypocrite) I have never had a drawer fail in my entire life regardless of how I built it. The overengineering of drawers is comical and there are dozens of ways to quickly and cleanly make strong drawers that will take whatever abuse you throw at them.

The first drawers I ever made were done probably 15 years ago (I'm not that old) and were nothing more than finish nails and butt joints. No glue. They are still solid and I use that desk almost every day. What's probably worse is that there are no pulls - they are inside a cabinet and have holes drilled for finger pulls, so I'm actually stressing that joint (pulling on the nails) every time I open the drawer.

I usually use loose tenons now, sometimes through, sometimes hidden. I used to use mostly pocket screws (concealed for the most part). Sometimes I use screws plugged with dowels. I have been meaning to try Cooler's method of removing the screws and using through dowels for substantial additional strength.

How do you hide the nail holes?  There are drawer construction methods intended to reduce the need for mechanical fasteners so the drawer's appearance is more aesthetic to the client.  There are a host of design methods used in woodworking that not only need to be functional, but they need to meet the designer's aesthetic vision.

[Gary G™]

RWE wrote

I've tried it once. My understanding is in order to work the ply has to be 1/2", the dado width 1/4".
He affirms this in the article.

What he affirms is 1/4, 1/4, 1/4 requires true 1/2” material.
Do the math, you can do 3/8, 3/8, 3/8 with true 3/4” material.
I think you can do 1/2X, 1/2X, 1/2X with any true X.