Plywood joinery

[Aram]

Thinking about make kitchen drawer boxes from plywood (hardwood fronts screwed on). I'm aware of several types of joints that work for plywood, wondering what is your workhorse? Do you think I should interlock them? Or just rabbets, glue and screws?

Thanks in advance.

[AHill]

I use a lock rabbet joint.  Easy to set up and fit.  I've used that joint in all my shop cabinet drawers and they've never failed.  I've seen commercial ply drawer boxes made with dovetail joints, but that's a lot more work, and I don't think you end up with a much stronger drawer.

[Cooler]

What king of plywood?  You can use dovetails on Baltic birch.

I've built utility drawers using just pocket screws.  You can hid the screws behind the face and in the back side of the rear drawer.  You want the pocket screws to be drilled in the front and rear boards.

http://www.table-saw-guide.com/image-fil...-sides.jpg

Use 3  to 5 screws per side in the front;  two screws per side in the rear.  

The stress is in shear across the screws.  So that is pretty solid.  I always glue also.  

This is fast and easy.  I have at least 30 pounds of tools in some of the utility drawers and they have held up for several years.  It does not look very "craftsman-like", but it was easy, fast and strong.

You can glue the bottom panel in place as all the boards will be plywood and expansion/contraction will not be an issue.

[jteneyck]

I use 1/2" finger joints with 1/2" BB plywood, cut on the router table. 



I use an original Incra jig to cut them and it's fast and they come out perfect every time.  With that jig, you can gang up common parts and cut a bunch at the same time.  The assembled drawers are incredibly strong, especially if you glue in the bottom.  

John

[fredhargis]

I use a lock rabbet joint.  Easy to set up and fit.  I've used that joint in all my shop cabinet drawers and they've never failed.  I've seen commercial ply drawer boxes made with dovetail joints, but that's a lot more work, and I don't think you end up with a much stronger drawer.

Same here, the lock rabbet is so easy to do and sturdy it's a good choice.

[Gary™]

You can use dovetails on Baltic birch.

+1 This

[Splinter Puller]

+1 This

Dovetailed baltic birch plywood drawer boxes (or poplar) is my standard drawer construction.   I have a router dedicated to my DT jig so the bit remains set.  Fast, easy and durable.

[John Mihich]

For me it depends on the purpose.  Inside the house - DT.  Garage drawer locking rabbets.  LR are easy and strong; just not as pretty as the DT.

[Steve N]

I use a lock rabbet joint.  Easy to set up and fit.  I've used that joint in all my shop cabinet drawers and they've never failed.  I've seen commercial ply drawer boxes made with dovetail joints, but that's a lot more work, and I don't think you end up with a much stronger drawer.

Same here, the lock rabbet is so easy to do and sturdy it's a good choice.

Put me in this camp too, unless the joinery is a showpiece, but I reserve those for solid wood. I find the lock miter not only easy to do, but they are the easiest to assemble in my book, I find them to be almost perfectly self closing, and self squaring. I snap fit them together, and just quickly stick the square into the corners, it's rare when I need to adjust. A band clamp will hold them while the glue drys, so you don't have to feel like you need to be an Octopus to clamp them up. Easy Peasy.





If you get to making a lot of them, I've found that These little pups are well worth the money Once set up, you can run a piece of hardwood in, and burn your own though, so you can also go on the cheap if you want to.

[Cooler]

Same here, the lock rabbet is so easy to do and sturdy it's a good choice.

I have one of those bits.  I used it once.  The time to setup was extensive.  If I had twenty drawers to  assemble I might use it.

A favorite joining method for me for butt joints is to first glue and screw with really skinny drywall screws.  Then I wait until the glue dries and I back out the screws.  I drill a hole for a through dowel for each screw I removed.  Trim the dowels and sand smooth.  The dowels look OK to me.  

I use 1/4" dowels in 3/4" thick plywood.  I built a bench once from 2" x 6" studs.  I used 3/4" diameter dowels for that.  Much nicer looking than screws and stronger too.