Expert: Jamie Yocono - 6/9/2008

Question
Hello. I live in Oregon and I am new at building cabinets. Would you give me your opinion on two or three different types of wood to build cabinet drawer's out of? I have some rough maple and myrtle from my local area but I really want to use it for other appplications. I would really appreciate your expertise. Thank You, Sincerely, Jerry Karrle

Answer
Jerry,

There are a lot of good woods for drawer making, I guess it depends on your budget. I understand that you'd like to save that Maple or Myrtle for something nicer, so I'll try to suggest a few alternatives.

On the low end of the price range, there are a lot of woodworkers that simply use a 1/2" Baltic Birch for drawers. The plies are narrow and fine, without voids, so the edge grain has a striped look to it. Some simply use that, and put a small bullnose on the edge to break the corners. It's cheap, and sort of "industrial" looking.  Plus, it's color is neutral, so it will go with just about anything the cabinet is made of, so they won't fight each other.

You could also use some Poplar, which is somewhat less expensive, yet is still a hardwood. Personally, I like to work with Poplar, but I don't like the green hues that it can have But if you can find some that isn't too green colored, it would be fine.

You really didn't mention what the cabinet is built of, but you might consider a soft Maple.  I tend to like my drawers to be made of a lighter wood, so something like Soft Maple gives you both a cost savings as well as a nice compliment to the primary cabinet wood.

There really are a lot of woods that would work and will save you a little money - Beech, Ash, Birch... it just depends on the cabinet material. You want them to go compliment each other, not fight each other.

Last - especially on kitchen and bathroom drawers, I mostly use a 1/4" white melamine panel for the drawer bottom. It's relatively inexpensive, and it's super easy to keep clean. I used to use cabinet grade plywoods, but all it takes is one leaky can or  tube of something and the drawer is ruined. So you might think about using a melamine panel, it will save you some time and money and maybe you can use better stuff on the drawer box material.

Hope this helps, write back if you need more suggestions.

Jamie Yocono
www.wooditis.com
Las Vegas, NV