Expert: Jamie Yocono - 12/15/2006

Question
I have viewed some of your remarks on the material used for making a drawer.  I agree with using melamine for the drawer bottom.  I agree with your opinion about plywood not being optimal.

I recently made 2 bathroom vanities.  My goal was a drawer box completely from melamine.  I used 1/2 inch double sided melamine with a particle board core.  It seems easy to find 1/4 inch melamine with an MDF core.  I have not been able to find 1/2 inch MDF core.  I attempted to cut half blind dovetails, and did pretty good and most assembled pretty clean, but seems impossible to consistently assemble without the melamine chipping around the dovetails.  It improved some when I added edging tape to the ends before cutting the tails and pins.  However, it is not possible to sand the joint smooth, and although it does not look bad, the appearance is not optimal.

Indeed using solid wood allows the sanding of the dovetail joint and it is very attractive. However, it’s the staining of the solid wood from makeup and the like, that you have talked about, that makes me want to create a complete melamine drawer box.

The customer liked the melamine drawers and seemed not to notice the chipping and unevenness of the dovetail joints.

So do you have any advice for creating a drawer from easy to clean material other than solid wood?  Do you have any advice for joinery technique using melamine?


Answer
Hi Joe,

Sounds like you've really put some time and thought into making those drawers. I'll try to help.

Basically, MDF covered with melamine is weak. It has no grain, and hasn't much strength, so the only place I think it's useful is in drawer bottoms. That said- I've seen some pretty sharp looking drawers made of melamine. In all of the examples I've seen, the drawers have been doweled together.

The force of a drawer being pulled open puts pressure on the front corners. Dovetailing them probably makes those corners weaker, rather than stronger. I mean, you can probably break a tail off with your bare hands. So dovetailing in melamine panels (with an MDF core) is just a bad idea for strength, as well as for the alignment problems you mentioned.

But doweling those corners makes them somewhat stronger, and is a better alignment solution, too. I recently remodeled a kitchen, purchasing the cabinet boxes and drawers from a company called CabParts. All the pieces were melamine covered MDF, including the drawers. To tell you the truth, I was shocked at how strong the drawers were after assembly. They were clean looking, and much more affordable than if I had made them.

If you visit the CabParts website (www.cabparts.com), you can view some PDF files that show how they make their drawers. Some important things to notice include the length and diameter of the dowels they use, as well as placement. Be sure to notice how the orient the butt joints- doing it their way allows you to use melamine edged stock, without having to cover up any unsightly ends. The side members front edge is hidden by the drawer face, and the back edge... well, it's left bare. I mean, who pulls a drawer out and inspects the back edge? So I think there is something to be learned from their drawers, with respect to the questions you've asked me here.

Last thing- if you're just stuck on the idea of dovetailing, you can minimize chipping with a couple of things.

1) make half blind dovetails, so you don't go all the way through to the melamine.
2) when cutting the joint, if possible, sandwich the melamine boards between two sacrificial boards, so that your chipout occurs on those boards, rather than the melamine piece. This may take a little time, as you'll have to play around with the set up.
3) look for a melamine putty to fill any chips in the melamine. I think FastCap sells putty to match some of the more common colors. I know I've used their screw hole covers to hide screws. FastCap sells a lot of stuff that makes us better woodworkers. I'm not too proud to use their stuff!

OK, good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this. And if this answer was helpful, please take a minute and rate my service. Thanks!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com