Best Joint For Plywood Drawers

The bottom should slide into the drawer in 1 4 x 1 4 grooves milled in the sides and drawer front.

Best joint for plywood drawers.

Assuming you re going with plywood for the drawer bottoms you ll get the best results with real hardwood plywood which is made entirely with thin plies of real hardwood. The dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a strong woodworking joint it is great for tensile strength resistance from pulling apart. 3 plenty strong plywood joints 1. The method is somewhat less durable than a dovetail joint but strong enough for average drawer use.

Bart goldberg i have to build 12 drawers for a new shop cabinet the base of a new workbench and i plan to use 1 2 baltic birch plywood for the sides. What is the best easiest joint to use given my material choice. Leave the fence and dado set where they are position your drawer parts inside face down with their bottom edges against the fence and cut the bottom holding groove. Position a drawer back on edge with its inside face against the fence.

Full width dado or groove 2. Cut a 1 4 x 1 4 rabbet in both ends as shown at right. A series of pins cut to extend from the end of one board interlock with a series of tails cut into the end of another board. The bottom is usually 1 4 thick plywood for small drawers or 1 2 thick material for bigger drawers or drawers that will hold heavy objects.

Make these cuts on all of your drawer backs. In general more thinner plies make for stronger flatter panels. You use the dovetail joint to connect the sides of a drawer to the front. Now s a good time to cut the 1 4 x 1 4 groove in each of your fronts sides and backs for holding the drawer bottom.

The drawer lock joint another solution is the drawer lock joint. Conventional plywood has inner plies of various softwoods even if the outer veneers are hardwood.