Wood for kitchen cabinet drawers

[180x]

I'm ready to start making the draw boxes for my kitchen cabinets. Other than maple, what are some other good wood choices that aren't plys?

[drumpriest]

Poplar, works nice, inexpensive.

[cabinetman]

Other than Maple, I've used Poplar, Birch, Beech, Parana Pine, Red and White Oak, Mahogany, and Ash, depending on the project.

I know you said no plywood, but done right, it's hard to tell that the stock is lumber or plywood. I rip my lengths in widths that come out of 48" evenly. Then I edge glue solid wood of the same specie to one long edge. Both edges of the hardwood edge is surfaced to be smooth to the ply. Then the lengths are cut, and the sides are rabbeted to accept the fronts and backs. If you are planning other joinery, some works OK for plywoods, some do not.
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[BerniePA]

I've had good luck with poplar and birch and I've also done the plywood with solid wood faces on the exposed edges. Depends on the job and finances avail.

[180x]

The only reason I said no ply is because I want to do dovetails and I really don't care for the look of the plys showing @ the joints. I know that "Nahm" did his with maple plywood and exposed edges on his latest kitchen project. Maybe I'll revisit the plys. The frames and doors are curly maple.

[JimD]

I use baltic birch plywood. I back cut it to minimize it splitting and get pretty good results. I have also used solid maple, beech, and softwood.

The main reason I use bb is I can just rip off a piece the width of the drawer. With solid wood, I found I had to do a lot of glue-up to minimize throwing wood away. We also do not mind the appearance of the bb plywood. You can easily see it is plywood but without voids, it doesn't look bad - at least in my house.

Jim

[180x]

I think I'll just make a small drawer and see if it grows, the plys that is.

JimD, I sent you a PM back in September. Did you receive it?

[dbhost]

I'm probably weird here, but I like the look of dovetails in ply... Lots of visual interest...