Baltic birch vs. sandeply for drawer box
Let me preface this question by indicating that this is my first substantial woodworking project.
I am planning to build a library system in our office, 8 ft wide by almost 8 feet tall. I am going to have cabinets with drawers equipped with hardware for use as file drawers as well as a central cabinet with doors for storage of paper, etc. Above these cabinets will be bookcases. I am tentatively going to build the carcasses of sandeply. The bookcase shelves and standards will be cabinet-grade maple ply, and the bookcase and cabinet faceframes will be soft maple. The doors and drawer fronts I plan to order on-line.
My local woodworking shop guy recommends using baltic birch for the drawer boxes. A man of few words, he did not explain why he likes this material.
1) Is baltic birch significantly better for drawers than 1/2″ sandeply? Other materials I should consider? How does this compare in cost to ordering KD drawers?
2) Many of the Breaktime readers have been greatly helpful in suggesting good reference books. I would like to (try to) scribe these cases to my not-so-straight walls. Any good suggestions on more good books?
3) I have only been able to find file drawer hardware at Rockler, limited selection. Any more sources?
Thanks, Jane
Replies
sandeply= 1/2" ACX fir plywood?
I use 1/4" Baltic birch ply for drawer bottoms pretty often, unless the drawer is more than 16" wide. Birch ply is very strong for it's thickness, and it's very consistent, with no voids or knots. I recommend it. Plus, 1/4" BB is cheaper than 1/2" ACX.
zak
"so it goes"
You are probably in the wrong forum here to get the audience you need for comments on this.
This is the "business" section of the Taunton Fine Homebuilding forum. Most of us here are housebuilders and remodelers.
To get the best feedback on sande versus BB for cab carcases and drawerbox sides, go to the Knots forum by following the link at the top R of this page.
For superior feedback, go and ask the pros on the Woodweb forum. That is where you find the folks that are doing large architectural work.
1/2 baltic is pretty cheap and consistent and cuts clean...
a 15 gauge nailer some wood glue and a few screws and you have drawers.
if you have a table saw you will have KD components in short order.
spray them in the shop - use aerosol laquer if you don't have spray equipment.
Never heard of the stuff; this is what came up in Google:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=144396#poststop
Doesn't sound like you'd want to use this on your first project.
The Taunton Built-In Furniture book is a great resource, including a great intro on how to use story poles, how to scribe, etc.
I'd recommend looking into Appleply with Nova finish. It's great for cabinet cases cause - it's finished! With 2 coats fo UV-Cure Epoxy - very tough stuff. I was introduced to it by a cabinet maker and have used it on all my kitchen cabinets.
There are a lot of resources besides Rockler - ya just gotta dig a little. I order hardware on-line at http://www.wwhardware.com - there are a number of other good ones out there as well. For plywood sources, start with the phone book, not the big box. Where do you live?
Jane
I build custom cabinets and about the only thing I use anymore for drawers in Baltic birch. Seams to be the Texas way.
You mention that your buying the door and drawer fronts out, have you considered buying the drawers out as well? Maybe you want to make them but I've made well over a thousand of the darn things, the thrill is gone, I prefer to buy out now if posible!
You can order drawers already put together and with a finish on them. You can get dovetailed or butt joints, real wood, plywood, melamine......
Doug
Yup. View Image
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
There is no cure for stupid. R. White.
Yup. Outsource.
(on the topic....have used lots of BB, never heard of sandeply except in this thread....but based on the info posted by others, sounds like Asian plywood, and there have been lots of problems with those, including delamination. Be careful....I've bought some junk recently.)Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
I think it is a Meranti/or Luaun/obeche...one of the softer Swietienia genus's. Macrophyla? Don't quote me on that.
I swear by BB , I love it. It became available in 4'x8' about 3 yrs ago in the North Carolina area. I did a whole beauty salon interior, and most of the 5x5 were better quality veneers, but the 4x8 were still very serviceable. But RFH. Real, F, Heavy.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" I am not an Activist, I am, a Catalyst. I lay around and do nothing, until another ingredient is added"
A lot of this depends upon your budget. You can make a lot of drawers out of a sheet of 1/2" BB. Rabbet the ends of the sides, brad and glue together.
Try http://www.woodworkershardware.com.
Thanks to everyone for helpful input. I realized too that this message is posted in the wrong forum, pardon my slip of the finger. I think I can pull this project off without going nuts. I will happily take any other good advice you folks send me. Off to the woodworking store for more education.
Jane
You will have some voids to fill with the sandeply. Otherwise it works fine.
Check out http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/home.exe The catalog is better than the website, but they have many cabinet related parts.
That's my cousin, Trout, that owns that biz. The people he has taking phone orders are generally quite helpful and knowledgeable.
That said, I find the catalog offering by Woodworkers Hardware to have a bigger offering of stuff for the cabinet maker and installer. Woodworkers Supply has more in machinery (much more . . . have you seen their proprietary new lathe?), hand tools, and finishing supplies.
Edited 7/14/2006 10:53 pm ET by Gene_Davis
Gene,
Thanks for the link since I haven't seen woodworkers hardware before.
Since there's a Woodworkers Supply in Wyoming that's the place we've used out of convienence. You're cousin's doing a good job! :-)
Were you talking about the new monster lathes? That's a lot of metal.
A few years ago the contractor I was working for picked up a woodtec 8" longbed jointer and 20" planer and we were impressed with how they held up considering the prices were quite reasonable.
Cheers
Trout, often when I place a WWS order, I find that part of it ships from Casper and the rest ships from Graham, NC. Just depends on where the inventory levels are . . . it is transparent to the customer. John opened the Graham operation over ten years ago, right in the middle of NC's huge woodworking scene. Lotta fabulous shops and woodworkers down there.
Glad to hear the report on the Woodtek stuff. I recommend their 10" contractor saw to anyone that'll listen to me, not because I know John, but because I believe in their stuff, their people, and their service.
I recall a TOH project house of quite a while back, watching Norm move in a bunch of new equipment to the jobsite to do all the finish work. Tablesaw, bandsaw, jointer, etc., all Woodtek.
Yes, readers, the Woodtek machinery is all made in Taiwan. But it is engineered, specified, proofed, QC'd, and test run all by serious woodworkers and engineers, all operating in Wyoming. And those folks know their business, their customers, and how to serve them well.