which wood for chest of drawers
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Hi,
I have made several projects in pine over the last year, and one in american oak (coffee table). I am planning a chest of drawers now (dovetailed carcase, through tenons on the drawer rails-shakerish style) and am thinking about using oak again. Does anyone have a better suggestion? What are traditional choices for drawer chests? (I live in the netherlands so options such as cherry/popular are probably scarce & expensive).
Thanks
JohnI think oak is a wonderful choice if that is a readily available hardwood in your area. I would make all the drawer parts out of pine, with the exception of the drawer front. If the back was going to go against a wall I would make it our of pine as well. In books they often refer to this as primary wood (oak) and secondary wood (pine or other inexpensive wood).
Depending on your preference, you could also make the drawer bottoms and back out of plywood. Depending on what the chest would hold you could consider cedar for the drawer bottoms, might give a nice smell. Anybody have thoughts on cedar drawer bottoms.10 February 2015 at 12:53 am #124508As far as I’m aware – if you like the look, price and availability – any wood will do.
Oak would be a fine choice, though if you use it for the drawers clothes stored for a long time might pick up a little of its distinctive smell. You could avoid this by thoroughly finishing the inside of the drawers, or by using a more or less odourless wood for the back and sides – I believe spruce is pretty much odourless and is also as cheap as they come. That’s if you can get spruce – in the UK it’s often sold as “unsorted softwood” mixed with species of pine and fir which can have a very strong smell indeed.
In America I think there is a tradition of using Western Red Cedar for chests, due to its odour allegedly warding off moths. It’s fairly expensive for what it is though and dents easily, so if you feel like using it I might do as @rusty has suggested and just use it for parts of the drawers.
As for tradition in Europe, wood choice in much furniture has followed fashion and availability. I can think of no reason a chest of drawers would be a special case.
Good luck, don’t forget to take loads of pics.
Matt
thanks guys,
Oak it is then; purely for cost reasons the drawers sides will be in pine indeed (I hadn’t thought about that ammoniacal tone either). Cedar is a cool idea for the bottom, if its affordable. The back I’ll probably do in shiplapped pine or plywood (or is that sacreligous?)
john10 February 2015 at 10:11 pm #124553Haha, depends on your religion!
Plywood is a practical choice for the back of a carcase, more so in a chest of drawers where it really will never be seen. You can glue it in place if you want and add a lot of rigidity.
Matt
11 February 2015 at 2:21 am #124555I’d be careful using pine for the drawer sides, as its pretty soft and will wear on the bearing surface between the bottom and where it rides on the bearer. At the least I would use pine for the bearers if I used it for the drawers. Other than that, build what you can with the materials you can get, and enjoy it!
11 February 2015 at 10:44 pm #124581Have you considered beech for your project? It is hard and durable while being easy to work and will take a fine finish due to it’s fine grain. Another choice would be maple but it might not be very available there.
Cheers
hi Sid,
I did think about beech actually, but the lumber yard had a big supply of ready-planed oak and very little beech.
Charles: thanks for the warning- I will think on it- i don’t have a planer though and the drawers will get pretty heavy if I leave them in oak….
john -
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