My drawers are going to be 8 1/2" H x 32" D x 34"W. What material would be best for the sides , front and back? Should I use 3/4 plywood for the bottom. The drawers are not going to be used for gold Bars, just various hand tools .
3/4" plywood is definitely for gold bars. Less than that, you can easily get away with 1/2" ply, up to iron bars.
It really depends on the size of the drawer (and of course the weight of the contents). Smaller drawers need less bottom strength. It also matters whether the bottom is attached or floating. A floating bottom will have to be stronger. In most cases, 1/4' is plenty.
My drawers are going to be 8 1/2" H x 32" D x 34"W. What material would be best for the sides , front and back? Should I use 3/4 plywood for the bottom. The drawers are not going to be used for gold Bars, just various hand tools .
***** I've made a number of plywood drawers out of all 3/4 ply and a few out of all 5/8 ply. Just glue and pins (long brad nails) with a reinforcing 3/4 x 3/4 ply strip around underneath the bottom. Never had an issue with the drawers, but I have overloaded the drawer slides before. I've had a large drawer full of electric motor overload the drawer slides and pop out once, but even after falling to the floor the box was still just fine. I moved a couple of the motors to another drawer and put it right back in places. Still works just fine.25 + years ago I built kitchen drawers that hold pots and pans. The are approximately 24" x 24". I used 1/4" plywood bottoms. That worked well.
You can easily get away with 1/2" Baltic birch for all parts of the drawer, sides and bottom.
Your expertise will play a bigger role in success than the materials.
I'd use 3/4 ply for the verticals, 1/2 for the bottom. Normally, I'd suggest 1/4 ply for the bottom but those are HUGE tool drawers. IMO, they would be much more useful at 1/2 the thickness, narrower too.
That should have said 24x 36.
You have more than one?
I agree. 3/4" for any drawer is overkill.
1/2" is plenty strong enough for any size drawer and 1/4" is fine for the bottoms. In really wide drawers, an added strong-back, midway, to the bottom is enough to alleviate any sag.This is all on the assumption that the builder is using cabinet quality plywood and not trying to build drawers out of 3-ply sheathing. :-)
The 32" depth is odd (remember, when the drawer is pulled OUT, you need to have a place to stand), but the width is a TERRIBLE choice, if you will have steel tools eight inches deep. You need the stiffness of the drawer sidewalls to keep it from bending under the weight: three 10" wide drawers might be more appropriate (and unless you have X-ray vision), the depth is also rather extreme:: imagine rummaging for a small screwdriver in a jumble of clamps, pliers, hammers...
OK, maybe your tools are organized well enough that finding things isn't such an issue. As a general rule, tool drawers should allow you to pull the drawer completely out and carry to a workbench, where you pick out the kit that goes in your caddy for the task at hand.
If you DO want those big drawers, don't think plywood will be the best bottom; solid wood, 34" lengths spanning the width, is more rigid, and tongue-and-groove oak flooring would probably work.
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