Which species for drawerboxes?

[Willin]

Drawerbox sides, backs, and bottoms are usually made of what we call secondary wood.  Something less expensive than that out front.

But we want a species that can machine well and be cut with hand tools well, and has enough dimensional stability for the job, plus durability for the service.

In kitchen cabinets, the industry promotes northern hard maple as the premium species for this.  Dialing things down in cost, there is soft maple, red oak, and poplar.

What do you like to use?

[TerryMcK]

I use whatever I have in stock. European oak I always have.

[Brendon_t]

I like making boxes from hard maple, when their done.  I don't particularly like milling it but talk about a solid drawer. 

I enjoy hand cutting in cherry.

[Coop]

1/2" BB ply for shop drawers. 100% cotton for mine. All others, maple.

[wdwerker]

Soft maple or poplar if the budget is tight for solid wood drawers. 5/8 BB for big drawers works well with 5 mm dominos.

[wtnhighlander]

I like poplar. The small amount of maple I have used experienced horrendous wood movement when planed to thinner dimensions for a drawer box. Poplar has always remained stable for me.

[mat60]

Soft maple..I have used poplar but the stuff we get up here is green and looks like crap..Plane and sand to 5/8 and machine dovetail here..

[Willin]

OK, thanks.  I just have three drawers to do for the next project, a desk, face species all cherry.  I want to hand cut the dovetail joints.

My laying around stock that is enough for the d'boxes is VG dense doug fir, some QS white oak, and old-growth river-salvage SYP.  If I don't use that stuff I have to get fresh, and my supplier has just about anything.  

[Bombarde16]

Anything laying around.  Poplar, gum, red oak, aspen, even pallet lumber and construction lumber from time to time.  If it's a soft species and you're not using metal runners, you can laminate the lower edge with a bearing strip of oak.  If I have to buy new stock for internal stuff, I'm doing something wrong.

[toddclippinger]

Most common choices on my projects:

baltic birch plywood

soft maple

hard maple

I can't think that I have ever used poplar. Even soft maple seems to be a good bit more durable/harder than poplar. 

[Eric.]

Poplar is a traditional secondary wood.  There's absolutely no reason not to use it.  Even pine was commonly used back in the day.  Pine is against my religion otherwise I'd consider it for web frames and other unseen parts.  Sycamore, soft maple, alder, box elder, etc.  I wouldn't use oak as a secondary wood unless it was against something like wenge...darker and similarly open pored.  Cherry drawer fronts with oak sides would look terrible IMO.

[..Kev]

I use ply whenever possible or poplar..  Of course that's only when a secondary wood is acceptable.

[toddclippinger]

For the benefit of clarification my answer to Willin's question, I don't want to be misinterpreted as knocking poplar or pine as a secondary woods. Looking at antiques, I recognize that was the norm.

The products I listed are simply as a matter of my own choice and the client's wishes for the projects that I have built. 

[wtnhighlander]

I like the appearance of clear white pine, especially with a few coats of danish oil. Its really soft, though, even compared to poplar.

[gee-dub]

Sounds like this is regional or perhaps just personal preference.  I am casual about secondary woods although I use the same secondary wood for all secondary parts of a given piece.  I am not casual about drawer box material.

I've never used softer woods but, probably would as long as they were not side hung or the drawer bottoms were not used to ride on the web frames.  I know plenty of old furniture was made this way but, there was plenty of old furniture that wasn't real good ;-)  If something was good just because it was old, I'd be fabulous!

I favor hard or soft maple although as TIODS mentions there are times when the same material or the same contrasting material is more appropriate.  There are just as many times that it doesn't matter ;-)  Judge your piece and the look you want to have.  Remember that the owner is going to see that "secondary" wood EVERY time they open a drawer.