Drawer Bottoms

Doug

New Member
I have some MFI type drawers where the bottoms fall out because the drawer backs have bowed out I've seen in the newer MFi drawers a plastic "strap" fixed underneath to lock the front and back panels and also support the drawer bottom Does anyone have any idea where I can get some of these from. Or have an idea of an alternative solution

Doug
 
I've used 6 or 9 mm ply before now, and this has outlasted the original hardboard one's for years. You could also try sticking some thin battens underneath to stop the h/board from bowing.
 
More costly but cheaper than a new kitchen.I replaced the draw sides with metal ones from Screwfix, used MDF for bottom,back and front, then attached old old draw front.
 
I've had great success (with Ikea furniture) replacing drawer bottoms and cabinet backs with thin ply. From memory Homebase had some which was just a tad thicker than the standard issue hardboard, which was great, because although it required a lot of force to get it into the slots in the drawer sides etc, once in it was very rigid. And of course all the sheds will cut it to size for you - just measure the original bits of hardboard and Robert is your father's brother.

The work doesn't stop there, of course, because you have to sand and varnish or paint the plywood, so it adds quite a few days to the elapsed time for assembly, but it's amazing how much rigidity it adds to the standard product. Gluing all the joints helps too.
 
Just fix some battens to the bottom of the drawer - around the edges & across the bottom if it is bowed.
 
Some time ago I was asked to cure this problem in an MFI-type chest by an elderly relative. Altho' she seems to wear the same clothes everyday, her collection of heavy sweaters/cardigans must rival Marks & Spencer!
Because the drawers were quite wide (about 32"), and they'd been overloaded for years, both the fronts and backs were seriously bowed.The bottoms had become so warped over time that they had to be discarded. As mentioned earlier, plywood is better than either MDF or hardboard if you're restricted to 3mm by the groove. To get the drawers roughly back into square shape I made a 40mmx20mm internal "divider" which I glued and skew-screwed to the inside of the front & back,(level with the top of the groove), having first pulled the drawer into shape using sash-cramps. I then screwed through the plywood bottom into the divider.
Ideally I would have preferred to have screwed/dowelled from the outside of the drawer-front and then fitted new false fronts, but it was pointed out that...."then it wouldn't match the rest of the (horribly cheap& nasty) furniture."
So far this repair has defied all her attempts to break it!
 
I solved this problem recently by simply glueing the drawer bottom to the groves in the drawer sides on all 4 sides. You will need several clamps to make this a success, but it works and it's cheap.
 
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