Bill Tindall
...in fine furniture. Kitchen cabinets, yes. Most shops accumulate bits and pieces that are too good to burn, yet they don't seem to find a place in what gets built. These are the ideal pieces for drawer bottoms. Drawer bottoms are typically of a size that lends them to be a good place for these otherwise difficult to use lumber pieces. I resaw this "junk", then glue up the pieces to drawer bottom sizes and thickness. The last thing I made had bottoms of white and yellow pine, poplar and basswood which shrank the "junk" pile. Walnut and cherry sap wood also find their way into drawer bottoms.

Due to a communication error the last log I had sawed for drawer sides came out 4/4 instead of 5/4. When resawed to appropriate drawer side size I was left with what appeared to be uselessly thin waste. It became 5/16" drawer bottoms.

The longer of this "junk" finds its way into cabinetry backs, unless as Ellis pointed out, the back is a structural component that must be glued in.