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I typically make the back 1/4", which with the ply bottom glued in is
plenty strong. I often like to have the top drawer close to the top
of the box (sometimes I avoid any cross grain situation with the top
and I need no further structure at the top of the box), which can
often overhang the box a fair bit. It's not so much the access to the
other drawers that is a problem, but the top drawer usually the back
inch or more is impossible to get to without pulling out the drawer,
and if you only have 6-7 inches of drawer to start with that is a
lot. I also have concerns that if the drawers are getting pulled
out so that they are almost out and then left hanging there, that's
putting a lot of wear on the back end of the drawer slide groove and
the front of the drawer slide. Plus there's a bit of slop necessary
to account for expansion/ contraction and any possible light warping.
I could fit them tight if I wanted to, but I am shipping these all
over the country so I feel I have to leave a bit more slop than I
would like to make sure they remain operational. With the metal
slides I don't have to worry about it, or have the customer do any
maintenance to wax a wood slide.

-Kevin


Something to consider and this has been discussed time and again. Many
times the question has been asked, what material should I use for drawer
sides. The common answer and a correct one is any material you want.
Through the years I have pretty much proven time and again that the harder
the wood that you use for the drawer sides and for the slide or frame that
the drawer will slide on the longer the drawer will last and the better the
drawer will slide. About 28 years ago I built our Oak frame dresser and
built the drawer sides out of pine know knowing any better at the time. The
drawers have always been draggy from the friction between the pine and oak.
Varnish, wax, dry lube never really helped the matter. Additionally if you
pull a drawer out you will see pine dust where the drawer bottoms are slowly
wearing down.
About 4 years later I built night stand chests and built the drawers
and frame entirely out of oak. To this day there is no visible wear and the
drawers still slide in and out as easily as if they were on ball bearing
slides. Now I always try to build the drawers and their contact points out
of as hard of a material as I can so that there is a long life expectancy
and easy smooth movement.