On 04/11/2016 8:15 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Monday, April 11, 2016 at 9:09:52 AM UTC-4, dpb wrote:
....

That's pretty deeply bowed, indeed. Wonder what was in the drawers but
36" is a long unsupported span for what appears to be pretty thin material.
....
I haven't mic'ed the bottom, but it's probably 1/4". I'm not home right now,
so that's just a guess.

"mic'ing" is a little overboard...

That's what I'd judged from the picture. Couldn't tell for certain if
was ply or solid bottom.

I'd still go with the "dampen and weight/wait" ploy first, but was
coming back to add that while I know you'd rather keep it original, with
that large of a drawer if you really want it to be a functional piece
again rather than just collector/display item, it may be that you should
consider building new drawer bottoms. If there's some clearance below,
in the aforementioned TN shop for SHMBO I replaced failed drawer bottoms
with 3/8" solid soft maple stock (rabbeted edge, of course, to fit
existing 1/4" groove). Soft maple because it's strong and neutral
color/grain and not excessively obtrusively "modern" as a piece of
current ply would be.

The alternative is, as also noted elsewhere and by others, use some
external stiffener either on bottom or inside the drawer--another ploy
in that regard that makes some more significant changes to the piece is
to add a middle divider so that you have another support in the middle
like the back. That, of course, changes the piece more but can be done
without terrible damage so can be (mostly) reversed but would leave signs.

Note to the daughter -- if you do get these unbowed, _nothing_ heavier
than the lightest of down pillows can be stored in those wide drawers...

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