17 drawers in work bench in 2 hours and 29 minutes

[Frank Pellow]

I have some mostly unused space underneath my three work benches that I made many years ago. And, I want to organize things in my new workshop properly. Yesterday, I decided that the quickest way to do something about this was to purchase the following ready-made drawers from Lee Valley: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46037&cat=1,43326,43330

Today I made the cabinet and installed the drawers. Here is a breakdown of the time taken:


4 minutes -find scrap MDF and plywood

22 minutes -design, measure, and layout

83 minutes -cut

35 minutes -assemble

5 minutes -take photos
Here are some photos:

1) Bench before installing the drawers

2) Cutting groves in the MDF

3) Method used to keep groves square towards bottom of sides

4) At the very bottom, I had to use a square

5) Bench after installing the drawers

[Mark Stutz]

Frank,
I have seen those drawers in the LV catalog, and wondered how sturdy they would be. Let us know how you like them after you get them filled up and use them for a while.

Mark

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,
I have seen those drawers in the LV catalog, and wondered how sturdy they would be. Let us know how you like them after you get them filled up and use them for a while.

Mark
They appear to bb very sturdy. As you requested, I will append something to this thread once they have been organized and used for a while.

[JayStPeter]

Frank,

Nice quick way to add some storage Frank. I have 7 or 8 of those drawers in my shop. Most are under my Drill press, but I have one hanging under my TS extension to hold small accessories.

Mark,

They are small drawers. Good for holding things like drill bits and such. They are good for things that have lots of small different parts. In my DP stack, I keep different types of bits in each drawer. One has my drivers and one has all the small parts for the Kreg jig. Keeps everything organized and in a small area. But, things like handplanes, layout tools, and small power tools need much bigger drawers. They are very sturdy and stay in the slots well. If your cabinet isn't perfectly sized, they can be bent to fit solidly in. But, there is no real way to put a stop on the drawer, so when you pull it comes right on out.

Jay
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8873&stc=1

[Doug Shepard]

Nice. I haven't used those, but I've used LV's alum Micro Drawer Slides/Sides where you just have to mill up the front, back, and bottom. Sliding those into standard saw kerfs sure makes quick work out of putting a drawer case together.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Frank,

They look great! I have used that same, saw kerf method for drawer tracks in a cabinet for my dad. He said it really works great!

[Ralph Barhorst]

Nice work Frank. I like the clamps that you used to hold the MDF in place on your workbench. Where did you get those? Can they be used for glue up of panels?

[Jim Becker]

Excellent and instructive, Frank! Another good use for the MFT...

BTW, if you want to use the same methodolgy for larger drawers, you could build the drawer sides out of BB ply with pocket screws like Mark Singer recently showed and apply the drawer bottom...to the bottom so it overhangs on the sides the same way the tabs do on the LV drawers. Just make appropriate-sized slots in the cabinet box as you did in your above example. Varying the thickness of the drawer bottom will make for the strength you need for the job you want the drawer to do handing weight, etc.

[Frank Pellow]

Nice work Frank. I like the clamps that you used to hold the MDF in place on your workbench. Where did you get those? Can they be used for glue up of panels?
Thanks Ralph. I got the clamps from Festool (part 488 030). They are rather pricey ($65.75 a pair) but very very handy. I have used them to assist with glue ups.

[Greg Mann]

Excellent and instructive, Frank! Another good use for the MFT...

BTW, if you want to use the same methodolgy for larger drawers, you could build the drawer sides out of BB ply with pocket screws like Mark Singer recently showed and apply the drawer bottom...to the bottom so it overhangs on the sides the same way the tabs do on the LV drawers. Just make appropriate-sized slots in the cabinet box as you did in your above example. Varying the thickness of the drawer bottom will make for the strength you need for the job you want the drawer to do handing weight, etc.
Exactly right, Jim. The only difference would be to substitute the router for the saw in order to make the slot wider.