Filed But Not Forgotten

[Jim Koepke]

This project was almost done before it occurred to me to document any of it.

It started with wanting a drawer to store my files so they wouldn’t be banging into each other.

It has been a few years since making any shop storage drawers. This same shelf unit gave up some space for some drawers almost 6 years ago:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?208154

This drawer was made out of some ash and birch plywood for the bottom. Ash was also used for the dividers. This is another project with only a story stick for the plan.

With various breaks and time off, a few things changed as the project went along.

The dividers were almost finished before taking my camera out to the shop.

a Not Quite the Beginning .jpg

The dividers were made from some ~1/8” ash scrap. The top edge was rounded with a molding plane The top corners were rounded and smoothed using the bandsaw followed by a low angle (wooden) spokeshave, fine rasps and sandpaper.

The marking for the saw cuts was actually done to all the pieces at one time.

After the initial marking they were set up against a couple of dogs and the mark for the sawing was made on both sides:

b Saw Mark Set-Up.jpg

Next one of my gauges with a pin profile that is good for slitting was used to mark the depth of the base:

c Slitting for Chisel Cut.jpg

The gauge was used to make at least three passes on each side, increasing the depth with each pass.

After the saw did its work, a chisel was used to pop out the waste:

d Chisel Time.jpg

Very little clean up was needed to fit these pieces snugly to the base.

Nine dividers makes ten spaces so naturally a pair of dividers was used to step off the spacing:

e Stepping Off.jpg

This is done on the bottom side of the base. The lines were carried across to help line up the dividers after the shaft and countersink drilling was done on a drill press.

After the countersink and shaft clearance holes were drilled the individual dividers were held in a vise and the base was supported on some of the dividers and set on one to have pilot holes drilled. The lines carried across the base helped to center each divider to the screw holes. A square was used to square everything. A piece of tape on the drill bit for a depth stop. Notice the numbering and the orientation markings, these were also on the individual dividers to keep everything where it was meant to be:

f Pilot Hole Guide.jpg

When the last divider was drilled the screws were installed while it was held in the vise. The screws were all waxed before starting. Waxing helps, especially with brass screws, when driving them in, even with screws this small. After the second divider, all the others were a breeze:

g Assembly Finished.jpg

Fortunately at one time a few #2 screws were needed for a small project. One of my philosophies is if you need 5 of something cheap, may as well buy 50. So there wasn’t any need to go buy any hardware. More on that later.

To be continued…

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Now a lot of my files and rasps that were stowed without protection are snug in their own drawer:

h Filed Away.jpg

And the drawer seems right at home:

j Drawer Front.jpg

Speaking of hardware, it surprised me there weren’t two matching knobs on hand. There were some old knobs from the kitchen cabinets. They were downright ugly, imo. So maybe next time in town some matching knobs can be found or maybe some time on the lathe to make a couple more acorn knobs.

Now to figure a way to clean up the rest of the tool mess in my shop.

Well, at least without selling anything.

jtk

[David Eisenhauer]

Nice idea for the file dividers Jim and you may as well know now that I am going to shamelessly rob that idea from you. I like the acorn pull.

[Joe Tilson]

I too am thinking of stealing your idea as well. Won't have a problem with knobs though. Have robbed enough off of item that have been tossed by others.
Very nice Jim and thanks for a great idea.

[Mark Rainey]

Jim, nice project to protect the files and rasps, I hate it when they scrape against each other!

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks to all for the kind words, and steal, borrow or rob away gentlemen.

David, the acorn pulls are something done for my wife. She has a thing for acorns and so it seems many other members of the family share her affinity. All the drawers and cabinets in our kitchen, except for her tea cabinet, have acorn pulls of various woods and sizes.

During the project different ideas came to mind of how to attach the dividers to the drawer bottom or in this case a separate piece of wood. A sliding dovetail or rounding the edges and drilling the dividers to be movable. Dados in the base were also considered. This seemed the simplest for a first try.

There are still a lot of files that could be better stored in another drawer. Maybe a divider for that one later.

jtk