making drawers for the workbench

[thetyreman]

so it's getting to the stage where having a few drawers in the workbench would be very very useful and add some extra weight,

I am thinking of making 2 in each of the eves, both 4 inches high, so four drawers in total.

but I've never made a drawer before, they'll need to be reasonably strong and I prefer the drawer type without styles, where you have grooves on the side, already got some pine, and could easily laminate some more for the bottom panel.

What's a good place to start for learning to build drawers? I want to try and aim for high standards and do it the proper way.

I plan on mainly using them for sharpening tools so diamond stones, burnishers, maybe a drawer for sandpaper e.t.c, it'll be nice to have them organised, and it'll definitely improve my workflow.

 

[MattRoberts]

Hundreds of videos on drawers on YouTube. A couple of key decisions to make are whether the fronts are integrated or attached afterwards, and what joinery you want to use for the sides.

 

[nabs]

I have been thinking about putting one or two shelves in one end of mine (also to hold sharpening stuff etc). I know that a shelf would not do much for your drawer making skills, but is there any reason in particular for wanting drawers?

 

[MattRoberts]

I'd definitely recommend drawers myself - they're often a much more efficient use of space than shelves, with the added bonus of being more usable (as you bring the items to you rather than you going to the items). I've just stuffed my newly built shop cabinets full of drawers and they're brilliant

 

[thetyreman]

I have been thinking about putting one or two shelves in one end of mine (also to hold sharpening stuff etc). I know that a shelf would not do much for your drawer making skills, but is there any reason in particular for wanting drawers?

yes, to prevent dust and reason no2, as an excersize in itself so I can make drawers for other projects.

 

[worn thumbs]

I have four drawers under one of my benches and they are overflowing.I have no particular desire to adhere to tradition and I used 6mm ply for the bottoms,rather than solid timber,as the lack of movement is a bonus.Given the nature of drawers it does pay dividends to be very careful with the marking out as squareness and parallelism are vital.

 

[Dokkodo]

Given the nature of drawers it does pay dividends to be very careful with the marking out as squareness and parallelism are vital.

Ill second that, having put some very wide shallow drawers under my bench for the things I use the most. Great for workflow but one of them is very jammy, because its not very square. Either that or all the planes that ended up in it.

 

[custard]

http://www.peterseftonfurnitureschool.c ... werbox.pdf

 

[will1983]

Apologies if this comes across as a thread highjack but it may be of interest to the OP.

I also plan to fill all my under work bench spaces with drawers for the reasons already stated.

I had the idea of using a full 3/4" thick base and leave it protruding an extra 1/2"-3/4" wide on each side to slot into a housing in the bench frame. This would allow the base to also double as the drawer runner. Has anyone else done anything similar?

I have also considered making one that when removed and turned over could be used as an inverted jigsaw table. This idea could be extended to make one that doubled as a down draft sanding table. I'm open to suggestions for further variations if anyone has any bright ideas.

 

[MattRoberts]

Will, the trouble with wooden drawer runners is they're not full extension. Also, unless you make them using decent hardwood and a very precise fit, they're prone to catching / wear.

I know custard makes a lot of furniture using wooden runners, and it's quite an art to make them well.

For the shop, I'd go with full extension ball bearing slides (as indeed I did!). I got 12 pairs of 450mm on ebay for about £50

 

[turnamere]

Apologies if this comes across as a thread highjack but it may be of interest to the OP.

I had the idea of using a full 3/4" thick base and leave it protruding an extra 1/2"-3/4" wide on each side to slot into a housing in the bench frame. This would allow the base to also double as the drawer runner. Has anyone else done anything similar?

That sounds very much like the method that Ron Paulk uses for his Rolling Toolbox drawers.

 

[thick_mike]

Just watched a workbench build that used that method...

https://youtu.be/wSJEy35J5vg

Drawer construction starts at 15:21, but the whole build is quite interesting.

 

[thetyreman]

I'm sticking with the traditional methods thanks.

 

[thetyreman]

I thought I'd revive this thread as I've started making the drawers already, there's no turning back now

I have prepared all the wood and cut it to size, squared the ends e.t.c and started the joinery today with some stopped dovetails.

I planned it all out to fullscale, with all the joinery drawn onto paper before making anything, so fairly happy with how it looks, just need to crack on with it and I might ask a few questions as I go along,

Hopefully some pics will follow tomorrow, will see if I get some time

cheers

 

[thetyreman]

The first drawer is almost complete, all I need to do now is slide in a plywood bottom screw it into the back.

Wearing's Essential woodworker has been an amazingly helpful guide throughout this, and also some of the other WIP's and advise on here.

The joinery is stopped dovetails for the front, and a simple housing dado for the back, I knocked off the corners with a chisel on the back edge, there is just the final fitting to do once the bottom is in place.

just thought I'd update this with the first pics, this is just one of four, there's three more drawers to go, I've been busy

more coming soon!

cheers,

Ben.

 

[AndyT]

Looking good - and definitely better than the drawers on my bench, salvaged from an old wardrobe!

 

[thetyreman]

another update, the first drawer is complete, got some 5mm thick plywood (they did not have 6mm ply so I had to improvise), and used a piece of felt along the back to fill in the 1mm gap so it's a snug fit, then added pieces of pine underneath rub jointed to prevent the plywood from rattling, it's slightly rough, but no-one will ever see it

the glue is just waiting to dry overnight, then it's onto the very final fitting and finishing, but instead I'm going to make another drawer and go through the process and start a WIP, if you want drawers to fit the paul sellers style workbench then this might be useful for you.

 

[thetyreman]

started a WIP for the next drawer

I will be going into more detail on the process

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/topic111525.html