Latest storage project for the workshop

 I've followed Ron Paulk on YouTube for a long time, ever since I first came across his workbench. If you haven't seen Ron's innovative SMART Woodshop then you need to set aside some time to watch him build a complete workshop into a trailer. The way he builds his drawer system is the inspiration behind this project and a previous drawer unit build. 

My goal for my workshop is fairly simple:

1. Be able to find the stuff I need by being better organised.

2. Get rid of all the tool boxes I'd accumulated. 

My goals for myself include:

1. Learning new ways of doing things.

2. Build better stuff.

3. Have fun in the workshop.

So this project involved getting rid of a tool box that has all my spanners and plumbing tools in it (well almost all); providing some storage for jig making bits and my large spring clamps that were sitting in a cardboard box.

Having cut a piece of 18mm mdf  to an appropriate size for the two sides, I began to layout some guides to rout the rebates for the drawers to slide in. (I had lots left over from another project. Normally I'd have used plywood for this, but the mdf was taking up space so it got used).

There was a complicated bit of maths needed because the bushes for the router are imperial and the cutters are metric. But the principle is easy enough. Once you know the offset of the outer edge of the bush and the outer edge of the cutter, you can work out how far apart the guides need to be in order to give your the correct width of rebate. In my case I needed my guides to be 10mm further apart than the rebate width.

It's important to take you time setting this all up nice and square and parallel. To keep the spacing correct I cut a couple spacer blocks and I pinned the guide pieces using 20mm brads.

Running the router up one side and down the other the rebates were cut quickly and neatly. I do have a jig I made for cutting rebates which I could have used, but getting it in the right position each time would probably have been slower than doing it this way. If I had a lot of cabinets to make I'd make a jig the same way Ron does in his videos.

Having cut the rebates I cut the two sides to width and then cut the top and the bottom for the carcass. It's important to note here that the bottom of the carcass goes inside the sides where's theta goes on top. Look closely at this photo and you'll see what I mean.

Using some scraps I checked my measurements for the drawer bases and the width of the drawers themselves. Next I cut a base to check the fit and when that was okay I cut 5 more and checked they all fitted in each slot.

With that done I cut some shallow rebates in the bases (3mm deep) to serve as guides when putting the drawers together. They help keep the drawer square as you glue them together. Again I used 20mm brads to pin the corner joints and then to pin the base to the sides. The front and back of the draw sit inside the sides so that you pin through the sides into the front.

Everything was test fitted before final assembly and I also cut a back panel for the unit from 9mm mdf and glued and pinned that to the carcass. I did thing about rebating the back to inset the panel but this is only a. workshop cabinet after all!

I made some simple handle from scrap, but to be honest I don't think mdf will be strong enough to last long term and I'll either make some from hardwood or just buy some. In my other build I cut hand pulls, but I wanted to try something different this time.

The deep drawer doesn't have to go at the bottom, it fits in all the slots except of course the vey top one. If I ever get to kit out a new workshop I'll make sure all my drawer cabinets are built to a consistent size so that any drawer will fit any cabinet. 

Here's the finished unit installed in the bench and with dividers in the drawer to separate the contents. These were made very simply. The dividers and spaces were cut to give a snug fit. To keep them in place the spacers had a strip of double-sided on the back. 

I'm pretty pleased with the way this one turned out. In a space where there was a metal toolbox and little else I know have all the extra storage for bits and pieces. Eventually I may label the drawers but for the time being I at least know it's in a drawer, whatever it might be!!