Workbench / Assembly Table Drawers - Seeking Recommendations

[Tapper]

I've built a bunch of shop drawers over the years. Most are built of baltic birch plywood, but some have poplar sides with hardwood fronts (dovetailed) and Baltic birch plywood bottoms. All have been completely satisfactory. The baltic birch plywood drawers are the easiest to build; just pick the joinery you like and glue them together. With plywood, you can glue the bottom in to increase the strength of the drawer box considerably. Most of mine have 1/2" BB sides with 1/4" bottoms. Drawers that carry the heaviest loads (hand-held power tools and accessories) are built with 5/8" BB Ply for the sides with 3/8" bottoms glued in. I've never had a problem with sagging. I use a lock miter joint cut on my router table and it makes for a strong box and easy assembly. A "drawer lock" bit would probably be just as strong and it's easier to set up. I have one, but I've never used it. You could use box joints, dados with brads or probably even butt joints with plywood, although I think a butt joint would not give you as much strength as other options. I put hardwood false fronts on all my plywood drawer boxes. False fronts are for looks; they add nothing to the strength of the drawer box.

I have used 100# full extension ball bearing slides on most of my shop drawers, but I tried something different the last time on a drill press stand with drawers that worked great. I bought a sheet of 1/4" UHMW PE and cut strips to glue/screw onto the bottoms of the drawer sides. No glue is going to stick permanently to UHMW PE, so I used some high strength contact cement to stick them in place while I added #6 screws about every 6". I countersunk the heads below the surface of the plastic strip so they wouldn't drag and damage the drawer dividers. They have held solidly for 4 years. They don't wear, slide easily under a heavy load and not do mar or abrade the drawer dividers. This is a lot cheaper than ball bearing slides, easier to install and just as effective. Here's a photo:

IMG_0208 by Hank Knight, on Flickr

Nice looking drawer, Hank! 
  Looks like this one is done with half-blind dovetails, correct? Hand cut, Leigh jig, PC jig? 

I'm about to build some shop base cabinets that will house 16 drawers. I have a bunch of leftover 1x pine and fir material I had planned to use for the sides, front and backs. Will install cherry false fronts and Shaker style doors on two of the cabinets with shelves (got a "fire sale" deal on the cherry.)

I like the idea of 3/8" bottoms - what brand of plywood did you use?

Thanks,

Doug

[Hank Knight]

Hi, Doug,

Thanks for the compliment. The dovetails were hand cut. I have a Leigh jig, but I can cut 4 drawers by hand in the time it takes me to re-learn and set up the jig.

You will be happy you took the time to build shop cabinets. I built these several years ago and have been really happy with the storage.

RASBenchBuild006Medium by Hank Knight, on Flickr

DSC_0016Medium by Hank Knight, on Flickr

Before I built them, I had stuff stuck in every nook and cranny in my shop and I could seldom find what I was looking for. I have no idea what brand plywood I use. I order it from a commercial sheet goods dealer and have it delivered to my home. It's their best grade BB ply. I think your cherry drawer fronts will look great. Be sure to post pics when you're done. BTW, I ran the tops of the BB drawer sides and backs through my router table with a 1/8" round-over bit to soften the edges. It makes a lot of difference in terms of comfort and reducing splintering.

Good luck with your project.

Hank

[Tapper]

Hi Hank,

Very nice setup and great looking cabinets! Looks like you edged banded the top and used Masonite as a work surface - I plan to do the same. Will use full extension slides too (also part of the fire sale). I like the RAS setup you have. I may do something like this on my other long wall where I plan to install my vintage Dewalt GA RAS. Will probably just build a long table as I've acquired three metal rolling cabinets with lots of drawer space that will just slide underneath the table. It is always very nice to have a good RAS setup, especially for cutting long material to working length; had one for my old Craftsman RAS in my Atlanta basement shop. I also like that stop you made.

I'll check out my local supplier(s) for the 3/8" Baltic Birch. It will be a while as I'm still working on finishing the drywall in the area these cabinets will live and we're taking a warm weather vacation soon. Thanks for the great pics!

Doug

[mound]

If you want your drawers to be deep and accessible to pull out from both sides, perhaps consider making your own long extension slides similar to what Lyndon posted in an older thread when I was asking about long drawer slides:

Bearings and 1-inch square steel tubing attached to both sides of the drawer to ride between the bearings.

[mound]

DSC_0016Medium by Hank Knight, on Flickr

Love it!

[Gary G™]

Hank,
Those look great.

[Hank Knight]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the compliments.

[BattleRidge]

I appreciate the wealth of information and it has helped immensely. I have been involved in a few other projects so haven't had the opportunity to go any further on the workbench, but my plan is to utilize my greatly enhanced knowledge (of which the forum played a key part) and further evaluate my specific needs, then build a combination of smaller and larger drawers (with slides of some sort). My quick and simple, one-size-fits-all idea just isn't up to the standards I would like to live with and I plan on the unit being around for a long time. Thank you for the many ideas and I am looking forward to putting it to use.