Workbench / Assembly Table Drawers - Seeking Recommendations

[BattleRidge]

I am in the process of building a combination workbench / assembly table for my shop.  The basic construction of the bench is 2x6 & 2x4 framing with a double layer of 3/4" plywood for a top and a tempered hardboard work surface.

My plan is to install two drawers that will hold a variety of items including screws and fastening hardware, handtools and a variety of other items.  Given the size of the drawers and how quickly the weight can add up, I would like for the drawers to be strong and heavy duty enough to support the load without sagging or failure - though at the same time economical to construct (thus no fancy drawer slides or hardware).  

Each drawer will be 30-3/4" wide by 42" deep and 5-1/2" tall.  The drawers will be accessible from each side of the workbench and will pull out about 20 inches with the remainder of the unextended drawer supporting the extended section (thus allowing half of the items to be accessible from one side and the other half of the items from the other side of the workbench). 

The drawers will rest on a full depth support ("A" in the photo) and my plan is to install 1/32" thick "Slick Tape" on the top of each support and/or on the bottom of the sides of the drawer.  There is a full depth 2x6 along the top of each side of the drawers to prevent the drawer from tipping and dropping when extended (with enough clearance to remove any swelling & expansion concerns).  

I would appreciate recommendations on the drawer construction and supports.

What would be the best material for the fronts of the drawers, the sides, the drawer bottom, and for the drawer supports ("A" in the photo)?  Also what type of construction / joinery would be best, and what type of additional supports would you recommend.

I have searched around online but due to the drawer size and the weight of the contents, as well as the use (nothing fancy is needed, just adequate long-term functioning) I wanted to get the insight of anyone here.

Thank you in advance.

[Lynden]

This video shows a workbench with full-width drawers and a few other ideas you might find interesting. It also has a drawer for your pipe clamps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5u9buZRy3Y

[handi]

1/2” Baltic birch for the sides and bottom should be just fine. I have a set of pullouts in my miter Saw station that are 24” wide and only 2” deep in 1/2 Baltic. They have not sagged in three years and all four store various boxes of hardware, so they carry some weight. My miter station.
For the “slides” and runners, well waxed maple will do. 

I would mount the cleats and simply place matching cleats at the top of the drawer boxes. Nothing fancy here.

[KyleD]

Rather than build drawers you may want to consider building boxes. By this I mean use plywood and glue and screw the edges together. Build the sides out of 3/4 and the bottom out of 1/2 ply. you could use lock joints or dovetails or even biscuits for the joinery on the corners of the drawers. I have used butt joints glued and screwed for this type of quick and dirty shop construction. Never a failure.  The real strength comes form gluing and screwing a hefty panel on to act as the drawer bottom. Think about it, the bottom becomes a huge brace across all four corners that will insure the drawer cannot easily fail.

It sounds like you have figured out what you will store in these drawers. Are you sure you need all them so deep? if i were storing many small things in a 5 inch deep drawer I just know I would end up with a mess of things stacked on top of other things. Consider a progressive size to the drawers. Maybe start with a 2 1/2 deep on top and then a 3 1/2 next and then a couple of 5 inch deep or two.  maybe add a couple of 8 or 10 inch deep drawers on the bottom for larger items.

Your idea of adding something slippery on the bottom and not using any glides is a good one. I have some rolling cabinets and the one I built with extension glides tends to come open when moved around. I have used tips of laminate where the drawer slides on the cabinet frame with success.

[Tapper]

Rather than build drawers you may want to consider building boxes. By this I mean use plywood and glue and screw the edges together. Build the sides out of 3/4 and the bottom out of 1/2 ply. you could use lock joints or dovetails or even biscuits for the joinery on the corners of the drawers. I have used butt joints glued and screwed for this type of quick and dirty shop construction. Never a failure.  The real strength comes form gluing and screwing a hefty panel on to act as the drawer bottom. Think about it, the bottom becomes a huge brace across all four corners that will insure the drawer cannot easily fail.

It sounds like you have figured out what you will store in these drawers. Are you sure you need all them so deep? if i were storing many small things in a 5 inch deep drawer I just know I would end up with a mess of things stacked on top of other things. Consider a progressive size to the drawers. Maybe start with a 2 1/2 deep on top and then a 3 1/2 next and then a couple of 5 inch deep or two.  maybe add a couple of 8 or 10 inch deep drawers on the bottom for larger items.

Your idea of adding something slippery on the bottom and not using any glides is a good one. I have some rolling cabinets and the one I built with extension glides tends to come open when moved around. I have used tips of laminate where the drawer slides on the cabinet frame with success.

I'm going with this one ^^^^^ - well said Kyle!

Doug

[Cooler]

I built my shop drawers out of 3/4" thick utility plywood for the front, sides and backs.  I used 1/2" plywood for the bottoms.  I used generous amounts of glue and pocket holes for the sides and fronts and glue and screws for the bottoms.  

The front needs to be strong because you are pulling on it.  I cut the pockets in the front and screwed into the sides.  I ran more screws in the front that the back.  I put the handle about 3" from the bottom so that there was minimal leverage on the joint.

I have a drawer filled with routers, drills sawzall--heavy stuff.  It has stayed together for about 18 years so far.

[AHill]

My drawers are 1/2" BB with 100# rated drawer slides.  A couple of the drawers house handplanes.  I've never had any issues.  I don't have dividers like you do, so my drawers are housed in a cabinet carcase I built that fits under the bench.  I would think that 1/2" stock (the "A" in your pic) would be perfectly fine to hold 100# of stuff plus the weight of the drawer.

[photobug]

There are so many ways on how you can go about this from building cabinet carcases to insert into the openings to just adding cleats on the existing frames to put in shelves, then add stacking boxes to store what you want.  What I would suggest is to you is go on to you tube and look at all the assembly table and workbench builds to get some ideas of what you want in the storage areas you are going to be adding.  On the similar project I am doing.  My table is 3'x6' and will serve as an outfeed and assembly table.

As an example, here is a list of things I want it to be able to hold.

Compressor
Shop Vac
Nail guns
Glue and glue tools
Router bits and accesories
Small clamps
A few large Clamps underneath when gluing up.  (A Longer Shelf)
Storage for Cross cut sled.

[BattleRidge]

I had watched portions of the New Generation Workbench video in my workbench research and just re-watched the entire video to catch what I'd missed previously. I liked the idea of the open center for a tool drop but chose to go with a full smooth surface instead with the thought that I could utilize the drop portion of my surface instead (possibly via an added open-top (but not full depth) box along the edge, or to use space in an open drawer. The utilization of the bottom of the workbench was great, particularly with the full-length drawer for long item / clamp storage, but my intention is to store my sander, router table and scroll saw there so through use I will see what works best in my use. He has a lot of great ideas though and as my needs evolve, I am sure I will keep his tricks of the trade in mind for use. I liked his utilization of the full-depth drawers and seeing it in action is helpful (as well as his construction methods) and the idea is still bouncing around in my mind.

I've checked out the Baltic Birch option and am starting to build my knowledge base about it. Waxed Maple could be an option and in evaluating the various responses I've received, I am still contemplating which direction to lock in.

My original intention was to build a couple simple and basic drawers (i.e. cheap) with sufficient room (and depth) to allow for the storage of a range of items. On further evaluation though, there could be advantages of going smaller (less deep) and I can see where different size drawers would lead to better overall organization. One concern I had was in using too light of material in the bottom and thus inviting sagging, and I can see the advantage in using thicker material to eliminate that, as well as providing greater overall drawer / box strength. Incorporating some laminate into a sliding design looks like it could have merit.

I used two layers of 3/4" plywood for the top and they seem to be strong and dimensionally stable. I know I've seen some warped plywood in the store and had some concerns about using it for drawer use. Once tied together as a complete component though (particularly with the right design), it seems like could hold potential and if my bench & drawers hold together for 18 years, I will be quite satisfied. The handle placement is something else I will keep in mind.

Someone sent a link to some drawer slides in another forum and the price (when purchased in a quantity of 10) seemed quite reasonable for what appears to be good quality. As I am putting my final plan together, the slide option is getting serious consideration and may work better should I utilize different size drawers.

My goal is to be able to utilize the the final product as an all-encompassing workbench / assembly table / outfeed area, as well as storage for a multitude of other items. So far it looks like the strength and features should perform well for my workbench needs, the assembly table size should be sufficient for the vast majority of my creations, and I have the table built just slightly lower than my table saw (and the height of a future replacement table saw) so I'm feeling pretty good about where things are going thus far. The addition of the creature comforts of drawers and other features will hopefully finish it off. The various online resources (forums, websites, YouTube, etc.) have been quite helpful - as well as the input by the replies here.

What I originally intended to be a quick, simple, easy and effective drawer assembly is heading back into the mind and I'm going to bounce things around a bit more before finalizing my decision. I might also start more slowly and add things bit-by-bit as I work with the unit and decide what I actually need and would use the most. So many good ideas and helpful information to consider - and I truly appreciate what each person has written. It is truly helpful to have your individual insights.

[Hank Knight]

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