Underbench cabinet

[Derek Cohen]

My last build for 2020 is something for myself, a chest for tools which will fit into the space underneath my bench.

I've been building for much of this month, and it is reasonably progressed. A little light reading while you munch on Christmas leftovers. There are 6 chapters on my website. A lot of interesting stuff planned.

Scroll down to "Underbench Cabinet":  http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html

I have placed this in "Woodworking" as it is a blended build but, on reflection, there is so much hand work, and much more planned, that I that I am posting this here for those that do not venture out of the hand tool forum. 

Best wishes for the festive season.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[barryvabeach]

Derek,  nice work, though didn't see a photo of the finished piece.  I like the idea of low height drawers in a chest under the bench -  it lets you store lots of tools, but keeps them separate.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Barry

There is a long way to go yet. I am busy with drawer dividers, then the drawers. It is the drawers where the fun lies: drawers-in-drawers, flip out drawers, drawer sliding sections ... lots planned.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[BpB123]

Thanks Derek for sharing the knowledge and the journey!


Very impressive workmanship!

-Brian

[AlistairD]

Looks great so far. I've been designing my next work bench for most of the year - on and off, and have played with a number of under bench storage cabinet configurations. I can't stop tweaking the design though so haven't started the build yet ?

[tablesawtom]

Just because a Roubo style bench usually doesn't have cabinets, there is no reason not to have cabinets under  a bench. Inspiration came from a Shaker workbench in Handcock Shaker Village Ma. And it right down to as close to the color as I could get from a photo.

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At my age it is hard to remember which drawer I put it in.

Tom

[Derek Cohen]

Tom, I love your bench. However, with the cabinet thread in mind, could you post pictures of the internal construction of the drawer blades, drawer dividers, and drawer internals?

To all, keep an eye on my website for updates. I will be posting about the drawer blades and dividers.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Darknight]

Thanks for sharing, Derek!

I came across some reclaimed curly oak a couple years ago and have been keeping it to build a tool box with similar design to the one you're doing. The plan was to have it sit on the counter, but after reviewing your site, I may design it to go under my bench if I have enough material.

Your cabinet looks amazing and can't wait to see all of the features you add!

[tablesawtom]

There are 5 stretchers on my bench. 2 on the bottom and 2 on the top and one under the tool tray at the bottom.. The space in-between allows for cabinets. The top of the bottom stretchers are about 6 inches off from the floor.

 The kick boards around the bench are held in place with rare earth magnets. At my age I have trouble getting down on my hands and knees to get stuff that drops off the top and on to the floor and or roll-on the floor under the bench and also aids in cleaning debris that accumulates  under a bench. One might not think it is a necessary thing or even a deterrent but arthritic in the  body dictates differently.

The cabinets, of which there are 5, are made from prefinished plywood. two sides and 4  2/4 x 2 x cabinet width. it is assembled with pocket hole screws, no top no bottom no back. The front is just edge banded.

I do not like tape measures and I prefer steel rules and the longest steel rule that I keep in the drawer is 24 "so the inside of one of the drawers needs to be at least 24 1/4 wide. .Drawer side width and drawer slide width determine the inside width of the cabinet. if I factor in 3/4, 1/2, 1/2, 24 1/4, 1/2, 1/2, and 3/4 the cabinet width is 27 1/4. 

Drawer pulls as well as what you want to put into the drawers determines the height of the drawer. I chose this type of pull I used because pulls that stick out interfere with a sliding dead man, Hence the drawer will have to be set back into the bench farther which causes problems because even with full extension  The slides are set back in the bench farther and  you loose full extension.

The other cabinet is sized by the remaining distance between the legs. The fronts are applied. And I used 15" Blum soft close drawer slides. .So the cabinet width is a little more than 27 1/4 and more like 28

I chose to keep layout tooling in the top drawers along with chisels.  so the top drawer is fairly shallow. My chisel drawer is pretty well spaced out. But the other drawer I get started and then loose interest.

Is this what you are looking for Dereck?

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Tom

[tablesawtom]

If you look closely at the pictures you will see hole in the side of the top. The smaller ones are for hold fasts and the larger ones have Acme nuts inserted in for my moxon vise.

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Tom