Workbench - 2nd Drawer Unit

glenn bradley

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I didn't quite get this done before I have to run off for our Easter get together. False fronts still need to be cut finished and attached.

The area to the right of the 1st drawer unit I added seems to have a death grip on whatever flotsam and jetsam comes by:

2nd drawer unit 001.jpg

I built a carcase of MDF like the 1st unit but, with a lower profile. On the 1st unit I left enough room to clean up or retrieve objects that fall through the dog holes but found I needed more room than that ;-)

2nd drawer unit 002.jpg

Drawers are 1/2" BB ply with 1/4" BB ply bottoms as is my custom. Drawer lock joints are so quick and easy I use them more than pocket holes for this sort of thing:

2nd drawer unit 003.jpg2nd drawer unit 005.jpg

A full 3.4" thick back is not necessary but I am adding mass as well as storage. Rabbeted and glued in once I have all the drawer guides where I want them:

2nd drawer unit 007.jpg

That's one, five to go:

2nd drawer unit 008.jpg

OK, time to get ready for the festivities. I'll have to finish in the evenings during the week. I don't want them to still be incomplete when the Tour de Wood passes through this end of the state next weekend.

2nd drawer unit 013.jpg
 
Neat draws Glenn. Just a point that i got from the Chris Schwarz workbench book was one should not cover the area beneath the bench otherwise bench hooks have no where to go when you put them through dog holes.

How have you dealt with this?

One thing i have realized and its reinforced over and over for me is that draws that are deep in a shop just collect junk. So i am soon going to be converting my draws to more of the low profile draws and space things out more. Eaiser and neater access.

Thanks for sharing.:thumb: You better not clean that shop up too much or else you gonna pay for it with the tour bunch rolling into town.:rofl:;):thumb:
 
Neat draws Glenn. Just a point that i got from the Chris Schwarz workbench book was one should not cover the area beneath the bench otherwise bench hooks have no where to go when you put them through dog holes.

How have you dealt with this?

That was exactly my failure on the 1st unit. I left enough room for shavings and lost items to be fished out but not enough for holddowns. The 2sqft area above the 1st unit is dead to this kind of use and I may have to eventually fix that (depending on my frustration level). The second unit is lower in height and will not be a problem. Having learned the hard way I am leaving adequate room for holddowns and through clamping this time.

One thing i have realized and its reinforced over and over for me is that draws that are deep in a shop just collect junk. So i am soon going to be converting my draws to more of the low profile draws and space things out more. Eaiser and neater access.
I preach this also. Drawers and cabinets with areas deeper than about 18" are just black holes to another dimension if they are not at least full extension. All my 22" deep drawers in this area are over extension to avoid the "lost world" that exists in deep drawers ;-) Other areas of the shop are restricted to 12" and 18" depths.

Thanks for sharing.:thumb: You better not clean that shop up too much or else you gonna pay for it with the tour bunch rolling into town.:rofl:;):thumb:
Not too much fear of that right now :D. The offer for a pit stop and tour is open but, even though the bus will pass within a few thousand feet of my house (if they take the 60 fwy route to Sam's), I don't know if their schedule will allow a stop. Dad and I will be in the shop Saturday if they get the chance. Whether they do or don't, dad and I will connect with them at the Maloof site. Game on!
 
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2nd Drawer Unit - Finishing Up

Well, I hoped to have these done before the Tour de Wood passed by and I made it. Dad came up as we will be doing the Sam Maloof gathering with Larry, Tom, Bill, Toni and whoever else.

Here's the false fronts all shellaced up:

false fronts.jpg

A couple stop blocks and a fence make drilling the through holes quick and accurate:

drill fronts.jpg

I attach them using the Danny Proulx method. The setup blocks keep things spaced correctly:

setup blocks.jpg

Moving right along:

moving along.jpg

And there we go. Time to fill 'em up:

2nd drawer unit done.jpg
 
Nice work Glenn:thumb: Your shop is soooooo clean :eek:

I like the idea of hanging the rulers from your bench. Just yesterday i was using mine and having to walk over to the wall where they are hanging interupted work flow. I think a change is in order. :thumb::thumb:Thanks.

Glenn i like the way you put the effort into even shop fixtures. Its always a place to practice is what i say to myself.:);):thumb:
 
Thanks guys. The hanging rulers get grabbed constantly. I think this may have been my first step in my organizational change. I used to keep all like items grouped together here and there. Now I keep often used items at arms reach and the rest will be those annoying 'few steps' away. You can't get too far away in my shop but sometimes crossing the shop gets to be like waiting on your PC to boot; it only take a little while but you get tired of it.
 
Glenn, I agree about having stuff closer at hand. I'm kicking around the idea of adding a little tool tray to the side of my do-all table. Not sure if I can sacrifice that much space, since I need to walk between the do-all table and the RAS to use the lathe on the back of the do-all table. I'm sure Larry would advise making the tool tray as big as would fit and not to worry about the access space. :rofl:
 
More Support and Chisel Move

The original design of this bench used BORG KD fir for the base and trim. All I can say is "don't do this", but that's another story. No fault of the wood but the design did not take the currently planned load into account. I noticed some preliminary sagging after the 1st drawer unit had been in place for awhile. To avoid further issue with the planned additional weight, I built a middle foot-thingie.

Made from free scrap that LOML brings from work. . . ,

2nd drawer unit-support-1.jpg

I lam'd a couple slabs of 7/8" plywood together, cut an arch and added adjustable feet made from t-nuts, carriage bolts and dimpled washers . . .

2nd drawer unit-support-2.jpg

There is enough range, as in the original feet, to handle relocating around my sloped garage floor if I ever want to do that.

2nd drawer unit-support-3.jpg

The driving force behind the additional drawers was to centralize and make room for my ever increasing "gotta have 'em close" chisel selections.

Here's where they used to set in unit 1:

2nd drawer unit-acc 001.jpg

Use SketchUp to figure out how many handle holes will fit in the drawer comfortably:

2nd drawer unit-acc 005.jpg

Use the DP fence, stop block and setup bars to drill the holes within 1/16" of clear through:

2nd drawer unit-acc 004.jpg

I may change things again someday so, like before, I double tape the handle sockets and magnet strip into the drawer:

2nd drawer unit-acc 006.jpg

All better:

2nd drawer unit-acc 010.jpg
 
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Looking good Glenn. As to in draw organizing i was talking with a friend of mine the other day regarding vacuum forming plastic. He used to be in the plastics industry. Well one thing led to another and we found some neat videos on You tube about how to do an easy vacuum form of any thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhajk_IDTUo

I plan on making one of these jigs and then using it to make up some trays for my draws.

It does not have to be such thin plastic that it will fall apart like the home depot kitchen draw trays but is pretty neat for getting precise shapes for different objects to lay in.
 
Glen

Real nice set up you have on your bench.

I have a similar plan in my head for a 2 section set of drawers with the whole top being lower like your right cabinet.

Both outside end panels one on each section run higher than the case about 4-5 inches & with the sections screwed together & a full extension drawer glide on those extended ends I'd have a drawer across the whole top of both cabinet sections.

My bench is also the out-feed table for my Unisaw so sometimes I need to clear it for action & this would make it easy. Pull the drawer out set the items needing to be cleared from the bench in the drawer & slide the drawer back in.
 
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