Workbench Toolbox Drawer With a Storage Shelf at the Bottom

by Kernel770 in Workshop > Workbenches

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Workbench Toolbox Drawer With a Storage Shelf at the Bottom

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If you have a workbench but no place for your toolboxes and/or hardware, you can make one of my shelves with as much drawers as you need. In addition, you will always have a storage shelf at the bottom.

The idea behind this shelf is that you have fast access to your tools and/or hardware. If you have hardware assortments which come in metal boxes, you will find this type of drawers quite useful. And cheap!

What You Need and What You Get

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For this one-drawer version, you will need:

- One pair of drawer guide rails in the length you want/need your drawer
- Five rectangular wooden boards cut to size (Jigsaw, Table saw, whatever suits you) plus the drawer board
- A power drill with the required bit(s), sanding paper
- Short screws (for the drawers and guide rails, not longer than the thickness of the wood)
- Long screws (for the drawer box assembly and mounting)

Total cost of the materials: 25 Euro for the wood, two Euro for the screws, eight Euro for the drawer guide rails.

Things you have to consider before you lay out the dimensions of the boards:

- How much space do you need?
- How many drawers? How big?
- How much clearance between them?

My Setup, the Layout

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don't be scared because I use the metric system, I live in Austria :)

THE DRAWER BOARD

I need one drawer for my toolbox, it has to be 50cm by 50cm;
Therefore I need drawer guide rails which are 50cm long

THE TWO SIDE BOARDS

The drawer should provide 10 cm clearance above (see picture)
At the bottom, the shelf should provide 20cm clearance
Keep in mind adding the thickness of the wood (2cm) , and you get the total height of the side boards. (36cm) The side boards will have 36cm by 50 cm.

THE TWO DESK MOUNTS AND BASE

In the drawing you can see that I have to cut the base and the desk mounts a little longer than the drawer board.
Assemble one drawer guide rail and measure how thick it is. Since you have one rail either side, double this value and add one millimeter or so just to be sure.

Example: Rail assembly thickness: 1.2 cm -> 2.4 cm; Now I have to cut the board 52.5 cm by 50 cm and the mounts 52.5 cm by 10 cm

Cut, Screw, Assemble

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After I've cut out all the parts and sanded them, I assembled them like described in the picture.

One
Take a side board and bolt down the desk mounts. Flip it over.

Two
Measure down the clearance you want (10 cm) Mount the guide rail.

Three
Flip it back on the desk mounts and attach the other side board. Again, measure 10 cm and mount the other guide rail.

Four
Finaly, place the base between the side boards and bolt it down.

The blocks clamped down in the picture are just to keep everthing in front nice and flush.

Finished!

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Congrats! Now you can screw the whole box you've just made underneath your workbench/table, and fit in your drawer(s)!

For the finishing touch: I've made little "L"'s and "I"'s in the back for my toolbox, so it won't move around when I pull it out or open it.

Big thanks for reading my (very first!) instructable! Let me know if you've made one for yourself!