Videos of workbench drawer
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19 December 2016 at 3:59 am #143490
I notice Paul has a post about his drawer in his workbench. is there any instructions or video around of how to make and install a drawer like that?
https://paulsellers.com/2015/01/my-workbench-drawer/
Hi Jason,
I also never found anywhere Paul answered how he makes the drawer supports – I suspect he does it much better then me 🙂
For anyone who may be interested, this is how I did it on my Paul Sellers style workbench. It’s a utility method rather than a pretty one. Probably someone else has a better method in all ways, but I can tell you that this one does work to get a functioning drawer if that is what you want…Just don’t look too closely at the photos 🙂
#1 Make a drawer box however you like. I simply made a large rectangular box with dovetailed corners, a few through mortice and tenon support rails spanning the width of the bottom of the box and a plywood base just closely fitted and double taped on top of the rails. I decided to not bother with a drawer pull as I didn’t like the idea of one sticking out from the apron. I just drilled a circular hole to use to open the drawer – it works, is comfortable and I actually quite like the look of it.
#2 Mark the rectangle on the apron in the appropriate position using the dimensions of your box. I used the front plate of the drawer box before glue up.
#3 Knife wall and drill or chop the hole out of the apron. It’s the same as fitting the vice really. I got some tearout on the rear of the apron due to haste and lack of skill, but it works.
#4 cut two battens that are the length of the internal distance between the front and rear aprons. You will want the battens and ends to be square in order to make the next parts easier. It also helps if your bench is square (mine isn’t, but that’s another story…)
#5 Use Metal L brackets and screws to attach the brackets to the aprons from the inside. This was a bit fiddly, but possibly easier than attempting some in-place pre-screw joinery technique I don’t know about.
I positioned the battens using the drawer opening. I aligned the top of each batten with the bottom of the opening for the drawer, and the outside of each batten just very slightly outside of the side of the drawer opening. The square batten ends hopefully will mean that the battens are going square across between the two aprons. I also used a spirit level to ensure that the battens went horizontally rather than ramping up or down.
This done, the drawer should have basic support so that it can slide in or out of the opening.
#6 Attach side pieces to the outside of the battens from #5 at right angles. These make the drawer “runners” essentially L shaped and ensure that the drawer can’t twist or rack sideways, jam or otherwise cause mischief. You can do this before attaching the battens to the aprons, too, of course.
#7 Application of wax liberally to drawer and runners.
I hope this helps someone.
Mike
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You must be logged in to view attached files.29 January 2017 at 6:44 pm #308818A perfectly convincing method! However, I haven’t got “my” workbench yet, so I will attach the batons with tenons, rather than metal brackets. On an existing workbench, the batons could go into vertical slits, and a piece of wood in each slit to close it underneath. I would add another baton between the first two, to make them a bit stiffer. And I will add stoppers, so the drawer can’t go in further than “in”.
But this does not change the original idea, batons, side rails and a rectangle box to be the drawer. Actually, it seems to be quite a common method for old kitchen tables.
Dieter
That was one thing I actually checked when I had the chance at Penrhyn Castle three years ago. This picture is not from Paul’s current bench, but from the one I was working on.
I’m no expert at all, but if you make sure you have a runner that is not lower than the edge and a top support, either the bench top underside or as here a separate top runner, it doesn’t matter all too much how it’s done. With my own bench, I have a few blocks and bottom runners nailed to the inside of the bench with small nails and it works all right. It was supposed to be only for testing the fit, but well, you know how it is with temporary solutions.
If you don’t have a full height drawer and want to keep dust out of it, I think that’s what the plywood to the sides is for.
If you plan it all ahead, you can also insert runners in mortises from the inside of the bench. Richard Maguire (TheEnglishWoodworker) has a current series for a small hall table where he uses this solution.
Cheers,
DavidAttachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.I’d also love an in detail video on how to make a workbench apron drawer, to be honest I’ve been thinking of just using simpler butt joinery with coach screws and glue or wrought iron nails to save time, not sure it’ll be strong enough?
I also want drawers on both sides as well as the apron, and even after all that I’ll still need a tool box.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by btyreman.
1 September 2018 at 10:23 pm #550817I can’t believe the drawer video didn’t come out yesterday. Come on guys, what’s the hold up! We’ve had six weeks of workbench customization projects but no drawer. I was sure this was going to be the week!
I’m kidding of course. I won’t complain about free content. I’ll keep waiting patiently.
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