Workbench + Cabinet with drawers
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My new Workbench is complete and I would like to share it’s views with the members of this forum. Please see attached video.
A few notes. The bench design is by Paul Sellers and the cabinet below is my own idea.
All the techniques and joinery for the cabinet can be found in many episodes of Woodworking Masterclasses.
Thanks for watching.
Thanks Derek and @btyreman
The purpose of making it sliding is to be sure that it won’t be on the way of something while working on the vice.
Thank you Keith.
Yes, the rails have a slightly tapered notch that fits snug with the leg frame. These additions were afterthoughts and were made as a quick fix.
So far I don’t have any issues, but my gut feeling tells me that the tapered rails will snap off at one point if the leg moves. Although it won’t cause functional failure, because the top of this rail will remain in tact, but it will look awful, visually.
That’s awesome. Love the design and fluidity of the drawers.
I wanted a drawer for my bench and just bullied a hole through my apron and made a drawer with some scrap, but used a nice piece of recycled hardwood for the face of it (and used Paul’s drawer pull design to make the pull). It was my first attempt at half-blind dovetails though and I was quite pleased with how well they came out! Gives me a place to keep my square, files, rasp and other smaller/thinner items as opposed to hanging them all on the pegboard behind my bench and then trying to remember where on the wall I hung them.
I can never tell why some photos post sideways and others straight…something with the “smart”phone.
Very nice, David.
At first I was going to make a larger drawer on the apron, but after thinking through a bit more I decided to go with a separate drawer cabinet. The apron pieces were picked by a good friend who is a woodworking enthusiast and also makes his workbench for home use. Hi choice also played a role in not cutting the aprons for a drawer. With this said, I totally enjoyed the whole process with friends.
The “smart” phones aren’t very smart. Although they are designed for left or right handed use, sometimes importing a picture to other devices shows the image upside down. I’m right handed, so when I take a picture the home button is towards my palm, the volume buttons are downwards. In your case maybe you’re left handed and the volume buttons are upwards. Although this later method is the correct way to hold any camera, because the flash is above the lens, but when imported to the server it shows upside down.
I love your drawer design, and I think I’d like to copy it for my own bench. It looks like dovetails at the back of the case. How is the front joined? A single wedged tenon divider between the two drawers? The top and bottom are frame and panel and glued in place? What did you use for runners for the drawers? I’ve never made something like this, so any help you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Hi Austin,
As I was making the cabinet I didn’t use any drawings due to it being a prototype. But I have made a quick drawing of the front divider for you to see.
For the most part your observation is correct. The only difference I saw is about the top and bottom panels.
The bottom panel is glued up.
The top panel, however, is only screwed on. The reason why I didn’t glue the top was to be able to remove the top just in case drawers were swollen and I couldn’t access my tools. It would be painful to destroy the drawer fronts, because they were basically the cornerstone of this piece and the front divider was curved along with the drawer faces.
I think it’s adequate to not glue the top because it’s already very strong, plus it’s under the bench where no one can see those screws. The only thing to take into consideration is to drive the screw heads a bit lower than the surface, because the surface itself is another hidden shelf.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Oh one more thing to take into consideration. The mortise is very close to the edge of the cabinet front, so make sure is not super tight as it may split the side panel. Don’t worry about the twist of this front divider, because it is housed in a ¼” housing dado. So the mortise can be quite “loose”.
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