Cubby Cabinet

[jsburger]

Woodpeckers has their cubby drawers on sale so I bought 5 boxes (30). I thought I would build a "cabinet" to put them in.

http://www.woodpeck.com/cubby-drawer.html

The drawers are basically designed to attach under a bench or a cabinet or something similar. I decided to make an open front cabinet with shelves so they are all in the same place. The drawers are about 2" high but I made the shelves 4" apart to add some storage on each shelf below the drawers.

I put the banding on the shelves first because the drawer sliders must be put on the shelves before the cabinet is assembled.

Two coats of spray on shellac, sanded and then one coat of spray on polly for a little protection.

Next is attach the drawer slides, cut the dados and assemble.

[Penaloza]

What's it like made up? Any good?

[jsburger]

What's it like made up? Any good?

It is not finished yet. I just started it.

[jsburger]

I got some more done today. I cut the dados for the shelves in the side pieces of the cabinet. There is a rabbit on each end of the sides and then four equally spaced dados. I used the Micro Jig dado stop for the first time. I have to say it is very easy to set up and it is dead on. It only took about 5 minutes to set up. After setting it up I made a test cut and it was perfect. No playing around to get the proper width of a stacked dado set. This thing really works. I used my Forrest box joint blades set to 1/4". The stock is 1/2" Baltic Birch ply. You can use it with a stacked dado set also. The beauty of this thing is that you don't have to fool around with shims to get the stack to cut an exact width. As long as the stack is narrower than the desired dado width it works.

What the stop does is cut both cheeks of the dado to the perfect width of the stock being used. Yes it takes a minimum of two passes but if your stack is slightly wider than half the dado width it only takes two passes. That is much quicker than playing around with shims and making multiple test cuts to dial in the width.

The first two pictures show the two positions of the stop to cut the cheeks to the proper width. The third picture shows the rabbit on the ends. The fourth and fifth pictures show both sides of the one and only test cut. It was a perfect fit. The last picture is the completed cabinet sides. Notice there is zero tear out. No tape was used. That is a testament to the quality of Forrest blades.

[jsburger]

I finished cutting the rabbits in the sides for the back of the cabinet. Then I clamped it together and cut the back panel. Finally I Taped the drawer guides to each shelf and drilled the pilot holes for all the screws. 120 holes later they are all done. Left to do is trim the edge banding on the shelves to proper length and apply the edge banding to the sides. Attach all the drawer guides to the shelves and then a dry fit and final assembly.

[BuckeyeDennis]

That's a lot of holes! I'll be very interested to see how this project turns out. I have a ton of fasteners that need better organization, and I'm looking for ideas.

Your photo also reminded me that I still need one of those nice vacuum-sucker snouts for my OPR, and the laser cross-hairs for my 10ER drill press.

[jsburger]

That's a lot of holes! I'll be very interested to see how this project turns out. I have a ton of fasteners that need better organization, and I'm looking for ideas.

Your photo also reminded me that I still need one of those nice vacuum-sucker snouts for my OPR, and the laser cross-hairs for my 10ER drill press.

I have a bunch of stuff also. The large cabinet was built from plans in Woodsmith (maybe Shopnotes) many years ago. As you can see I have out grown it. Hence the new cabinet. The drawers are much smaller than the bins in the big cabinet but that is OK since I have a LOT of small hardware so the cubby drawers will be fine.

[jsburger]

Today I got all the drawer guides attached to the shelves and the cabinet glued up except for the back. Left to do is install the back, trim the edge banding on the shelves and install the edge banding on the sides. Then hang it up and fill it up.

[jsburger]

Well, it is done. Just need to hang it and fill it.

[JPG]

Well, it is done. Just need to hang it and fill it.

NICE! I definitely recommend hanging FIRST, THEN 'filling' it!





Do use strong hangers! French cleat comes to mind.