I'm curious to hear how these have stranded up to any expanding or contracting with changes in humidity? I'm thinking of using this method on my mobile workbench build.
In my opinion this is perhaps one of the better videos on how to add drawers to a workbench, it explains it better and it’s easier to follow, thank you
I built something similar years ago. I needed a workbench, and some shelves for storing power tools. I built the entire thing out of 5/8ths plywood, 2x6, 2x4, and some 5,000 lb car parts shipping rack casters I got for free. Coated the entire thing with black enamel paint. I was planning on putting a steel top on it but steel was higher than a kite at the time. 73x24. It's a beast. It'll outlive me, and probably all of my kids too. Always been curious as to what it weighs. I don't guess I had $300 hard cash into it though.
Perfect timing. I was in my shop trying to figure out how I could have more storage for my hand tools without adding another mobile tool chest. I thought about putting drawers under my workbench, but was turned off by the price of the slides. I found this on a sleepless night! Thank you for sharing your idea.
Great video! You’ve got a great set up! I like how it’s not flashy and not overloaded with every red or yellow cordless power tool on the market. Thanks
Love this! I’ve been looking for a smart way to make drawers without buying a bunch of expensive metal slides. I’m going to have to use a router because my jobsite saw won’t accept dados, but other than that I’m going to follow your lead. Love the handles as well. Simple and don’t require additional hardware.
I like the way you did this very much. At first I was wondering why you placed what turned out to be the bottom into the dados. It seemed to be a waste of wood. Then when you put the drawer boxes in and marked them to the bottoms it made perfect sense and its a great idea. I haven’t seen it done that way before. I have a lot of those plastic storage boxes I got from Harbor Freight and Ive been mulling over in my mind how to put them in a cabinet below one of my rolling benches and this lit the light in my head to do. It the same way. Make the bottoms to slide in dados mark the tray to the boxes and put a few screws through the box into the sliding tray so they would have something to hold them and easily slide them out. First time Ive been to your site. Glad I stopped by.
looks like a great idea. Love that the drawers are accessible from either side of the bench. I have real limited space in my workspo and this is a feature I will definitely be copying!
I like not only the integration of the drawers with the existing cabinet (something I needed some ideas how to do), but also the fact that you made them accessible to both sides of the table. With mobile tables (or ones simple in the middle of the shop) that seems the only way to go.
I was just thinking about adding some drawers to my miter station and this is the perfect design without getting into slides and stuff. Think I’m going to have to steal this 😂
You can't argue with the result, I would say just be wary of doing your layout on the sheet(s) of plywood. Think you will burn an inch or so more for each bottom.
Good job, thank you very much for taking your time to teach others, very grateful for your great effort and dedication. May God bless you today and always.
@DanielDunlap great F ing video! Great way to keep the sawdust off all of the power tools usually stacked in that spot under the bench! and of course more space! One question for you and everyone, why the hell do people not put some finish on their drawers? I have watched a lot of these videos for ways to not use hardware and no one seems to varnish these cabinets and drawers. Maybe they do after and not on the video to save time.
I like the idea of no drawer guides, you saved a lot of money ,im going to do the same thing , after I priced 12 guides over $200 just for a pole barn work bench ,never thought of doing that ,,thanks for the insight
Awesome use of the bottom for slides. I've done slides, rails, you name it. Will give this a try, making a captains bed and never know what side the drawers will need to slide out of. Might give this a try. Only issue I had in the past with the drawer fronts is lots of dust getting in there. Hated always vacuuming those out. Putting a few moving blankets helped but always an added hassle.
Interesting project. I do wish you'd have done a little more narration, I was spending more time trying to figure out why you were doing what you were doing until I caught on.
Interesting take on simple, cost effective shop drawers. I really wish you'd have taken 30 seconds of the finished product, showing a top view with sound (of the drawer sliding in/out) to give some idea of how smooth it is and how much play there is in the dados (if any). Thanks for making this video!
You read my mind when I saw you adding paste wax to the drawer slides. So many different ways to do this, I wonder why you went this route rather than buying metal drawer slides? One last thing when you took out the saw stop I wish you had taken a minute and explained what you were doing. But good job never the less.
Thanks for the video , I have 2 bench's that I want to add drawers to , and some BigBox Store melamine cabinets with doors that have shelves , and are a waste of space. I looked at using metal drawer slides , but that would have added up $$ significantly, considered using something similar what you did, but couldn't get it off the ground ! .....Onward !! thanks!!
Great job! Now I have to rethink my plan to add drawers using drawer slides. Your build is a much more efficient use of all available space. did you use any wax for the drawers to slide that well?
very interesting video.... can you answer a cpl questions for me..... what kind of weight are in the drawers and how are they sliding after a year? Seems like a great money saver. I made a 15 ft bench and was wanting to put drawers and sliding baskets under it... Thanks in advance.
How much money you think one this style costs? I know you save a lot without drawer slides, handles, etc... I'm debating between a few different styles for which will suit me best
TheCladi8or - 1/2” sticking out on the bottoms for sliding. And I used 1/2” ply for all drawers until I ran out and had to use some 3/4” leftovers i had from other projects.
If the sides are 3/4 ply. How deep are your dado cuts? I was searching the comments trying to see how think your ply was. Orig I thought the sides were 1in and the dados were 1/2 deep.
Tell me about the little 5th leg/jack thing. I assume that's an addition brace/caster lock, but if so, why that instead of locking casters? And if it's awesome, where do I get it ;-)
What is the width of your bench? I would like to use your ideas, my bench is 42” width, thinking of cutting down the width to use your plan. Thank you.
Was a good vid... Informative and entertaining. But the audio has to go! Maybe just narrate a little bit over the top and let the audio just be you working on the project. Kind of like jay bates
Eric - yes I thought entirely. I hate that mindless repetitious "muzac". Also it would be good to have some narration explaining about dimensions and thoughts behind the design and build methods. I didn't realize that the drawers slid in a dado until I read the comments and then went back to the video to verify.
Can anyone recommend a way to support larger drawers, constructed the same way that are @ 30x30'? I'm adding drawers under my outfeed table and I'm thinking my 1/2" plywood will start to warp. Should I glue and screw in a support on the inside of the drawers length or width wise? I used 3/4" plywood for the "face frames" with dado's cut in.
I'm just about to add drawers to my bench and I saw this, I love it! Can I ask how the drawers are going a year later? Any issues with the slides wearing or bearing weight? Cheers from Australia mate.
@@DanielDunlap thanks Daniel, have subscribed to your IG account, some great stuff there too. Hey sorry mate one more question - how much wider are the dado's that the drawers slide into compared to the thickness of the drawer bottoms? They look pretty flush from the video but I guess they'd have a little give in them, say 1mm or 3/64 of an inch? My table saw won't take dado's so I'll have to router them out.
