Tool chest mark II

slow-poke

slow-poke

Ultra Member
My name is Slowpoke and I have a tool box problem. It all started when I purchased a new mill that required R8 tooling and the roll around "mill tools" box that lives adjacent to the mill was a drawer or so short for the required new tooling.

Fortunately some of the tools in the mill toolbox would be better located in the workbench toolbox, however there were no spare drawers there either, so I made a little tool chest to compliment the existing one. It's a little bit rough around the edges (first time);-)

So with what I learned from the first tool box build I'm now thinking of building another one so I can migrate even more tools over from the mill tool box. I'm going to shuffle things around a bit, the lathe is going to turn 90 degrees so the spindle side is unobstructed for long stock, and the drill press will move were the lathe is now. This shuffle will open up some wall space so I can move the drill indexes presently above the work bench to the wall freeing up space for the Mark II tool chest. Picture posted below after a long over due cleanup that took all of yesterday (Susquatch is going to love it). )-)

So now I have a wood related question......

The space available will be up to 30" wide and 12" deep. I don't anticipate heavy loads but things like gauge blocks could approach say 20 lbs? per drawer. Can't afford to have saggy drawers in the the long run and if the drawer bottoms are too thick that ends up wasting a lot of precious vertical space. Assuming I use wood for the drawer bottoms and considering the span say about 26", is this best built with plywood or solid wood and what thickness to prevent long term sag?

I'm not against using something other than wood for the drawer bottoms if that makes sense, comments welcome.
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Dan Dubeau

Ultra Member
Nice looking space. Many years back lee valley used to had toolbox drawers that were made from sheet metal, and you could just build a wooden box to suit, and the drawer would slide in a saw kerf in the carcass. I don't know if they still do, but you could draw something up and have send cut send deliver your steel drawers. Shipping might be cheaper if they're flat, so you could perforate the bend lines, and hand bend them when you get them.
Sheet metal would eat up less vertical space. Even using a 1/4" drawer bottom takes away an inch of space over 4 drawers.

Doesn't appear leevalley still offer them, but here's a thread over on garage journal about them. Careful don't hang around there too long, or you'll sell all your current boxes and end up buying snap on ones....
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/metal-drawers-with-runners.142010/
 
Martin w

Martin w

Well-Known Member
Very nice shop,
My son and I have a commercial millwork company. The Russian birch plywood is probably the easiest and least expensive route. Comes in varying thicknesses in 5’x5’ sheets. Also available in 4x8 sheets .
if you have access to a jointer and thickness planer you can use some white oak or rift cut oak to build the drawers. You could probably go down to 3/8” thickness and still have lots of strength. Even thinner, but gets harder to machine.
If you can buy some oak already dressed to 3/8” or 1/4” would save a lot of time.

Just remember if you use solid wood for drawer bottoms , wood expands in width and thickness but not length. This is why rift cut is best as it keeps the movement to a minimum. I have seen many hobby projects ruined from wood expansion.

You may be able to buy kiln dried rift cut white oak from Upper Canada Forest Prodcts, Weston Premium Woods, Robert Bury, McFaddens, or Oliver Lumber. These are all in the GTA but deliver in your neck of the woods.
Martin W
 
J

jorogi

Well-Known Member
Years ago a friend built a plane and made the floor out of plywood. Did a great job and and it was perfect. But he removed it and weighed it and tossed it, too heavy. (actually it wasn't bad but Jeff is a gram type of guy).
He remade the boards out of some 1/4" foam reinforced with a fiberglass sandwhich. The lightest weight cloth and as little resin as possible. Result, half the weight yet way stronger.
I know you're not worried about weight but it is a very strong thin possibility.
 
H

Hruul

Lee - metalworking novice
I would think 1/4" plywood should work fine in the dimensions you are talking about if you use a joint like below (I use the one labelled 'B'). this would be for the bottom. This is how i have done all my drawers and I don't have any sag so far. Some small drawers I used 1/8-1/4" hardboard and don't have any issues. Doing this joint on all four sides, while a bit stubborn to get together really stiffens the bottom of the drawer.
 

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slow-poke

slow-poke

Ultra Member
Hruul said:
I would think 1/4" plywood should work fine in the dimensions you are talking about if you use a joint like below (I use the one labelled 'B'). this would be for the bottom. This is how i have done all my drawers and I don't have any sag so far. Some small drawers I used 1/8-1/4" hardboard and don't have any issues. Doing this joint on all four sides, while a bit stubborn to get together really stiffens the bottom of the drawer.
Click to expand...
Hruul,

Thanks for that and easy to do on the mill. I'm collecting advice and ideas and formulating a plan.

I used ball bearing drawer slides on the first one, looking at how Gerstner puts theirs together, they just mill a slot for the slide (certainly makes it less expensive to build) and if I used nylon for the slide block might be a reasonable approach, one downside is the drawer can be pulled out.

:)
 
Susquatch

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
slow-poke said:
Can't afford to have saggy drawers
Click to expand...

The older you get the bigger this problem gets..... Best solution is HD diapers.

slow-poke said:
in the the long run and if the drawer bottoms are too thick that ends up wasting a lot of precious vertical space. Assuming I use wood for the drawer bottoms and considering the span say about 26", is this best built with plywood or solid wood and what thickness to prevent long term sag?
Click to expand...

I'd use cabinet grade plywood and be prepared to add some angle metal stiffeners to the bottom of the plywood if it sagged too much. If you use a groove in the drawer sides to join the plywood bottom, there will be room under the bottom for the stiffeners. They don't need to be big. Two or three 1/4 x 3/8 x the drawer width angle steel would be fine.
 
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