Thread: How to make mini drawers?

Hi Dave

First up, I wouldn't describe 7 mm ply as being thin. I reserve "thin" for stuff thinner than 4 mm.

Strength wise, for the drawers / bins of the size you described, 3 mm ply bases would be plenty strong enough, so using 7 mm ply for the base will be way more than strong enough. The hardboard would also be strong enough.

in terms of making the drawer sides.
8 or 9 mm thick solid wood will be thick enough -- but do you have the tools to resaw the 19mm pine? Your Triton is possibly not a good choice.
Then again the 7 mm ply will do just fine for the sides, back and face. (use false fronts to disguise the ply if you want to.

Then it just comes down to how much jigging-up you want to do for two drawers / bins.

with a bit of jigging for the assembly step, you can build a square box from 7 mm ply using butt joints reinforced with dowels or nails. The base, once attached, will give the box it's strength and keep it square. For a basic box, I'd extend the base to just beyond the outside edges of the box and then flush it to fit. But you could also trap the base in a rebate on all 4 sides. Doing it this way just means that you need to be a bit more precise cutting out the base.

Locally I can buy 1/8 and 3/16 (3.2 and 4.8 mm) diameter dowel, but I'm not sure the same is true in Brisvegas.

A good alternative is bamboo skewers from the supermarket, or brass escutcheon pins, or brads, or copper nails, or even steel wire nails. If using nails drill a clearance hole and use a dab of CA or polyurethane glue to hold the pin in place.

If you can accurately cut out a rectangular blank, the sides, front, back and base can be made from a single piece of 7 mm ply.
For a really neat method of making a fold-up box, have a look at this youTube (starting at about 4:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCbbvGYEhCo If the link doesn't work search for "Making a Fold-up Mitered Box - WOOD magazine"

The basic method will also work if you just want to fold up the sides of the box.
Again, if you feel the need, once assembled, the mitered corners can be reinforced with dowels or metal "pins", or slip feathers (use veneer for the feathers), or 3 mm thick keys.

you could also finger joint the 7 mm ply, but for a utility box, I'd only use finger joints as a practice for something more special.

Dave

To make your bins / drawers I suggest you use a strip of the 7mm Ply with sufficient length to provide all the ends and sides, and the height you want. Cut a groove say 3mm wide at what will be the bottom of the sides to house a bottom. Then cut 45 degree mitres where the joints will be.

If you then lay out the sides end to end, with the outside of you bin facing up, you can run strips of tape along the face of the bin with sufficient tension to pull the joints together.

Flip this over and fold to form the Bin, to make sure it has the required tension.

If you are satisfied you can then flip back over, insert the bottom apply glue to the joints and fold again to form the bin and apply tape to the last joint.

With care you can cut the ply so the figure in the play will run all round the bin, if you wish.

The glue will hold the bin fine. However without reinforcement dropping the box will likely cause the joints to open up. On a utility box, I usually reinforce with 3mm dowels made from Bamboo skewers.

Regards

Thanks for all the helpful advice everyone. I am traveling this week but next week I'll try and source the materials to put these ideas in practice.

Someone might be raiding the kitchen in search of bamboo skewers me thinks. Shhh

The methods above described by others will no doubt work fine. Personally I don't like using nails, screws or trying to drill home-made dowels into narrow ply, but that's just me. Also, I find the lock mitre joint works really well for these kind of structures.

The small Infinity lock mitre bit is for "stock from ⅜″ to ¾″ thick". Timbecon stock their bits and there are some good instructions on youtube. I haven't posted a link but a quick internet search will reveal all.

You may feel that the cost of this bit is too much to make a couple of drawers but I have found that I have used mine a lot over the years (I bought mine from the USA pre-Timbecon) so I would recommend having one anyway.

If you want to go the epoxy route you should consider Epox-E-Glue from Bote-Cote Pacific. You can purchase quite small quantities of that and it has a longer shelf-life that PVA and polyurethane adhesives. It is very strong and has great gap-filling ability. It is my "go to" epoxy.

Depending on when you need to do this you could consider buying the epoxy at the Timber and Working with Wood show in Brisbane. Bote-Cote usually have a stand and they are very helpful to talk to (no financial or other affiliation, just a satisfied user).

David

I recently did some searching for a quick and easy way to build small drawers and bins for my shop. I came across this video on the Fine Woodworking website. It requires a router table and v-groove bit.
This will work perfectly for my needs.
Easy Plywood Box or Tray - FineWoodworking

I neglected to mention in my previous post that there are wooden nails available here ;-https://www.japanesetools.com.au/collections/wooden-nails I have been using these for about 18 months & have found them to be excellent. I use liquid hide glue, as it has a long open time, and easy clean up with warm water.

I have found with the process I am now using that I can usually have a box done quicker than setting up a router, and don't have the noise and mess that a router creates. Although, I may change, if I had a large number to do.

I use to use power tools a lot, but now use hand tools much more and find the process much more enjoyable. I acknowledge that this may not suit all, and there is naught wrong with that.


Cheers