Page 1 of 8 123456 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 112
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default Underbench cabinets

    I decided to add a cabinet to my work bench. There are just too many tools on the wall, and many would be better off stored in drawers where I can reach for them when needed.

    Please feel free to post your underbench cabinets here. I do not recall a thread on this topic.





    The cabinet will span as wide and high as it can go without being impeded by either hold downs or the sliding deadman.


    This tool cabinet is inspired by the North Bennet Street School version (a well-known woodworking school in Boston). The tool cabinet is one of their training pieces. One became an article by Tommy MacDonald in PW magazine.

    Tommy's tool cabinet ..




    Mine will be a little larger, more drawers, and a more complex construction involving mitred through dovetails ...




    Dimensions: 660mm x 400mm x 400mm (26" x 15 3/4" x 15 3/4").

    Small drawers: 205mm x 70mm (8" x 2 3/4")
    Large drawers: 305mm x 95" (12" x 3 3/4")


    Merbau case being dovetailed. This is definitely going to add some weight to the bench!






    Well, this is about the fourth mitred through dovetail case I've built in about 18 months. I must be getting the hang of it now, since this was straight off the saw. No tweaking needed. Merbau is hard and has no give at all ... did I tell you that I love that I can re-fresh my chisels on the power buffer? What a different it makes to chop and pare with really sharp chisels.







    The Merbau comes as a panel from Bunnings. This is shop furniture and I make no excuses for taking a shortcut. The 18mm thick panels are flat and ready to go. Literally all I have done is cut them to size.



    The penalty is that the wood is bloody hard!

    The drawer fronts will be Jarrah.

    Just to prove to myself that it was no fluke, it happened again ...







    Regards from Perth


    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    lower eyre peninsular
    Age
    74
    Posts
    3,577

    Default

    fair crack of the whip batman, I bow to you Derek for your quality and dedication.

    I will not show pics but I went garage sale shopping bought a few bedside & kitchen cabinets, adjusted where needed, fitted them all into a work bench, I have added quarter dowelling under the MDF base so they dont fall out.

    To dress them up, I am cutting up a sheet of ply that will fix to each drawer front, hopefully, all matching.
    I would love to grow my own food, but I can not find bacon seeds

  4. #3
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast
    Age
    70
    Posts
    2,730

    Default

    Hi Derek,

    I use the chest I made for the 2015 pallet challenge as an underbench chest. It is also loosely based on the North Bennet St version, sized to fit what I could cut out of the pallet, but it also happened to fit almost perfectly under my bench. The only issue I had was the bottom drawer hit the deadman track when opening, fixed by sitting it on top of a reclaimed sheet of plywood from another pallet!
    IMG_20201130_121621.jpg

    Cheers,
    Franklin

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Bundaberg
    Age
    54
    Posts
    3,402

    Default

    So where are you going to store your Moxon vise now?

    When I built my small-ish workbench a dozen or so years ago I incorporated drawers on full length HD runners about 2/3rds across the available space underneath. At the time I didn't consider hold-downs or even think of things like a deadman; their lack really annoyed me after moving more towards the Dark Side hence my outdoor bench build earlier this year. Saying that; the drawers have been incredibly useful and I couldn't be without them now. The top drawer contains mostly stationary, drawing equipment, refences and weird odds & sods. The 2nd one contains mainly drilling and screwing gear and three others house most of my bench planes, spokeshaves and chisels. Next to the bench are a pair of "temporarily" installed ex-kitchen drawer units; I'm giving serious consideration to replacing them with a single bespoke drawer unit!

    And those dovetails look great; I'm a long way off being able to make them anywhere near that neat straight off the saw. Loooooong way.....

    . Maestro!
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    CT, the Moxon will be obviously need to go elsewhere!

    There are many tools on both the wall and also on work surfaces (such as where I keep the shooting board). The work surface is a better place for the Moxon, and the tools are better in drawers.

    My plan is to reduce the number of drawers by building in sliding trays. That will not only lessen the build time, but also lower the clutter and enable tools, such as chisels and marking, to be grouped together.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzie View Post
    Hi Derek,

    I use the chest I made for the 2015 pallet challenge as an underbench chest. It is also loosely based on the North Bennet St version, sized to fit what I could cut out of the pallet, but it also happened to fit almost perfectly under my bench. The only issue I had was the bottom drawer hit the deadman track when opening, fixed by sitting it on top of a reclaimed sheet of plywood from another pallet!
    IMG_20201130_121621.jpg

    Cheers,
    Franklin, let's see more of this chest. It looks wonderful!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast
    Age
    70
    Posts
    2,730

    Default

    Hi Derek,

    The build thread is here. Pictures intact!

    Cheers,
    Franklin
    Franklin

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    back in Alberta for a while
    Age
    68
    Posts
    12,006

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    I decided to add a cabinet to my work bench. There are just too many tools on the wall, and many would be better off stored in drawers where I can reach for them when needed.



    The cabinet will span as wide and high as it can go without being impeded by either hold downs or the sliding deadman.


    This tool cabinet is inspired by the North Bennet Street School version (a well-known woodworking school in Boston). The tool cabinet is one of their training pieces. One became an article by Tommy MacDonald in PW magazine.

    Tommy's tool cabinet ..




    Mine will be a little larger, more drawers, and a more complex construction involving mitred through dovetails ...




    Dimensions: 660mm x 400mm x 400mm (26" x 15 3/4" x 15 3/4").

    Small drawers: 205mm x 70mm (8" x 2 3/4")
    Large drawers: 305mm x 95" (12" x 3 3/4")
    Derek
    Your only mention of what you intend placing in the under bench cabinet is "the tools on the wall" and while you seem to have already determined how big each drawer will be, I will nevertheless recommend that each drawer should really only hold a single layer of tools.
    And where possible, each drawer should be sized to fit a "set" eg the plough plane and its associated cutters.

    etc
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ian View Post
    Derek
    Your only mention of what you intend placing in the under bench cabinet is "the tools on the wall" and while you seem to have already determined how big each drawer will be, I will nevertheless recommend that each drawer should really only hold a single layer of tools.
    And where possible, each drawer should be sized to fit a "set" eg the plough plane and its associated cutters.

    etc
    Ian, I should have mentioned the boxes of chisels and other similar tools which inhabit the work surfaces, which could be better used, or the specialist planes (block planes, shoulder planes, side rebate planes) which would be nicer to have closer to hand, rather than crowded together on a shelf ...

    I will examine the use of drawers. I just did not want to have to make more drawers if this could be avoided.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    back in Alberta for a while
    Age
    68
    Posts
    12,006

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    Ian, I should have mentioned the boxes of chisels and other similar tools which inhabit the work surfaces, which could be better used, or the specialist planes (block planes, shoulder planes, side rebate planes) which would be nicer to have closer to hand, rather than crowded together on a shelf ...

    I will examine the use of drawers. I just did not want to have to make more drawers if this could be avoided.
    Derek
    in some respects I hear you, in others I'm going


    Only you can decide what best suits your work flow but at 70 mm deep, even your small drawers are, to my way of thinking, too deep for many of the tools you mention as needing more convenient [for you] homes.
    Whilst I understand your desire to limit the number of dovetails you need to cut, drawers at around 20 - 25 mm deep will allow you to store many more tools in the "workshop furniture" without resorting to the use of tills.
    Most of the drawers in my own [under construction] tool box are 25 to 30 mm deep -- with plywood bottoms. This depth is ideal for flat things like layout squares, rules, etc.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    Ian, I agree with your argument for drawers with less depth. The reason for the depth of these drawers is deliberate. They will not be full length deep internally, but have runners at the rear to create a full extension when siding out. Internally, it has been my plan to use siding trays, which will then take the internal height to something similar to yours. In many respects, our plan overlaps, and it is just that the fewer drawers and overall case dimensions make it look so different.

    EDIT TO ADD

    Ian, there is another motive for building this cabinet. I shall retire in 4 years, and this will involve selling our present house (and workshop/garage), where we have lived for 30+ years, and downsize to a slightly smaller property - one without the garden and pool to maintain. Part of the plan for the bench is to create future storage for tools, as well as storage for travel to a new workshop. We have another house, not far from where we are at present, but will need to build a workshop there. Something to look forward to, but also there is the awareness that I need to conserve space.


    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    A little update.

    All four sides are dovetailed. Through dovetails with mitres at each corner. And every one went together off the saw ... well, almost - one mitre required a smidgeon of a mm pared away to close tightly. All tight and square. I am quite chuffed.



    This is the difficult part - to get the mitres to close along with the sockets ...






    Inside the bench ...






    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    back in Alberta for a while
    Age
    68
    Posts
    12,006

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    EDIT TO ADD

    Ian, there is another motive for building this cabinet. I shall retire in 4 years, and this will involve selling our present house (and workshop/garage), where we have lived for 30+ years, and downsize to a slightly smaller property - one without the garden and pool to maintain. Part of the plan for the bench is to create future storage for tools, as well as storage for travel to a new workshop. We have another house, not far from where we are at present, but will need to build a workshop there. Something to look forward to, but also there is the awareness that I need to conserve space.


    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

    Default

    I know that under bench storage drawers/shelves etc seem like a good idea and if you are prepared to accept the problems then go for it but my experience has been that sooner or later they collect debris in them from working on the bench which annoyed me so much I abandoned the idea.
    CHRIS

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I know that under bench storage drawers/shelves etc seem like a good idea and if you are prepared to accept the problems then go for it but my experience has been that sooner or later they collect debris in them from working on the bench which annoyed me so much I abandoned the idea.
    Once fitted, just stop using the bench! No more debris.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

Page 1 of 8 123456 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Underbench kitchen island floor shelves
    By chode in forum WOODWORK - GENERAL
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 15th February 2016, 09:21 PM
  2. underbench dust collection
    By Bluegum in forum DUST EXTRACTION
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 7th February 2013, 07:40 PM
  3. Ply for cabinets
    By noelb in forum TIMBER
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 20th May 2011, 08:06 PM
  4. Underbench Storage of Router table and thicknesser
    By Dengue in forum WOODWORK - GENERAL
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 24th November 2010, 05:07 PM
  5. 1hp Underbench Dust Extractor
    By PEN in forum HAND TOOLS - POWERED
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 14th April 2005, 11:02 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •