I seem to go through phases where I have this need to re-organize my stuff and it's often triggered by an event. Recently I lost the little mounting foot that goes in the head of my small Gorilla Tripod. Oh sure you can buy new ones, and have them shipped to you but most of the ones I saw, with shipping, are about the same price a buying a whole new tripod! Eventually (2 months later) I have found the missing foot and all is well again, but it made me realize I have camera and video gear in at least 3 different places and it's time to get it all in one place ... the workshop where it is being used.
The real problem with all these bits and pieces is that they are currently being stored in little plastic rectangular trays, which work ok, but they take up a lot of shelf space because you can't store something above them like you can with a little cabinet with drawers. And that was my motivation.
I had some other ideas along the way, like having something with a Dutch Door or half door so that if you had something lying in front of the little cabinet, you could still open the door without knocking something on to the floor. I also liked ....
I also liked the idea of having drawers that could be easily and quickly removed, and finally, I thought it would be handy to have a cabinet with tray at the bottom for larger items, and in such a way that the larger items would not fall out or the cabinet ... well, here is my modified cabinet design.
I decided to make it out of pine because it's readily available for me and not costly to purchase. I had no plans of putting a finish on the this cabinet, just want to leave it as raw wood, I like that. I needed something thick enough that I could cut some slots, or I guess actual very thin dados in so that the drawer bottoms would slide in and out.
You might be wondering why I used the slots, good question. The reason was because they take up little space and when you pull the drawers out, the contents won't spill out because the sides are being held in place by the thin dados on each side.
I also used my newer technique of cutting the backs, and in this case the front too, with my rabbeting bit on my router, then cutting the back with rounded edges to fit. I thought it was a nice variation from having everything squared off.
In terms of size, this can be made in any size, mine is 16" long by 12" high and 10" deep. All of the plywood, the slats for the drawers and the hardware are what I had on hand. I did have to purchase the pine, but I opted for the laminated version and it was quite reasonable in price.
I love the fact that all my gear is not together, out of the dust, easily accessible and in a cabinet that fits neatly in my woodworking tool cabinet. It was easy and fun to make and because it's a bit different design, I expect others will see the advantages of this design. It was a fun, cool project to make.
Copyright Colin Knecht
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