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Building a set of Small-Parts Drawers for Extra Storage



Back in 2003, shortly after adding a new Grizzly turret mill to the shop,
I decided to add a combination workbench/storage cabinet to use some
of the 'dead space' behind it. And on the narrow left side, I figured I'd
fill it with a lot of small drawers for mill tools and other part storage.



To start, I bought one hundred and ten feet of 2" x 2" x 1/8"
angle iron, and using an abrasive chop saw, cut them up
into sixty pieces, thirty each of 14" and 15-7/8" long.



I then whipped up a quick 90-degree jig out of scrap lumber,
and using some good clamps, welded them all up into "L"
shapes first, and then into boxes.



After a few hours' work, fifteen 2" x 14" open trays.
I cleaned up each weld with a 10" Milwaukee angle
grinder. Eight welds per tray made for 120 grinds.



Using the same chop saw, I cut up some 3/4" angle iron into
short sections, ground the corners a but round, and tacked
them on as drawer pulls.



Then the fun part- Using another jig, I drilled each
tray for four holes, then tapped each and every one,
by hand, to 10-32, so I could screw on the slides.



With a bit of careful measuring, and a little more
laborious screwdriving, I attached the other half
of the slides to the cabinet supports.



I then started sliding in each tray. Minor differences in
both the trays and the cabinet meant I had to do a little
juggling to get each drawer into a slot where it worked
best, but that just took a little patience.



After marking each one, I then spray-painted the fronts in
Hammered grey. I finished off the cabinet with a chunk of
plywood from one of my old paintball field signs, and a
piece of 2x4 as a toe-kick at the bottom.



A quick coat of paint, and they're done!






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