# Small chests of drawers to store drill bits and fixings



## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

I have loads of drill bits lying around in various packets and boxes so I decided to make a couple of small pine chests with shallow drawers to get them organised.

The cases just have rebate joints at the corners, glued and reinforced with a few nails. Then I rounded over all the edges on the router table after assembling the case. The rebates for the back panel were cut before assembly. The overall size of each case is 30x20x20cm (12"x8"x8").

The drawers are of the style where the plywood bottom extends past the drawer sides, to act as runners in slots. Rather than cut the slots directly in the case sides, I opted to make separate runner panels out of plywood that will get screwed inside the cases. I routed the slots in one long strip of plywood then cross-cut it into the 4 separate runner pieces.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

The drawers... first up we have the 10 drawer fronts, 5 for each chest. Each one has a rebate at the bottom to receive the drawer base, and rebates at the ends that will receive the sides. Plus holes and counterbores for the handles.

Then 10 sets of sides and backs - all sawn to length, ends shot and planed to width by hand. I need a cup of tea after that!

The final picture shows the assembly of the drawers. The bottom is glued into the rebate on the front and nailed from underneath. The strip of paper is just a guide to remind me not to put any nails where holes for the drawer handles are. The sides and backs of the drawers are glued and nailed from underneath in the same way.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

Finishing touches... the handles are cut from a leather belt blank and attached using these fixings that are called binding screws or Chicago screws. Even with these specialist fasteners it works out a pretty cheap way of handling a lot of drawers. One thing I did discover is that you have to be precise about punching the holes in the leather. A small difference in the length of the strap makes a big difference in how far it stands out from the drawer front, so it's easy to end up with visibly uneven handles if you're not careful.

The fold-flat carry handles on the tops of the chests are made from more leather strips, with brackets made from coat hanger wire.

The finish is "antique pine" tinted Danish oil with a final coat of wax over the top. I didn't bother oiling the insides of the drawers, those are just waxed.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

DANG..... Andy, this project turned out great!!!!


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

This is another small drawer chest I made a while ago. Again the construction is pretty simple but I thought I'd post it as the drawer construction may be of interest. These are side-run false-front drawers. It's a very quick method that I think would scale well to a project that needs a lot of lightweight drawers.

The fronts and bottoms are just rectangles of 1/4" ply, no machining required. All cut to the width of the drawer box minus 1/2".
The sides are 1/2" ply. All the machining is on these parts, and it can all be done with one bit and one height setting in the router table, and only fence adjustments. The depth of cut is 1/4". 3 edges get a 1/4" wide rebate to receive the fronts and bottoms of the drawers. Then on the outside faces, there's a dado for the drawer runners.

I just glued them together, for drawers this small you don't even need nails really.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

AndyL said:


> Finishing touches... the handles are cut from a leather belt blank and attached using these fixings that are called binding screws or Chicago screws. Even with these specialist fasteners it works out a pretty cheap way of handling a lot of drawers. One thing I did discover is that you have to be precise about punching the holes in the leather. A small difference in the length of the strap makes a big difference in how far it stands out from the drawer front, so it's easy to end up with visibly uneven handles if you're not careful.
> 
> The fold-flat carry handles on the tops of the chests are made from more leather strips, with brackets made from coat hanger wire.
> 
> The finish is "antique pine" tinted Danish oil with a final coat of wax over the top. I didn't bother oiling the insides of the drawers, those are just waxed.


absolutely 1st rate Andy...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

whoa...
you do some realy fine work Andy...


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Really nice work, very practical and both chests are handsome indeed. I like the look of a raw baltic birch edge on the drill bit chest. One thought about the leather is that by elongating the punched hole slightly, the straps could lay flat, but when you pull on them, they would stand out a bit. But the leather straps are perfect for a shop cabinet.


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Wow, Andy. You do some really nice work.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

DesertRatTom said:


> One thought about the leather is that by elongating the punched hole slightly, the straps could lay flat, but when you pull on them, they would stand out a bit.


That's a good idea, it would work well I think. You'd need to put a bit of thread-lock on the binding screws, since you wouldn't be tightening them down hard.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Well executed Andy. I am still stuck on how to organize my drill bits.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Good idea, and good job Andy. I have the same problem, might just do something like that.

Herb


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Dang Andy if you didn't live so far away I would come over and take lessons from you. I am impressed.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Great ideas and work, Andy.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I was just thinking that I'd have trouble remembering what was in which drawer. Remember the old library card catalog with the metal label holders on the front? Found some on Amazon. You can also get them with a small pull tab on them. Here's just one I found on Amazon. Amazon.com: Office Library 60x17mm File Drawer Tag Label Holder Copper Tone 20 Pcs: Home & Kitchen


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Final thought on this project. Fully loaded, this thing is going to be heavy and the top strap will be stressed. I would consider routing an elongated, stopped dado on the sides as an alternative lifting method And tipped forward or dropped, the drawers will want to come out, so I'd consider drilling an eighth inch hold down through side slides with a piece of wire slipped into it to lock the drawers in place. This might not be necessary, but I'd hate to have to sort out a spill. Just thinking.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

DesertRatTom said:


> I was just thinking that I'd have trouble remembering what was in which drawer. Remember the old library card catalog with the metal label holders on the front? Found some on Amazon. You can also get them with a small pull tab on them. Here's just one I found on Amazon. Amazon.com: Office Library 60x17mm File Drawer Tag Label Holder Copper Tone 20 Pcs: Home & Kitchen





DesertRatTom said:


> Final thought on this project. Fully loaded, this thing is going to be heavy and the top strap will be stressed. I would consider routing an elongated, stopped dado on the sides as an alternative lifting method And tipped forward or dropped, the drawers will want to come out, so I'd consider drilling an eighth inch hold down through side slides with a piece of wire slipped into it to lock the drawers in place. This might not be necessary, but I'd hate to have to sort out a spill. Just thinking.


Thanks Tom, some more interesting ideas to mull over there.
The weight on the carry strap won't be a problem, I did some testing on the design and it will lift much more weight than I can fit in these. The lack of any catch or lock on the drawers is a shortcoming though. I figured if I ever need to transport them any distance I'd tie a string round it


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

I didn't manage to come up with a good design for repositionable dividers, so instead I made drop-in trays to organise the contents. If I need to rearrange things I can easily make more trays.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

like button is so inadequate...

.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

AndyL said:


> I didn't manage to come up with a good design for repositionable dividers,


peg board as the drawer bottoms and dividers w/ pegs on the bottom side/edge of the dividers that plug into the peg board...
socket head set screws make great pegs...
#6 truss headed screws and 1/8'' peg board is a good combination too....


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

Stick486 said:


> peg board as the drawer bottoms and dividers w/ pegs on the bottom side/edge of the dividers that plug into the peg board...
> socket head set screws make great pegs...
> #6 truss headed screws and 1/8'' peg board is a good combination too....


That's a neat idea. Even diagonal dividers would be easy with that system. Peg board is inexplicably hard to find here though. A few timber merchants have it but none local to me. Seems ordering online is the only way.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Just looking at the inside of the drawers made my jaw drop. What an elegant solution. I particularly like the way you handled the Forstner bits.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

DesertRatTom said:


> I was just thinking that I'd have trouble remembering what was in which drawer. Remember the old library card catalog with the metal label holders on the front? Found some on Amazon. You can also get them with a small pull tab on them. Here's just one I found on Amazon. Amazon.com: Office Library 60x17mm File Drawer Tag Label Holder Copper Tone 20 Pcs: Home & Kitchen


You were right Tom, I do find myself opening 11 or 12 drawers before I find what I'm looking for (and there are only 10 drawers in total ) so I added some of those label holders as you suggested.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

impressive..


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

Wow. Those are some nice chests!


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Don't know how I missed this thread . Andy that is some impressive work right there , and 
I'm really blown away by your ideas and craftsmanship . Thanks for sharing with us mere mortals

That's a cool idea with the diagonal drawer too


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I love the drawer organization!!! I want one... 
Most of my bit sets are still in the original containers and they're getting pretty badly worn (the containers, not the bits).
I wasn't going to dispose of the boxes until I had something better in place; yours is it.


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Really like the way you did up the project. I would be remiss if I didn't agree with Tom about locking the drawers in place. I can see me scattering the whole works. YIKES!


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

Andy, that would be an excellent addition to anyone's shop. Great idea and great craftsmanship.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Brilliant work Andy, congratulations.


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

_Very_ Nice, Andy. They look great, and I like that they're a size that you can move as your needs change, instead of being stuck with the location of a larger size. Excellent!


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Andy, you made us have a glimpse into Woodworkers' Wonderland !!! Superlative !!!


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

Thanks everyone!


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## Mayo.Mick (Sep 27, 2016)

Nice job Andy. Exactly what I'm looking for! Another project added to my "to do" list.


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

You got me thinking about how disorganized my drill bits are. I like what you did. It sure would be nice to go to one location for all drill bits. How are you handling the little bits? I guess you could drill into a block of wood and insert the little drill bits.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

AndyL said:


> You were right Tom, I do find myself opening 11 or 12 drawers before I find what I'm looking for (and there are only 10 drawers in total ) so I added some of those label holders as you suggested.


Just found this string again. The library style labels really add tremendously to the appearance. I'm keeping the pictures for when I make one of these. It would really be nice to have everything organized and visible.


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