I used plywood for the sides and bottom of the drawers and re-inforced the corners with 16g steel angle. The angle was pop rivetted to the plywood. Steel washers used as a backing to prevent the rivets pulling thru the plywood and the draw slides rivetted to the steel angle.

These drawers are light and strong and will extend completely out of the cabinet on the telescopic slides.

you use floor varnish on the MDF once the drawers are complete – two coats will give excellent protection from oil + water – MDF is also dimensionally stable whereas natural wood needs allowance to be made for changes due to moisture + temperature

If you are making them to go in an outside shed then be wary of metal drawers that can act as condensation hideaways

Most flat-pack kitchen cupboard & drawer units are made from water-resistant MDF and seem to last quite well. I usually scout around for used kitchen units from houses that are being renovated. With a bit of modification they work quite well, but sometimes need new drawer runners.

When i made my shed storage system it was all mdf.. and apart from some temporary hold on the base units it was all glued with brown glue and sash clamps rather than screws into mdf ends.

For the drawers i made up a simple jig – lines on a baseboard with DIY angles for the boards to butt against and triangular wedges (like adjustable parallels) one of the pair screwed down and the other tapped in as necessary. The 6mm mdf drawer base was also glued on and weighed down with a 10L paint can. I had a bunch of them stacked like a pagoda and then tidied everything up with a ball-bearing router bit and yacht varnished.

I've had bad experiences with cheap runner systems and too mean to buy the expensive ones so stayed with simple timber runners and wax.

My version of storage is covered by commercial trays of many sizes. I find it much easier to pull out the 'drawer' entirely and place it on the floor or bench-top to access the contents. The individual carcases are made from mdf and just knocked together with a rubber mallet, and are free-standing.

Pete

one thing to note with telescopic slides is the accuracy needed in drawers + carcase – you need accurate right angles etc so use jigs + sawbench fences etc if possible.
One dodge is to produce the basic drawer with an attached decorate front but to initially cut a single piece of MDF that covers the full front for all drawers – drill out the holes for the bolts to hold handles easy to align these vertically then attach the full front to the bottom drawer using screws thro these bolt holes then pull out drawer + base + fix each drawer to full panel using prepared holes from inside the drawer – work up the drawers in turn – then unscrew all drawers from front panel, take panel to sawbench and slice each drawer front off the panel – add an extra curf cut(typically 1.5 – 2mm) at bottom of bottom panel to allow clearance – now attach all handles to fronts having counterdrilled holes at rear to allow machine screw heads to be flush (most handle fittings are 5mm thread and you may need to cut down supplied screws to fit + also add a washer) now just attach fronts to each drawer using the created screw holes – bingo all drawer fronts line up vertically + horizontally with just enough clearance

For workshop purposes you should always use full extension, full load, runners so the whole of the drawer is directly accessible. Many of the kitchen drawer kits are only partial extension so you need to fiddle stuff at the back out past what's in front or even partially unload the drawer first. That gets old real fast. Even those with full extension runners may not have full load capacity at full extension. Need to distribute things to keep the weight towards the back. Specifications also assume the load is evenly distributed. Plonking a small rotary table or decent size chuck in the front corner many be more than the structure or runners can cope with.

If you plan to store larger, heavier items such as chucks, faceplates rotary tables or vices et al consider making the relevant drawers open side with only a minimal lip for the runners. Easier to get a good grip without the sides in the way. Less lift needed to clear the sides too which can also help handling. Often worth packing up the bottom so as to give a straight slide off with no lift. Pretty much mandatory to do this with the common horizontal / vertical rotary table as the handle and dial assembly projects below the base so you either have to lift the base or cut a slot. Slot is not a good idea in practice! Tried it and rapidly re-engieered to pack up the base.

If one side of the cabinet is going to be up against a wall carefully consider what is going in that last bay as loading and unloading will have to be done semi-sideways with no elbow room on the wall side. Good place for sideless drawers or plates of holes for things like drill chucks, collets, et al.

Clive.

HI,

easy to get resin bonded shuttering ply if ur doing a lot and very cheap….I bought 5 pallets (250 sheets) when I last moved, been 13 years and it's almost gone…..hahaha……

always nice to use faced ply but oh so expensive……usually run a round over bit on the edges (router) and have a pre-made jig for the grab holes….no sticky out handles….will try to place a photo in my album….

oh, nice workshop Spurry……..clogs

Should we be worried about all these guys comparing their drawers?

I'll get my coat……….

For low cost MDF, or ply, go to a joinery factory (or similar), and see if you can get some cover sheets, these are about 100 mm longer, and 100 mm wider than a standard sheet, and will probably have indents on the outside edges where the straps have dug in a bit. There are two sheets per bundle, and here in NZ you can if you are lucky get them for the taking away, some places sell them for a nominal price.

Ian S C