My workshop at home is fairly small - about 2.4m square (8 feet). When we moved into this house the previous owners left a large steel desk in that room, which has worked well as a worktop, but it left that side of the room untidy and very inefficient in terms of space utilisation. A few months ago I decided to replace the desk with some custom designed drawer units of my own. This is how the build progressed.
Before starting...
My idea was to make 3 units to fit along this wall, 2 sets of drawers and one cabinet. All built out of MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard). The standard size MDF board is 2440mm x 1220mm (approx 8 feet by 4 feet). Various thicknesses are available, but I chose to do it all in 18mm thick (0.75") partly for strength, but also because it worked out most cost-effective. I bought 7 boards! The guys at the DIY store were able to do most of the larger cuts for me so I only had to do the smaller cuts at home.
The cutout in the bottom corners of the side panels are to allow for the skirting board. 4 bolts will secure the sides of each unit to the next and the holes are all in the same relative locations so I can swop the units around if necessary.
I chose to use angle strips to reinforce the joins because MDF just splits if you insert a screw into its edge. For the joins to be strong enough, each screw must be inserted into the side of the board, not the edge. I also used lots of wood glue.
Close-up to show some of the shaped edges ready for joining.
Two side panels ready for assembly. Note the runners attached for the drawers. This unit will have 6 drawers, all the same size.
One of the drawers, assembled and waiting for the glue to dry. Note how the front panels of the drawer are also shaped with the router to give a rounded profile.
All 10 drawers are assembled and ready to go.
This unit will have 4 drawers of different depths. The photo shows it upside down, the top, sides and back panel have been assembled.
This photo shows the 4-drawer unit now fully assembled and the right way up. The cross struts are to provide extra rigidity and to close the gap that would be visible between the bottom and top of adjacent drawers.
And then I hit a snag ...
I knew the paint was a bit flaky on the left wall, but when I removed the old desk I discovered a large area where the plaster crumbled away as a result of historical water damage. The pattern indicated that it was damp that had seeped in from the outside rather than rising up from the ground.
So the build was put on hold while I repaired the plastering. First with a water barrier, then with a waterproof plaster and finally with a top layer of plaster to give a finish ready for painting. End result looks good, I think. So on with the build.
The first 2 units are in place, bolted together and bolted onto the wall, all to provide extra rigidity. Handles have been fitted to each drawer.
The runners are fully extendable, meaning each drawer can be pulled right out to it's full depth to enable easy placement and retrieval of items. They are also heavy duty, able to support a load of 25kg (55 pounds) in each drawer.
The varying height of these drawers will accommodate larger power tools at the bottom, right up to screw drivers at the top.
The final piece is the cabinet that will slot in on the right of the drawers. Here it is half assembled and upside down.
And here it is, assembled, bolted in place and good to go. The shelf height can be adjusted (of course!), but at this height my workshop vacuum cleaner fits perfectly into the bottom section.
Finally, I covered the entire top with a sheet of self-adhesive plastic that looks like carbon fibre. It is not intended to provide any additional strength, but it looks good and it will wipe clean if something gets spilled onto it.
Overall dimensions are:
Height 915mm (36")
Depth 560mm (22")
Drawers width 1000mm (39.5")
Cabinet width 380mm (15")
Photo showing before and after.
