While I finished my workbench almost two months ago, I immediately wanted to build a tool cabinet for it. But I couldn't decide what I wanted. Then in a recent article in FWW I saw an article by Lon Scheining that I thought would work perfectly for my bench. I change a few things however.
His box construction consisted of miters and splines and the drawers were made with box joints. I decide to use pocket holes for the box and dovetails for the drawers made with my Akeda jig. The draw fronts are just 1/8" walnut veneered to MDF.
Things of note:
Akeda Jig - Now that I have done a bunch of drawers, I can say the setup for through dovetails could not be simpler. I almost sold this last year from lack of use but I'm glad I kept it. Now if only I could get half blind dovetails working as easily as the through ones.
Kreg Pocket Hole Jig - When I first started to build things, I used Pocket Holes for almost everything. They are incredibly easy to use and you can make progress on projects very quickly. As my woodworking career has progressed I have used this jig less and less. That said I thought this project was perfect for this application. I used them on the tops and bottoms and you really don't see them. One thing that haunted me in their use is when you go to actually screw them in, the boards can shift as much as a 1/16th of an inch. That's a lot! Using two Right Angle clamps seems to cut down on this occuring. Everything was flush and accurate.
Freud SD600 Series Dial-A-Width Dado Set - I recently purchased this set and it is awesome. The cuts are unbelievably clean in any material I have thrown at it and the cut widths are caliper accurate. I used this for my 1/4" backer board. Two words - no shims.
This was a fun project to make and I'm happy to say there is a certain fit and finish that shows my steady progression as a woodworker.
Reply With Quote