Several years ago I built a tool cart to hold my benchtop drill press and
planer. I added a couple of drawers at the top, but had left the
underside open. After years of stashing boxes, cans, and other junk in
the big open space, I decided to add four more drawers to my tool cart.
New Drawers
Nothing fancy about these drawers. I used 1/2 inch
plywood scraps I had leftover from other projects for the sides, and
scrap 1/4 inch plywood for the drawer bottoms. They are assembled with
simple butt joints using glue and nails. It's not fancy joinery, but I've
been building drawers this way for years and they hold up fine. Then I
apply a simple solid pine board for the drawer front, and add a knob in
the center. About as basic as you can get.
Fitting The Drawers
Once the drawers were finished, I had to add
spacers inside the cabinet so the drawer slides would be flush with the
face frame. These aren't visible once the drawer is in place, so I just
used more scraps I had laying around. Then it was just a simple matter of
installing the drawer slides and inserting the drawers.
Unfortunately, the center divider in my cart wasn't exactly square to the
front face frame. So I had to do a lot of shimming and cut a couple
drawers slightly narrower behind the slides to get the drawers operating
smoothly. It was a lot more work than it should have been, but in the end
it all worked out.
