In my cramped little shop, every square foot counts. With that in
mind, I designed this cabinet to fit in the wasted space under the
table of my floor-model drill press. The top drawer holds (vertically)
all the twist bits and brad-point bits a person could ever accumulate,
and the lower drawers hold sanding drums, spade bits (horizontally),
plug cutters and all the rest of the drill press paraphernalia. If you
ever need to drill into something 4-ft. thick, the cabinet slides out
easily.
An important feature of this cabinet is that the drawers have
extra-long 3/4-extension slides to provide full-extension (see Sources,
below). I sized my cabinet to fit my Delta 17-in. drill press, model
17-900 and made it all from birch plywood.
To build the cabinet, cut all the parts, including the cutout in the
top. Then screw and glue the inner braces and the back (Parts A and B).
Screw on the sides (C), then attach the drawer slides (see Hardware,
below) and the top. Nail and glue together the drawer boxes (E and F),
then nail on the bottoms (G) to square them up. Attach the slides and
install the drawers in the cabinet. Using double-faced tape, attach the
drawer fronts (H) so there is a uniform gap all around. Screw on the
drawer fronts and attach the drawer pulls (see Sources). Build and fit
the Bit rack (J). Attach the toe kick (K) and bingo, you've got storage
space.
