Big Capacity Storage Cabinet
Restaurant storage tubs organize shop supplies for stow and go.
By Dave Olson
|
When I worked in a restaurant as a teenager, I
hauled dirty dishes in plastic bus boxes. Using
them to organize my shop is much more pleasant. Bus
boxes are light in weight and strong enough to hold all
kinds of shop essentials, including most of my portable
power tools. This 6-ft.-long cabinet holds up to twenty 5 in.
by 15 in. by 20 in. bus boxes (Fig. A, and Sources, below). I built it in a weekend, using an unusual construction
method: Instead of using solid pieces of plywood for all
the elements, I cut the plywood into narrow strips and glued
them back together into structural frames.
|
|
You may also like...
Small Shop Solutions
Simple All-Purpose Shop Cabinets
A Giant Shop Cabinet
|
This method requires less plywood, because so little is wasted.
It’s also a great way to use scrap plywood, because most of
the pieces are relatively short and narrow. The plywood does
not have to be perfectly flat, either, for the same reason.
This method is also versatile. For example, it’s easy to
change the cabinet’s height, the number of storage compartments
or the spacing of the bus boxes. Vary the size of the
frames to create built-in closets and bookcases. For a bedroom,
upgrade to wooden drawers and replace the runners
with full-extension hardware.
This cabinet is made from two 4x8 sheets of 3/4 in. plywood
(I used exterior grade fir). You’ll also need a piece of
1/4 in. plywood or hardboard for the back, an 8 ft. 1x10 to
face all the plywood edges and a 12 ft. 1x12 for the bus box
supports.
|
This storage
cabinet
is primarily
made from
plywood—
even the
frames that
support the
bus boxes.
The first step
is to cut the
plywood into
narrow strips
to make stiles
and rails for
the frames.
|
|
Click on any image to see a larger version.
|
|
Stacked
support
frames,
with rails
sandwiched
between
the stiles,
go on the
ends of the
cabinet and
in the middle.
They
go together
quickly,
thanks to
an assembly
jig.
|
|
|
|
The two
inside
frames are
biscuited.
To keep the
frames
square, pull
the pieces
together
while holding
the
stiles and
top rail
against the
assembly
jig’s fences.
|
|
|
|
Attach a
cleat on
the top of
each frame.
Then attach
the bus box
supports.
Position all
the top
supports 2
in. from the
cleat. The
rest of the
supports
can go
wherever
you want,
depending
on the
height of
the items
you’ll be
storing.
|
|
|
|
Attach
one support
frame
exactly centered
on the
top. Then
use a spacer
to locate and
attach the
remaining
frames, so
they’re evenly
spaced
and parallel.
You have to
remove the
top bus box
supports to
install each
frame.
|
|
|
|
Tie the
frames
together by
installing the
stretchers.
They pass
under the bottom
rails of
the support
frames and
over the
inside frame
rails. Use the
spacer from
the previous
step to align
the frames
before fastening
them to
the stretchers.
|
|
|
|
Fasten
the
back after
clamping
it flush
with the
cabinet’s
edges and
top.
|
|
|
|
Install the
end panels
to create
a flush surface
(or use
thinner plywood
to
mimic a
recessed
panel). Glue
solid-wood
faces on the
fronts of
each frame
and plywood
filler blocks
in all the
feet.
|
|
|
|
Mount
the
lipped doors,
using a stack
of playing
cards to create
adequate
clearance
between the
doors and
the top. Only
the doors’
long edges
are rabbeted,
as the cabinet
has
solid-wood
facing, rather
than a traditional
face
frame.
|
|
|
|
Install
the
bus boxes.
Durable and
portable,
they’re great
for organizing
all kinds
of tools.
|
|
|
Filed under: Cabinets, Shop Projects, woodworking, woodworking projects, woodworking equipment, woodworking shop, woodworkers, WS, woodworking shop projects, woodworking shop plans, woodworking plans