This is such a great way to make a lot of small drawers! I’ve seen lots of videos of people making similar drawers and thought it looked so tedious that just buying one of the plastic sets was a much better idea. But this looks like it can be knocked out very quickly.
I watched this... probably when you came out with it. But I'm getting ready to make some drawers and searched your channel. I like the idea of making the small parts cabinet though the way you did. Love it.
I loved this, Steve! Been watching you videos for ages, but I think this is my fav. The way you worked out cutting the fronts and backs of the drawers, all the adaptations and problem solving, and the fact that you show your mistakes and how you rectify them is gold. Plus I like that you say, "Oh you can probably work out a better way." Love your lack of ego! And things like using the playing cards as spacers - genius! Most people have playing cards so it's something everyone can do. Loved seeing the TARDIS in the background, and loved your 'why buy one when you can build your own at twice the price" comment. Yes they can be bought cheaper, but the experience can't. Building something like this teaches the builder new skills and tricks and how to overcome mistakes - can't put a price on that. Thanks for sharing your joy of wood-working - you're an inspiration!
Beginner woodworker here, I absolutely enjoy watching your videos. I think I have watch every single one at least once! Thank you so much for posting them, I can't imagine how long you put into them thanks again. Oh yeah I'm starting our on my dad's old shop smith mark VII, so much fun!
Most videos, I end up speeding it up to 1.5 or even 2, so they "get on with it" but yours are so full of info and features that I actually considered slowing it to half speed.
Awesome project....makes you think about efficiency. A note on the little bits, LOVE THEM. I work for TechShop in Pittsburgh, PA and we have 10 sets of them we use for events and I tinker with on occasion. Definitely the best way to take the edge off of starting an electronics hobby. I'd love to see more wood working projects that include an electronic aspect.
lol.... kind of a "ying and yang" thang? A "no good deed goes unpunished" punishment? See where I'm going with this? I can't believe I actually took it to that level... now I'm gonna fall for sure.... lol
I originally watched this video back in 2014 when you first published it. Watching it again today was like for the first time. And i watched it twice because I love how you made the 16 drawers. It just amazes me. I totally have to try that.
Excellent project. I can see my weekend will be spent making one of hugest for my shed, one for my daughters loom bands, one for my sons Lego mini figures, one for my wife's hair bands.....
That´s a challenging project! Very handy to store my electronic components, much more fancy than my plastic cabinet. Thanks to MicroJig and LittleBits for sponsoring this video.
Steve, Im not here because im a woodworker myself and i like to work with wood. I watch all your video's for YOU, i like watching you work and your vids are very entertaining
Thanks, Steve, for the informative and often humorous woodworking videos! As a pretty amateur woodworker in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, you are a big help. Roll Tide !
Steve. Clamp the spacer block to your fence, to the rear of the blade. No need to keep placing it down and then removing it from the table. Just butt the drawer 'stack' to the block and hold tight while you cut. Much quicker. HTH. Made my version of one of these drawer units last week. It fell to pieces yesterday! :)
I found this so inspiring I decided to make a drawer system for my shop too but i went the long way around and made all the drawers separately. I even made a video. Thanks Steve!
That was one of the main reasons I sold my Craftsman job saw and upgraded to my Ridgid R4512. Not only 100% more accurate, but the arbor could now accept the my full 7/8" dado stack. The job saw could only do a 1/4" dado stack.
As always a great project that you make look simple. Missed you last week. Glad your back. I had Friday withdrawal. LOL. Got to get the little bits for my 10 year old grandson. He would love it!! Thanks.
Another great video. I also love the ***** My local makerspace in St. Louis, Missouri, Arch Reactor, was gifted several sets over a year ago. We have been demonstrating them at events, such as First Fridays at the St. Louis Science Center and in classrooms in the St. Louis Area. Lately, a member has added several more of the specialty kits and bits to our collection. Kids love to play with them and are learning without even realizing it. While the kids are learning, our members are talking to their parents about what they could make at our makerspace.
Love the idea of gang set up for drawers vs 16 individual drawers with multiple smaller parts. Also, love to see someone that's not afraid of dadoes, Seams like none wants to use it any more. Thanks
You may not be happy with the way you cut some of the slots, but you sure can't argue the results! Very nice, love the idea of making all the drawers at the same time
Just found your channel via The Frugal Crafter. I'd love to see you design a special series to fit in the cubby holes (including the depth) of a Kallax unit.
thank you so much for making this, I need to do the same thing to make some compartments for a project I'm working on and seeing somebody else do it gives me the confidence to know that I can too.
Just a thought... Your method of cutting the first dados with the key is perfect - you should have done something similar for all of the other cuts! That would have worked, right?
G'day Steve, Just a thought, If you follow your own idea from cutting the dados for your draw dividers and made a key way on the sled you might have been able to save time cutting the half way slots. Just to finish Liking what you do
Loved it! I never would have thought to make the drawers that way. For the slots on the dividers, if you were to stand the boards on edge and raise the blade to the depth of the slot then you could use the same key method that you used cutting the dadoes for the drawers.
Man you have mad skills... wish i had the skills and machines to make those stuff for my little work room i plan on making. But i'm an electrician with little wood working skills lol
your very smart great time saving ill give it a go I want to make a multi storage unit for screws clips nails blind rivots bolts etc then rig up some sort of label system thanks Steve your great clear audio
Interesting ideas. The only improvement I thought of is when making the vertical dividers at 6:05. Instead of moving the rip fence after every cut on that long strip, separate it into the individual divider panels and do the first slot on each one before moving the fence, then repeat for second and third slots.
That is the most clever thing I have seen in a long time. I thought I was going to see lots of wrestling with clamps, glue, hard boards, etc. I pleasantly surprised. Kudos!!!
Hi Steve. Macht echt Spaß dir beim Arbeiten zuzuschauen. Es schaut bei dir alles so einfach aus. Weiter so. Freue mich auf deinen Weiteren Videos! Gruß AndiHi Steve. It´s fun watching you working. It look so easy when you do it. I´m looking Forward of your next Videos. Greedings Andi
At 2:15 when you were cutting the drawers, why didn't you just put the boards up against the fence without adjusting the fence every single time (and also take out the spacer block)?
I think you should have glued an index strip down again for the slots in the dividers, and even cut slots where you were going to cut it apart into sections later. You would have one long board with evenly spaced half-slots. Then you cut them apart in the middle of the appropriate half-slot, and you have little tounges left to go in the case sides.
Steve, if ever you're going to be in Johannesburg, South Africa, (Right! like there's a destination everyone wants...) look me up, I really love your vids, just wish our machinery here were a whole lot cheaper to afford. I am still a novice to woodworking and still make pleeeeenty rookie mistakes, bought the cheapest basic tools I could find and they're not going to last long, hopefully I can afford better by the time I have gained experience.
Great project Steve. I may have to put it on my to-do list. LittleBits look awesome. Great ending, if I would not have had to work Saturday I would have been up front and center.
I know you balk at others expressing concern for your safety but I'm glad to see you using a dust mask while cutting up MDF. Remember Steve - you are our Ligneous Guru - we copy Everything You Do. Seriously though, emmdy is my material of choice but after twenty odd years of cutting without dust extraction I'm pretty sure the dust has affected my health; we really ought to encourage each other to be safe
***** Eh eh cool! I met Ayah Bdeir at the 2011 Open Hardware Summit in NY. I am so glad it worked out for her ... she worked a lot to bring this idea to the public.
I had a plan to make a cabinet for small parts but feel frustrated making a lot of small drawers. Thanks for your trick. It would be a great help. However, I'm looking to use solid lumber, e.g. pine (I really don't like mdf material :) My drawers size would be 1.5 times than yours. Would it suffer "expansion/contraction" issues?
I am a novice (very novice) at woodworking. I don't know if I missed it or if you covered it in another video. I didn't find the question or answer in the comments below. When you are cutting the slots in the boards where you stop about halfway before going to the next one, how do stop consistently? I didn't see any type of stop block or jig to keep you from going more than halfway through and to make sure you stop at exactly the same point. If I missed it, please tell me and I will watch it a third time, or if there is another video, can you please either link it or reply with the title? Enjoying your channel. Thanks for these.
Steve, I went thru 5 pages of comments and only found one other person who suggested using a similar idea for making the dividers using a sled and the glued on stop. Were there any other suggestions? I am making a large version with plexi fronts to be able to see what's in the bins. Any help would be much appreciated.
Great little storage cabinet, I have got to have a go at building on of these. Thanks for the ideas and the inspiration. Not to sure about your colour choice for painting it though. :)
That looks like a great method for making sever drawers at once. But in the uk we can’t get dado blades. Any suggestions of how to it without dado blades?
Awesome project Steve. And I happen to have the same mentality...."why buy it when you can pay more for it and build it yourself" funny stuff and so true!
Hey Steve. I've been binge watching your videos for the last few weeks, along with a few other youtube wood workers, and I've had a hell of a time doing it. I really liked seeing the key system reused for the slots in the drawers that was similar to your finger joint jig, but this didn't need it's own separate jig, which was awesome. I was wondering why you used your miter gauge and a spacer on the fence rather than just running along the fence, though.
Hi Steve, how come you didn't hot glue a key to your sled & cut the slots the same way you did the dado's for the drawers? I'm pretty sure you could just use the exact same method.
Hey Steve! Nice meeting you at WWIA, and the Mega Memo Meet Up was a total blast! Hope to run into you again in the future.
***** Thanks Steve!
This is such a great way to make a lot of small drawers! I’ve seen lots of videos of people making similar drawers and thought it looked so tedious that just buying one of the plastic sets was a much better idea. But this looks like it can be knocked out very quickly.
I watched this... probably when you came out with it. But I'm getting ready to make some drawers and searched your channel. I like the idea of making the small parts cabinet though the way you did. Love it.
It is the joy of making it and not wanting to learn how to build it and have a smile on your face every time you look at it.
I've watched various videos on how people make these types of bins/drawers in bulk and yours by far was the smartest approach!
I loved this, Steve! Been watching you videos for ages, but I think this is my fav.
The way you worked out cutting the fronts and backs of the drawers, all the adaptations and problem solving, and the fact that you show your mistakes and how you rectify them is gold. Plus I like that you say, "Oh you can probably work out a better way." Love your lack of ego!
And things like using the playing cards as spacers - genius! Most people have playing cards so it's something everyone can do.
Loved seeing the TARDIS in the background, and loved your 'why buy one when you can build your own at twice the price" comment. Yes they can be bought cheaper, but the experience can't. Building something like this teaches the builder new skills and tricks and how to overcome mistakes - can't put a price on that.
Thanks for sharing your joy of wood-working - you're an inspiration!
Beginner woodworker here, I absolutely enjoy watching your videos. I think I have watch every single one at least once! Thank you so much for posting them, I can't imagine how long you put into them thanks again. Oh yeah I'm starting our on my dad's old shop smith mark VII, so much fun!
Most videos, I end up speeding it up to 1.5 or even 2, so they "get on with it" but yours are so full of info and features that I actually considered slowing it to half speed.
Awesome project....makes you think about efficiency. A note on the little bits, LOVE THEM. I work for TechShop in Pittsburgh, PA and we have 10 sets of them we use for events and I tinker with on occasion. Definitely the best way to take the edge off of starting an electronics hobby. I'd love to see more wood working projects that include an electronic aspect.
Great way to make lots of drawers. Now to figure out those darn sides and seperators. Haha
Thanks for sharing and was really my pleasure meeting you!
Steve, keep making these videos. I love ur style. Everything is explained. And you make these fun to watch.
Probably the best idea to make these boxes without glueing each single one of them and the colour of ýour storage cabinet looks awesome.
Whatever trouble the dividers gave you was only because the universe had to equal out time for that smart drawer building solution! Really clever!
lol.... kind of a "ying and yang" thang? A "no good deed goes unpunished" punishment? See where I'm going with this? I can't believe I actually took it to that level... now I'm gonna fall for sure.... lol
Very slick method of making the drawers. I like the Mardi Gras color too. Awesome project.
I find your videos to be the best balance of entertaining and informational. Thanks for what you do.
I originally watched this video back in 2014 when you first published it. Watching it again today was like for the first time. And i watched it twice because I love how you made the 16 drawers. It just amazes me. I totally have to try that.
Excellent project. I can see my weekend will be spent making one of hugest for my shed, one for my daughters loom bands, one for my sons Lego mini figures, one for my wife's hair bands.....
Cutting all the drawers at once; genius. Nice storage cabinets.
LittleBits is the coolest sponsor you've had so far!
Dude, this whole build is pure genius.
Making the drawers as a unit and cutting apart was just brilliant!
Thanks!
I loved how you batched out the drawers. Nice job Steve!
Cool project Steve. Especially liked the custom indexer hot glued to the sled for cutting the dados
That´s a challenging project! Very handy to store my electronic components, much more fancy than my plastic cabinet. Thanks to MicroJig and LittleBits for sponsoring this video.
I love how you pointed out the errors you made in your videos really helped us out
Steve, Im not here because im a woodworker myself and i like to work with wood.
I watch all your video's for YOU, i like watching you work and your vids are very entertaining
Thanks, Steve, for the informative and often humorous woodworking videos!
As a pretty amateur woodworker in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, you are a big help.
Roll Tide !
Steve. Clamp the spacer block to your fence, to the rear of the blade. No need to keep placing it down and then removing it from the table. Just butt the drawer 'stack' to the block and hold tight while you cut. Much quicker. HTH. Made my version of one of these drawer units last week. It fell to pieces yesterday! :)
Hi Steve: great little project, a very handy set of drawers for all the bits and bobs, cheers Harry
Very Nice!!! Playing cards have saved my "bucket" many times. Thanks for the vid.
I found this so inspiring I decided to make a drawer system for my shop too but i went the long way around and made all the drawers separately. I even made a video. Thanks Steve!
Welcome back, nice to end the week with a new video...as always, thank you Steve.
Great project. Really makes me want a table saw with a dado blade!
That was one of the main reasons I sold my Craftsman job saw and upgraded to my Ridgid R4512. Not only 100% more accurate, but the arbor could now accept the my full 7/8" dado stack. The job saw could only do a 1/4" dado stack.
Or a Stihl chainsaw.
Makes me want to get A table saw (emphasis on A)
+darbin orvar, 1.6k subscribers and you don't have a saw with a dado blade! (2 years ago, perhaps you've got one now:)
Hey Linn!
As always a great project that you make look simple. Missed you last week. Glad your back. I had Friday withdrawal. LOL. Got to get the little bits for my 10 year old grandson. He would love it!! Thanks.
Another great video. I also love the ***** My local makerspace in St. Louis, Missouri, Arch Reactor, was gifted several sets over a year ago. We have been demonstrating them at events, such as First Fridays at the St. Louis Science Center and in classrooms in the St. Louis Area. Lately, a member has added several more of the specialty kits and bits to our collection. Kids love to play with them and are learning without even realizing it. While the kids are learning, our members are talking to their parents about what they could make at our makerspace.
Seeing you paint is SOOO satisfying
Sweet ! LittleBits rule!!
Some nice little tips for other projects as well. Especially the keys and the playing cards.
Thanks,
Doc
Nice job! I think I like the spacers and the spacing tips in general in this video! I also like the bright colors you used!
Great way to build all the drawers quick Steve!
Brilliant drawer method. Good work. I'm always looking for things like this to save time.
Love the idea of gang set up for drawers vs 16 individual drawers with multiple smaller parts. Also, love to see someone that's not afraid of dadoes, Seams like none wants to use it any more. Thanks
Those are some flamboyant colors Mr. Steve.
I like that you said what I was thinking there at the end....remember it's not the destination it's the journey...
You may not be happy with the way you cut some of the slots, but you sure can't argue the results! Very nice, love the idea of making all the drawers at the same time
Just found your channel via The Frugal Crafter. I'd love to see you design a special series to fit in the cubby holes (including the depth) of a Kallax unit.
thank you so much for making this, I need to do the same thing to make some compartments for a project I'm working on and seeing somebody else do it gives me the confidence to know that I can too.
Just a thought... Your method of cutting the first dados with the key is perfect - you should have done something similar for all of the other cuts! That would have worked, right?
Not in a million years would I have thought of that key system.
G'day Steve,
Just a thought, If you follow your own idea from cutting the dados for your draw dividers and made a key way on the sled you might have been able to save time cutting the half way slots.
Just to finish Liking what you do
Wow! You got your own playing cards!? And one of those Incra thingy's too? You're a better man than me Gunga Din! Love your video's. Keep'em coming.
I love your intros to the Microjig ads.
Neat drawer production! Very creative.
Steve, you are wicked smart! Cool process for building the drawers like that.
I love this little cabinet. Brilliant.
Loved it! I never would have thought to make the drawers that way.
For the slots on the dividers, if you were to stand the boards on edge and raise the blade to the depth of the slot then you could use the same key method that you used cutting the dadoes for the drawers.
Man you have mad skills... wish i had the skills and machines to make those stuff for my little work room i plan on making.
But i'm an electrician with little wood working skills lol
I take it the expo was inspiring? Great little project, I like the detail of the top/bottom overhangs, and the couple tricks you shared!
your very smart great time saving ill give it a go I want to make a multi storage unit for screws clips nails blind rivots bolts etc then rig up some sort of label system thanks Steve your great clear audio
Interesting ideas. The only improvement I thought of is when making the vertical dividers at 6:05. Instead of moving the rip fence after every cut on that long strip, separate it into the individual divider panels and do the first slot on each one before moving the fence, then repeat for second and third slots.
Love the classic Joker colors you chose for this one!
That is the most clever thing I have seen in a long time. I thought I was going to see lots of wrestling with clamps, glue, hard boards, etc. I pleasantly surprised.
Kudos!!!
that groove and key thing was awesome.
Hi Steve. Macht echt Spaß dir beim Arbeiten zuzuschauen. Es schaut bei dir alles so einfach aus. Weiter so. Freue mich auf deinen Weiteren Videos! Gruß AndiHi Steve. It´s fun watching you working. It look so easy when you do it. I´m looking Forward of your next Videos. Greedings Andi
That's a very innovative way of building drawers. I hit subscribe right away!
At 2:15 when you were cutting the drawers, why didn't you just put the boards up against the fence without adjusting the fence every single time (and also take out the spacer block)?
Great tips, great editing, great sponsor section thats actually relevant to my interests.
Just great.
Subbed.
I think you should have glued an index strip down again for the slots in the dividers, and even cut slots where you were going to cut it apart into sections later. You would have one long board with evenly spaced half-slots. Then you cut them apart in the middle of the appropriate half-slot, and you have little tounges left to go in the case sides.
I can't wait to do this it will be so much fun with my family
Steve, if ever you're going to be in Johannesburg, South Africa, (Right! like there's a destination everyone wants...) look me up, I really love your vids, just wish our machinery here were a whole lot cheaper to afford. I am still a novice to woodworking and still make pleeeeenty rookie mistakes, bought the cheapest basic tools I could find and they're not going to last long, hopefully I can afford better by the time I have gained experience.
Great project Steve. I may have to put it on my to-do list.
LittleBits look awesome.
Great ending, if I would not have had to work Saturday I would have been up front and center.
At 2:29 why didn't you just use the fence instead of a stop block? I'm a beginner wood worker and am just wondering.
Using those playing cards is a neat trick.
oh man, Steve, that key for the dado's is pretty genius!
1:57 - There was that bird again!
Wow, I like that little magnetic electric kit! Pretty neat!
very clever project - I see myself making one in the future - great for small odds & ends
I'm after making a multi draw box for my pole float winders (fishing). Do you have plans for making one please.
I know you balk at others expressing concern for your safety but I'm glad to see you using a dust mask while cutting up MDF. Remember Steve - you are our Ligneous Guru - we copy Everything You Do.
Seriously though, emmdy is my material of choice but after twenty odd years of cutting without dust extraction I'm pretty sure the dust has affected my health; we really ought to encourage each other to be safe
Love this project ... and yeah, LittleBits are awesome!
***** Eh eh cool! I met Ayah Bdeir at the 2011 Open Hardware Summit in NY. I am so glad it worked out for her ... she worked a lot to bring this idea to the public.
Great show again, I'm off to the shed.
It looks really nice but a suggestion for the slots: Next time maybe make a table sled like you for a box joint.
I had a plan to make a cabinet for small parts but feel frustrated making a lot of small drawers. Thanks for your trick. It would be a great help. However, I'm looking to use solid lumber, e.g. pine (I really don't like mdf material :) My drawers size would be 1.5 times than yours. Would it suffer "expansion/contraction" issues?
you make stuff rilly good
This is so cool and creative!
I am a novice (very novice) at woodworking. I don't know if I missed it or if you covered it in another video. I didn't find the question or answer in the comments below. When you are cutting the slots in the boards where you stop about halfway before going to the next one, how do stop consistently? I didn't see any type of stop block or jig to keep you from going more than halfway through and to make sure you stop at exactly the same point. If I missed it, please tell me and I will watch it a third time, or if there is another video, can you please either link it or reply with the title? Enjoying your channel. Thanks for these.
+Wolf Lahti Thank you.
Steve, I went thru 5 pages of comments and only found one other person who suggested using a similar idea for making the dividers using a sled and the glued on stop. Were there any other suggestions? I am making a large version with plexi fronts to be able to see what's in the bins. Any help would be much appreciated.
did you just paint the mdf with a roller?is any prepping needed?
Great little storage cabinet, I have got to have a go at building on of these. Thanks for the ideas and the inspiration. Not to sure about your colour choice for painting it though. :)
That looks like a great method for making sever drawers at once. But in the uk we can’t get dado blades. Any suggestions of how to it without dado blades?
Great project Steve. Thanks.
GENIOUS!!!! Awesome workshop too!!!!
Awesome project Steve. And I happen to have the same mentality...."why buy it when you can pay more for it and build it yourself" funny stuff and so true!
3:06 WMM playing cards are absolutely essential for the task, no sustitutions allowed
This looks like a future 2 X 4 project
Very nice project !!!
We like your videos very much.
Keep it up !!
Yea, you could buy it, but it takes you out of the shop and it would not be green and purple lol, Looks great Steve, thanks for sharing
Hey Steve. I've been binge watching your videos for the last few weeks, along with a few other youtube wood workers, and I've had a hell of a time doing it. I really liked seeing the key system reused for the slots in the drawers that was similar to your finger joint jig, but this didn't need it's own separate jig, which was awesome. I was wondering why you used your miter gauge and a spacer on the fence rather than just running along the fence, though.
I'm not sure of the depth but a jig like the one used for finger joints might be faster and easier for the divider cuts
Hi Steve, how come you didn't hot glue a key to your sled & cut the slots the same way you did the dado's for the drawers? I'm pretty sure you could just use the exact same method.