Hurricane Dry Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 For shop drawers, I've been using Columbia purebond birch plywood in 3/4 for the front and back and 1/2 for the sides and bottoms. Home Depot carries it and it is pretty decent at at a good price. It has a poplar core in my area. I have been using 3/8 fluted dowels to that go all the way through the sides. Makes a good shop drawer when used with ball bearing slides. I wouldn't try to make box joints with plywood. Home Depot also has the same purebond plywood with maple face veneers and poplar core. Columbia uses different cores in different parts of the country. So your location may mean that the cores will be made from something else. Wwhardware.com has sales this time of year on full extension side mount ball bearing slides. Ball bearing slides are way cheaper from them than big box stores. For shop drawers, I find the full extension ball bearing slides the be worth the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapling111276 Posted January 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 Yeah, I am actually going to make the top out of glued up 2x4s and top with hardboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denette Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 2 hours ago, sapling111276 said: Yeah, I am actually going to make the top out of glued up 2x4s and top with hardboard Glued-up 2x4s should make for a pretty stable top, since they'll basically hold one another in place. Do you plan on gluing them up to make the top 2" thick or 4" thick (nominal thickness, obv.)? 4" thick would be far less likely to warp on you. Also you might want to take into consideration that 2x4 lumber isn't square at the corners, so you'll have grooves where the rounded corners meet at the glue joints unless you run the boards across a jointer, through a planer, or across a table saw to trim the round over prior to gluing them up. But, then, if you're topping it with hardboard the roundovers might not matter if they don't bother you and don't make the hardboard sit unevenly. Regardless, I'd really recommend gluing so that the 4" dimension is the thickness - so much more stability, plus you might even be able to drill holes for bench dogs and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapling111276 Posted January 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 OK so just got tapatalk and I was navigating around in it since I have never used it before. Denette I plan to cut away the rounded edges. The actual bench is made from doubled up 2x4s that I ripped as square as possible and then used a bench plane to flatten to my liking. I will probably do the same thing here. Update on the drawer project***: So I again want to thank everyone for their input. It had given me a lot to think about and for a bit it actually left me a little torn on what to do, so here is what I did; I didn't want to put up the cash for the plywood I would be using so I had to make a choice. I found a software program that let's you put dimensions in and it will configure the best cut pattern to save wood/money. I was able to determine that 2 sheets would be enough for my project (I even had left over for test cuts). I went to home Depot because I have their credit card but I decided to go with what I was already working with "radiata pine plywood". This stuff is $29 a panel and suites my needs for a workbench. I decided to also go with the drawer slides so I will be filling the dados that I made on the bench carcasses. I will post pics of my progress. The drawers are all cut to size and just need the draw bottom channel cut in and then glue up. Oh and I went with a drawer joint (Dado and tongue joint) which is pretty easy once you get the saw dialed in. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sapling111276 Posted February 16, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Ok folks, it has been forever since I posted anything goes on here, but I was busy designing and putting my ideas into motion with the workbench project. I started woodworking in October of 2016 so bare with me when you see my picture. I decided to sink my quick release vise into my bench top. It was a little tricky to figure this part out but it is milled right into my 2x4 sub top to my bench. There is a little access area that I ended up sealing up with a bunch of kreg jig pocket holes and screws. The hard top was routed with a flush bit to match the carcass of the bench. I decided to full in my Dado tracks with close to exact plywood that I ripped in such a manner to minimize the appearance while looking at the face-edge as much as possible. I went with the epoxy drawer slides as suggested above. For the drawers themselves, I decided to stick with home depot and made them from radiata pine (roughly $29 a sheet). I had super high intentions for this build and then scaled back a smidge because after all, it's a workbench. It will get used and abused and as of right now, I feel it's so nice I don't want to damage it already lol. I want to thank everyone here for coaxing me along with ideas, help and getting me to think about this as I proceed. Though some ideas were not used in my building, they were stored away for future endeavors. Thank you again. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk Ok folks, it has been forever since I posted anything on here, but I was busy designing and putting my ideas into motion with the workbench project. I started woodworking in October of 2016 so bare with me when you see my picture. I decided to sink my quick release vise into my bench top. It was a little tricky to figure this part out but it is milled right into my 2x4 sub top to my bench. There is a little access area that I ended up sealing up with a bunch of kreg jig pocket holes and screws. The hard top was routed with a flush bit to match the carcass of the bench. I decided to fill in my Dado tracks with close to exact plywood that I ripped in such a manner to minimize the appearance while looking at the face-edge as much as possible. I went with the epoxy drawer slides as suggested above. For the drawers themselves, I decided to stick with home depot and made them from radiata pine (roughly $29 a sheet). I had super high intentions for this build and then scaled back a smidge because after all, it's a workbench. It will get used and abused and as of right now, I feel it's so nice I don't want to damage it already lol. I want to thank everyone here for coaxing me along with ideas, help and getting me to think about this as I proceed. Though some ideas were not used in my building, they were stored away for future endeavors. Thank you again. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Nice . I bet you have some time in it . I see the 16 draws but what is in the center of the bench? Will you finish it or leave as be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Nice bench! Lots of storage there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Looks pretty good, but let's see a drawer in the open position ! That's the real test. Do they all run smoothly ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Yeah dude, great job! Enjoy the heck out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Are you still there OP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 On 1/11/2017 at 2:00 PM, sapling111276 said: I have it up against a jig stop. Some of the cuts show missing meat between the plies. I was assuming it was the quality of the wood. Glad you got that worked through and the drawer unit looks good. This craft is an ongoing learning experience and that's a lot of the attraction for many. The likelihood of a home center having Baltic Birch plywood is non-existent around here. At my yard I can get 60" x 60" sheets in two grades; B/BB with a clear front face / patches allowed on the back and BB/BB with patches allowed on both faces. The real deal is identifiable (but not absolutely) by an odd number of plys with the outer plys being nice and thick with the grain oriented in the same direction front and back. This is B/BB right off the table saw using a box joint jig and a Freud SD-508 dado stack. I did not use a backer board but, the jig has a replaceable backer insert that handles that. I also do not count on my grip being adequate and use a clamp to hold that material against the rear fence/backer. I make my fingers a smidge long so I can sand them flush. I have never had any of the BB ply I get around here look like what you are working with. I have done similar joinery on lesser types of plywood. To avoid tear out and delamination I sandwich the "keeper" between two pieces of scrap. Except for any voids in the material that cause blowout this pretty well tames the ragged results. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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