| Project by EarlS | posted 10-25-2020 12:58 PM | 667 views | 1 time favorited | 11 comments |  |
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I’ve been re-configuring, re-organizing, and de-cluttering the shop. One of my goals was to make some room to get the blade box, dado box, and Leigh jig parts box into the climate controlled shop area rather than the main garage. I managed to consolidate things enough to get the tall Craftsman metal cabinet out of the garage and into the shop. That was where things evolved into a wood project.
Craftsman only provides 3 metal shelves in these cabinets (16×32x72) and there are only a few preset spots they can be bolted in place. After getting the shelves set where I wanted them, there was still a large area in the bottom of the cabinet. Initially, I was going to make a wood frame that would hold wood shelves but I wasn’t totally thrilled about having to lift the large, heavy Leigh part box off of the bottom of the cabinet. I pulled open a drawer to get the tape measure and had an epiphany. Why not install shelves that pull out instead?
Some 6/4 maple that had been a shelf became spacer ribs. A couple of pieces of scrap plywood were attached to the ribs to mount the drawer slides onto. HD had full extension drawer slides that mounted on the side of a drawer as well as the more basic 3/4 pull out slides rated for 50 lbs that attached to the bottom edge of a drawer. I didn’t want to give up another 1” or so from the shelf length and width to install side and back pieces so I went with the bottom mount version.
The bottom shelf was installed first, just above the lip of the cabinet face so I could make sure the second shelf was high enough that I could get a 9” tall box on the lower shelf. After the second shelf was installed, I drilled some holes through the cabinet sheet metal sides and screwed the side supports into the cabinet to keep them in place. As you can see from the first picture, the upper shelf had enough clearance for the tall box as well.
Mission accomplished with some extra room for the 4×24 belt sander. My back will certainly appreciate the pull out shelves. I just might have to make a for the shelf that has all of the finishes and glue and such so I won’t have to move everything to get to the can in the back.
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
11 comments so far
woodbutcherbynight
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#1 posted 10-25-2020 01:48 PM
Nice solution and great modification.
-- Live to tell the stories, they sound better that way.
wildwoodbybrianjohns
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#2 posted 10-25-2020 02:39 PM
As I always say, Earl, order = good; chaos = not good.
I dont see any duct tape in there? What up wiff dat!
-- Wildwood by Brian Johns: The Big Bang: Nothing - exploded into Everything. Thanks to Nothing.
splintergroup
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#3 posted 10-25-2020 02:50 PM
I have pull out shelves in the kitchen for the first time, it makes quite a difference!
Just don’t pull them all out at the same time when loaded up 8^), nice retrofit Earl!
doubleDD
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#4 posted 10-25-2020 03:03 PM
This is a great idea and makes things a lot easier. I made a couple for the shop and can not thank myself enough.
-- Dave, Downers Grove, Il. -------- When you run out of ideas, start building your dreams.
EarlS
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#5 posted 10-25-2020 03:42 PM
This is one of those improvements that seems so obvious now that I did it that I wonder why it took so long to realize the solution.
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
Dave Polaschek
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#6 posted 10-25-2020 05:45 PM
Nice work, Earl! With a new shop, it feels like a lot of time gets spent improving the organization rather than actually building stuff, but it pays off in the long run, right? That’s what I tell myself, anyhow.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
LittleBlackDuck
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#7 posted 10-26-2020 01:35 AM
Smart move EarlS... A great way to get to the stuff at the back that keeps getting duplicated due to isolation (small stuff shelf/drawer).
Only suggestion I would recommend… and as always this mouth comes with $$$ words… stainless (Blum type) sliders to get the shelf/drawer fully out…
Not having used those whiteys for many years, I cant speak for how much pull the modern ones sacrifice.
Having said that, I have found those type of slides are easier to “un-slide”... if you detach the shelf/drawer often… especially when you’re like me and too lazy to empty the contents.
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
therealSteveN
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#8 posted 10-26-2020 03:03 AM
Earl, this is swell use of a configured by someone else box,which you bent, and beat into submission for your own use. Great job.
I’m doing much the same. I never knew I owned so many tools….. And all along I thought I was retired.
-- Think safe, be safe
HokieKen
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#9 posted 10-26-2020 04:27 PM
Nicely done Earl. I like it :-)
-- Kenny, SW VA, Go Hokies!!!
Keebler1
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#10 posted 10-27-2020 05:49 PM
Great Earl now youve given me something else to do…...nice job I will have to do this with my mitre saw station instead of a bunch of doors and fully enclosed drawers
sansoo22
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#11 posted 10-27-2020 07:03 PM
That’s an awesome solution. Im going to keep this in mind when I redo the small closet in my shop. Maybe it wont be a crap catching black hole if it has pullout trays to keep things.
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