Project by PurpLev | posted 07-29-2013 08:18 PM | 3039 views | 12 times favorited | 20 comments | ![]() |
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This is the type of project that got me started in woodworking. we have deep cabinets in the kitchen and anything inside is usually hard to get to so I build some (12) full extension drawers to replace the standard pinned shelves for easier access to everything inside.
- fully constructed of birch plywood (1/2” bottom, and 3/4” for sides cause that’s what I had at hand – otherwise I would go with 1/2” for sides as well).
- pocket screws construction for the purpose of being able to take this apart when we move and recycle materials for something else.
- finger slots in the front for easy access/handling
- full extension 100lbs capacity slides
-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
20 comments so far
CharlieM1958
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16292 posts in 5715 days
#1 posted 07-29-2013 08:24 PM
Very nice addition to your cabinets, Sharon. If my wife sees this, I know what my next project will be. :-)
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
ellen35
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2750 posts in 4929 days
#2 posted 07-29-2013 08:24 PM
These are so useful! I totally understand “losing’ something in the back of a cabinet!
Glad you thought to make them “removable” so that you will be able to take them with you.
Ellen
-- "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Voltaire
hiswillus
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70 posts in 3445 days
#3 posted 07-29-2013 08:30 PM
Hey Purp! I was thinking of doing something similar. We have the cupboard under our sink just a large open space. We need 3 sections for recycling. I’m trying to find a clever way to build or buy containers and have them in there so they can be easily carried down for emptying.
Lenny
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1752 posts in 5024 days
#4 posted 07-29-2013 08:32 PM
Nice renovation Sharon. These will be very functional. Nice thinking regarding the pocket hole joinery.
-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI
PurpLev
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8654 posts in 5145 days
#5 posted 07-29-2013 08:35 PM
these are pretty useful – it’s my 3rd iteration of making those (getting better and better at it). I really don’t know why they make such deep cabinets WITHOUT something like this, but I digress…
Hiswillus – while some of the drawers I just made are in a wide cabinet like you mention, we only use these for storing smaller items that would otherwise be hard to reach (deep inside). for recyclables/trash/bins have you consider something like this (IKEA):
that’s what we use for exactly that purpose and it works great.
-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
Jamie Speirs
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4168 posts in 4353 days
#6 posted 07-29-2013 08:48 PM
Very neat
Jamie
-- Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
sIKE
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1271 posts in 5251 days
#7 posted 07-29-2013 09:15 PM
Sharon,
Looks good as always, I have been talking to the wife about doing something like this for our existing cabinets.
-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"
JoeinGa
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7741 posts in 3504 days
#8 posted 07-29-2013 09:21 PM
Nice upgrade
-- Perform A Random Act Of Kindness Today ... Pay It Forward
Karson
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35301 posts in 5897 days
#9 posted 07-29-2013 10:06 PM
Sharon; Great addition. Both sets of kitchen cabinets that I’ve build is all drawers under the counter top. I even built drawers in the dead corner and opened them on the other side of the cabinets.
I always hated to have to go digging for something stuck back in the back.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Appomattox Virginia [email protected] †
steliart
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2895 posts in 4185 days
#10 posted 07-29-2013 10:49 PM
nicely done
-- Stelios L.A. Stavrinides: - I am not so rich to buy cheap tools, but... necessity is the mother of inventions !!!
moonls
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412 posts in 4483 days
#11 posted 07-30-2013 12:08 AM
Nice job Sharon! You’ve put your skills to good use with this practical and handy solution for the kitchen in your home.
-- Lorna, Cape Cod
mafe
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13872 posts in 4586 days
#12 posted 07-30-2013 12:21 AM
This will make life easier, and yes that is where it all Begins.
Way to go.
Best thoughts,
Mads
-- MAD F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect.
JJohnston
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1622 posts in 4788 days
#13 posted 07-30-2013 12:47 AM
I’ve been wanting to do this with one of the cabinets in my kitchen as long as I’ve lived in this house. Is that just a strip of the Baltic birch running vertically on the left in pic #2 for a spacer? One at the front & one at the back?
-- "A man may conduct himself well in both adversity and good fortune, but if you want to test his character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln
PurpLev
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8654 posts in 5145 days
#14 posted 07-30-2013 01:26 AM
thanks guys!
Mads – easy is always a great way to go indeed (as long as it doesn’t come on the account of some other values).
Karson – I think it’s something that was only adopted as of late – using all drawers as opposed to doored-cabinets. drawers just make more sense if you have them sized appropriately – I like the idea of using the corners and open from the other side. will have to make a mental note of that one.
JJ – yes and no – the no being it’s not “Baltic” birch, but just “regular” (cabinet grade actually – as cheap as it comes) birth plywood. the yes – is for everything else. I used some left over parts and had 1 strip in the back, and one in the front as spacers along with some card-stock (thick paper) to make up for the front face thickness. I had this done practically in every places we’ve lived in the past 10 years.
-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
Karson
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35301 posts in 5897 days
#15 posted 07-30-2013 02:13 AM
Sharon: This is the island in my home in NJ.

This is the one in Delaware.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Appomattox Virginia [email protected] †
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