… Tiny Drawers — Fostering Adventure

Tech Cabinet Tiny Drawers

A better solution

After six years of using the truck, and finding and re-doing the problems and annoyances we have discovered so far, we have yet another improvement to make.

The original cabinet shelves with the Mac Mini and other assorted junk shoved into them.

When first built, I designed the tech cabinet at the front of the habitat to house not only the control panel, TV and all the camera gear, but also the Apple Mac Mini computer and its accessories. The Mini was connected to a 3 terabyte hard drive which stored our iTunes library and ran the Apple TV for when we were off grid and wanted to watch a movie or such. With the improvement in technology, and the change in the way we use it, we have found that the simple shelves we designed into the cabinet were no longer necessary, or indeed the best use of that space.

Since the Mac Mini has now been replaced with the much more powerful MacBook Pro M1 with 8 terabytes of internal storage, and doesn’t need a permanent location from which to operate, it was decided to change the three shelves into three small drawers. These would be much better at storing the small odds and sods that one tends to collect and use on a regular, but not so frequent basis.

Beginning The Process

The first step was to use a vernier caliper to determine accurate dimensions of the space we wanted to fill with drawers, and then calculate the drawer sizes allowing for an even gap all around the perimeter of each drawer. Time well spent on the computer with the drawing program.

Drawing of the cabinet opening and drawer front sizes.

Drawer front, side and plan view dimensions.

Component cutting list for the various parts.

Actual finish measurements for gap comparison.

Construction Begins

Cut to within a few thousands of an inch of our target dimension. Not too shabby.

Made from 1/4”, 3/8” and 3/4” baltic birch plywood, the parts were cut on the table saw with some effort being put into getting the dimensions spot on. Not an easy task considering the crudity of my well used (and abused) portable contractor table saw. But with perseverance, and the vernier caliper, I made it happen.

With the three thicknesses of wood selected, it's off to the table saw.

The 3/4" material was a crop from a previous job. So free material.

My old, cheap saw cuts well, but needs a lot of attention when setting the rip fence for accuracy.

Cut accuracy comparable to a machine shop.

All thicknesses were cut to the same accuracy.

All of the components for the three drawers finished and ready for sanding.

Sanding the flat pieces before the glueing process begins.

Once cut, the parts were all sanded before the glueing process was started. This, because sanding flat pieces is so much easier than trying to sand into the corners of the assembled boxes.

After sanding, the parts were prepared for glueing by masking the areas adjacent to the glue joints so that no glue would get onto what would be the finished surfaces of the drawers. Although somewhat time consuming, it’s infinitely better than trying to scrape off the oozed out glue without contamination of the exposed wood surface.

All of the components have been sanded and labeled for error free assembly.

The first bits to glue together are drawer bottoms and the front brace.

The first glue job had to be done without clamps because of the odd shape of the 1/4 round. A high tack glue is used in these cases.

With the drawer carcass glued and pinned, they were stacked and placed on a flat surface with a weight on top to hold them flat while the glue hardened.

Before glueing on the front panel I wanted to be sure my dimensions were all correct. So the fronts were taped in place so the drawers could be test fitted in the truck.

The drawers in place with spacers to ensure the gaps would be right.

We taped the felt onto the side of the drawer and this shows how well it holds the drawer in place.

Once fitting was confirmed the fronts were glued onto the drawer carcasses.

After glueing, all the excess glue was removed before the masking tape was pulled off.

This shows the extent of the masking detail. Time consuming to do, but there's no cleanup. So much better to spend the time up front.

A water based wood filler is used to fill all the pin holes.

Although none of the pinholes will be seen, they were all filled nevertheless.

The Finishing Process Has Several Steps

The varnish goes on glossy, but cures to a satin, non-reflective surface.

Step One – Varnishing

Once the glueing process was complete, and the pin holes from the brad nailer and other blemishes were filled and sanded smooth, varnishing the wood that wouldn’t be covered with laminate was next.

Since our favourite marine varnish was no longer available, we had to buy a similar product from a different manufacturer. It’s always a bit of a gamble when doing this, as there’s no way of knowing for sure if the new product will be as good. In this case, however, we got lucky and the product was very similar. It doesn’t flow out quite as well, and it retains its odour longer after it’s cured, but these are small issues.

Several coats of varnish would be needed, as the first coat essentially just seals the wood, but leaves a very rough texture because the liquid raises the grain of the wood. But when this first coat is dry and then sanded, and the surface leveled out, the second coat goes on smooth and remains that way. The product instructions call for 3 to 5 coats, but for something as simple and well protected from the elements as these little drawers, it was decided that two coats were quite sufficient.

We were fortunate that the front wasn't being varnished. This made it possible to coat the entire drawer and manipulate it by handling only the front face.

Once dried, the varnish has this nice satin finish.

At the same time as varnishing the drawers we pulled the computer storage unit back out of the truck and varnished it as well.

Before the second coat could be applied all the parts had to be lightly sanded with 600 grit paper to remove the roughness of the raised woodgrain caused by the first coat of varnish.

All the parts are varnished and ready for the next step.

Step Two – Laminate Surfacing

The piece of laminate cut from a larger sheet, ready for application as drawer fronts.

With varnishing complete the next step is to apply the Wilsonart Windsor Mahogany laminate to finish the front faces of the drawers so they match the cabinet. Without the specialized laminating equipment found in a commercial cabinetry business, the process was time consuming. First, the blank of laminate was cut off the full sheet that we had bought for the upcoming projects. Since we only needed a square foot of material, the easiest manner of cutting it off the 4’x8’ sheet was by way of a small angle grinder and a Zip disk. It cuts quickly and smoothly with no chipping of the laminate that can come from a toothed blade, and the sheet that is rolled up into cylinder didn’t even have to be unrolled. We started with a single blank, and laid out the drawer front sizes on them, and labeled them so the vertical woodgrain image would be consistent from top drawer to bottom drawer.

With the drawers ready for the laminate, they were placed on the material and cut lines were drawn on the laminate. It was then cut into separate pieces so the drawers could be laminated separately.

Because there was curl in the laminate, once it was glued to the wood with contact cement we needed to clamp the faces to ensure the clue cured before the laminate peeled itself off the wood.

One drawer was clamped to the table, the other two were clamped to each other, face to face.

Letting the glue set over night, it was now ready to be trimmed to the plywood.

The half inch between the drawers isn't enough to affect the alignment of the woodgrain image on the laminate.

The use of a router with a flush cutting bit would do the job for us.

Trimming the laminate takes some thought. A wrong move at a corner can chip off the laminate ruining the job.

Corners should always be cut first.

Pro tip: Always cut the corners at 45º first. This way when running the bit off the end of the laminate it can't chip off the corner.

A successful trim job ready for the edging tape.

Masking tape applied to protect the varnished area from the contact cement.

With the laminate on the front face, the edging had to be applied. We have two types, a thick edging that’s about 1/8” thick and can be routed off flush with a standard edge router, and a thin edging (.020” thick) that’s cut off with a slitter or in our case, a knife. The advantage of the thin edging is that it will lie flat, where the thick stuff has a real curve to it that really needs a long run or heated glue to keep it flat and adhered to the wood. Since our runs are very short, the contact cement we use wouldn’t hold the thick edging on securely.

Just like the wood glueing, this part of the laminate glueing could bleed onto the varnish, so more masking tape was used to protect it.

Liberal amounts of glue were used on both wood and edging to ensure a good bond.

The edging would not protrude beyond the backside of the front panel

The sides were done first, and then trimmed. Then the top and bottom edges were done.

The top edge had to be trimmed front and back.

The edging is made from a semi-soft plastic, and can easily be trimmed with a sharp knife. You just have to hold the knife at the correct angle.

The bottom edging was applied so the rear edge lined up with the back of the front panel, so only the front side had to be trimmed.

Although the front side of the top edge was easy to trim, the back side was more difficult because the knife could easily bight into the varnished wood. Care had to be taken to do it right.

Once the edging was all trimmed, a round shaft is rubbed back and forth over the corner to burnish the plastic down onto the laminate.

Even under close scrutiny the corner joints are virtually invisible.

The wood ends of the front panel were back cut so there was a recess next to the drawer side. The result was that the outer face of the edge tape was flush with the wood sides.

The tape on the bottom was proud of the bottom by its .020" thickness. This had to be accounted for when mounting the drawer runners inside the cabinet.

A very clean, professional job. Not bad for an old broken down and permanently unemployed metal basher.

All ready for the next step.

This shows the great alignment of the laminate woodgrain.

Preparing for Installation

With all the laminate and edging applied, the last thing before installation into the tech cabinet is to install the pull knobs and friction guides. Since these drawers are too small for commercially made drawer glides, we have to make our own the way cabinet makers of old did. Well… my version of how the old craftsmen did it at least.

Wood runners were used instead of metal glides, and to make the action smooth but snug, standard self adhesive furniture felt was used to provide the friction. As it happened, the felt product we found at the store was the perfect thickness to provide the right friction.

First step was to layout and centre drill the hole for the pull knob. A tiny drill was used for this to provide an accurate guide for the larger drill to prevent wander.

The larger holes were drilled on the drill press so they would be perfectly square to the face.

All the knobs are installed and look great.

Since we couldn't use regular drawer clasps, I decided to use self-adhesive magnetic tape. So two long strips were attached to the rear of the drawer.

Next, the felt was cut into strips and attached to the sides.

Since the felt pad wasn't long enough, we had to piece it together.

Once applied, it looks like one long piece.

The felt was stopped shy of the front so it wouldn't be seen when the drawers were closed.

Next we had to cut the strips for the drawer runners, and holes had to be positioned just right to miss the shelf support tab holes in the cabinet sides.

This shows the position of where the wood runner will sit.

Hole locations all laid out, centre punched and ready for drilling.

Drilled, varnished and ready for installation.

Final installation

Installation into the cabinet could have been problematic. I built the drawers assuming the cabinet opening would be square. Unfortunately, the cabinet makers in Missouri haven’t heard of the highly technical tool called a “square”. The small opening was out of square by 1/8” over a 12” run. In the cabinet making world, that’s a really big error. Fortunately for us, the height of our drawer fronts are only 3” each. So the parallelogram effect of the out of square opening is barely noticeable over the height of each drawer.

However, to ensure that all the horizontal gaps between the drawers and cabinet are parallel and even, the lower existing panel had to be rotated to the point where the diagonally opposed corners touched the surrounding opening. But the gap here was very small, and at the bottom. So not very noticeable. Once that was done we could use shims to space the drawer gaps, and then use a square to position the drawer runners.

Final test fit with accurate shims to verify the gaps.

Re-mounting the existing lower panel to compensate for the out of square cabinet.

The original brackets would no longer work, so a simple block with two sided tape did the job.

The felt spacer was used with a tri-square to position the wood runner.

With the wood runner positioned in place, the screw holes could be marked and drilled into the walls.

This shows the final wood runner installation, and just how square we could get it.

The second strip of magnetic tape on the back was exposed so it could be pushed onto the cabinet back wall.

Once pushed back against the wall, the second piece of magnetic tape stayed attached. Then the drawer was removed and the tape firmly pushed against the wall surface.