- Hey guys, my name is Aaron Massey from
mrfixitdiy.com and over the next couple of months
I'm gonna be tackling a pretty significant
shop overhaul to try and maximize the organization
of the shop and make myself more efficient.
So I thought that I'd make some videos
along the way to share some of my organizational
build and tips with you as I upgrade the shop.
So for today's project I'm gonna show you how
I'm building my workshop base cabinets.
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My workshop is a two car garage with a closet in the back
and as I've expanded and gotten more tools,
the space just isn't working for me anymore.
So I've redesigned the layout of the shop
and as part of that redesign, I'll need to build
a bunch of cabinets to maximize storage and organization.
So here's the design of what I'm gonna be building.
Now this design an be used for any width base
cabinet but for the ease of this video,
I'm just gonna be showing you how
to build an 18 inch base cabinet.
I'll also make this design and plan
available on my website as soon as I can
so that you can download it and build
your own version if you want to.
So to get started, first I'll need to rip down
my plywood to a more manageable size
so I can handle it on the table saw.
I'm using 3/4 inch unfinished BCX plywood
I found on sale for 30 bucks a sheet.
I don't recommend buying plywood from a big box store,
it's overpriced and poor quality.
So I recommend finding a local lumber spot
to see what they have available
if you're gonna be building cabinets.
Now I prefer 3/4 inch plywood for shop cabinet
because of the durability and the strength,
but you can also go with 1/2 inch if you wanted to.
So once I have the side panels cut to size,
I like to stack them in alignment before
clamping it together and cutting out the toe kick cutout.
I usually just mark a 3.5 by 3.5 inch square
in the corner and then cut it out with my jigsaw.
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Next I'll rip a bunch of 3.5 inch
strips to act as the cabinet supports
and toe kick before cutting them to length.
The toe kick will be full cabinet width
so 18 inches and the inner supports will be the width
of the cabinet minus the combined thickness
of the two sides, so 16.5 inches in this case.
First I'll attach the toe kick to the cabinet
sides using glue and brad nails.
I'm using these corner clamps from Rockler
just to hold the sides in place while I work on the cabinet.
They're really handy for that.
For the rest of the support, I'm using
a pocket hole jig and glue for added strength.
Now this isn't really necessary if you don't have one,
but I like the added strength the screws provide.
You can always just use glue and brad
nails for the whole build if you want to.
So next I'll attach the two back supports.
First I'll attach the bottom one across
the back, then I'll put the cabinet upside down
on the work bench and attach the other
one to the top and the back.
For the support at the front of the cabinet
and the top, I attach it parallel
to the workbench top for two reasons.
Number one, it allows me to have an area
to attach the worktop to later.
Number two is it allows me to have drawers
that go the full height of the cabinet without interfering.
Next I'll rip a piece of plywood to act
as the cabinet base and attach it to the supports
from the cabinet sides with brad nails.
Then I'd like to add a couple of corner braces
in the back, this adds a little more structural
strength but also gives me an area
to attach the worktop to in the back of the cabinet.
Next I'll rip down a couple of pieces
of plywood to act as the workbench top.
I like to glue two pieces together
to make a nice solid worktop and to attach it
to the carcass, I pre-drill and screw it from the inside.
I like doing it this way because
it allows me to replace the workbench top later
if I need to or swap in something else
without replacing the whole base cabinet.
The finished height of this cabinet
is gonna be 36.75 inches because I want it to be
even with the height of my router table,
but you can modify the height of your
cabinets to whatever size you'd like.
Next I can lay out and mark where
my draw slides are gonna go.
For this cabinet I'm choosing to have four drawers
with full extension slides to maximize storage.
These drawer slides are 22 inches
long and I found them on Amazon.
Even though I'm working on the cabinet on its side
up on the workbench, and it's not really necessary,
I'm using the Rockler draw slide jig because
it helps get the proper setbacks for the slides
and keeps them square with the cabinet carcass.
I'm setting these slides for 6.5 inch drawer boxes,
so depending on the slide and the amount of drawers
you're planning to use, you'll have to adjust
the slide locations accordingly.
With the slides in place, I'd like to then
mount the cabinet to the wall and depending
on your floor or walls, you may have to shim
your cabinets to get them level, which I had to do.
If that's the case, just make sure you also
adjust your draw slides to that they're level.
Next I can build the draw boxes.
I had some 1/2 inch maple plywood left over from my
vanity build, so I'm using that for the drawer boxes.
Normally I wouldn't use this nice of plywood
for shop cabinets but since I had it, I'm using it.
For the drawer box construction, I'm also using
a concealed pocket hole construction.
J Bates has a really good video on how to build drawer
boxes, the same way that I'm building them,
so I'll leave a link to that video
in the description down below.
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To install the drawer boxes, I usually
work my way up from the bottom.
I'm using a piece of scrap 3/4 inch plywood
to give myself a little spacer to make sure the boxes
is up off the base and doesn't rub on the cabinets.
Then I just pull the slides out
flush with the front of the box
and screw then to the box, leveling each one as I go.
This cabinet has a frameless design, meaning that
the drawer front is the full width of the cabinet
and there's no face frame attached to the carcass.
So I rip the drawer fronts to size
on the table saw before I install them.
I'm making my drawer fronts out of more 1/4 inch plywood
and I don't really care if the grain patterns match
because I'll be painting them later on,
but you can make them as nice as you'd like to,
and you can use something as nice as plywood if you want.
To install the drawer fronts, there are a few options.
Number one, you can use some double sided tape,
attach them to the drawer boxes to hold
the drawer front in place, and then drill and screw in
your drawer pull hardware front the inside of the box.
Number two, you an use these drawer front jigs from Rockler,
which hold the front in place.
They're really handy but they don't let
you completely close the draw when you're installing it,
so it's gonna be a little hard to tell
if you're perfectly lined up.
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When installing the drawer fronts,
I like to just use a small spacer like a washer to make
sure I'm getting consistent spacing of the drawer front.
One the bottom front is leveled, you can reference
each one below it with a washer
and make sure you have consistent spacing all the way up.
I use the screws from the draw pull hardware
to secure the draw front in place.
Depending on the draw pull you choose,
the spacing of the screws may vary.
So just make sure that you check out what that is.
And they also sell jigs to make sure
that the spacing that you're laying out
is precise to the drawer pull that you choose.
Lastly to finish up the cabinet,
I'm adding a 1/4 inch piece of tempered cardboard
to the top of the cabinet with some construction adhesive.
And then I'm adding a five inch backboard
as well, just because I feel like it.
Now you can also trim out the front
of the cabinets if you want like I did here.
I had some leftover maple from the project so I wrapped
the edge of the worktop to give it a finished look.
So here's the finished cabinet
as part of the larger workbench.
The other cabinet is a 24 inch base cabinet,
built the same way with a different drawer configuration.
And they're tied together with a workbench on top.
So that's it guys, that's how I will be building
all the base cabinets for my shop upgrade.
It'll take a little bit of time for me to make
them all, but once they're done, I'll have a ton of storage
space and we'll be able to really organize the shop.
If you guys like this video please hit
that like button down below and also
be sure to subscribe to the channel.
I'll be posting more shop upgrade projects soon,
make sure you stick around for that.
And if you want to check out more of my DIY
and home improvement projects, I'll leave
the links to those right here.
And to download this plan or see all my other content,
make sure you visit my website, at mrfixitdiy.com.
Thank you guys so much for watching,
and I'll see you next time.
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