Not too long ago I had Jay Bates and April Wilkerson in my shop to work on some projects together.  They made me an assembly/out-feed table while they were here.  I have been getting a ton of use out of it so far but the bottom shelf had just been collecting random tools.  I decided to make a storage organizer to better utilize the space underneath. Something to try and keep me from creating the mess I normally work with.  Okay this is at least a step in the right direction.  If you want to see how the assembly table itself was constructed, check out Jay’s video for the details.  April had a different take on it.  Being her shop wouldn’t allow for a dedicated assembly table, she had to come up with a fold-down version.  It’s worth checking out for sure.

 

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I built this organizer from 3/4″ plywood.  I had to use 2’x4′ sheets as that was what was available to me at the time.  It had a fair amount of voids and it’s not what I prefer to work with but I think it served this shop project well.
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After ripping the sheet roughly in half I moved the rip fence over slightly and trimmed the remaining edge so it was nice and straight and both halves were the same width.
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Using my crosscut sled I trimmed one end of each of the boards.

 

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With both boards clamped together, I cut them to final length.

 

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I repeated the same for the vertical dividers as well.

 

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I installed a stop block to my fence so I could make repetitive cuts.

 

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That allows for accurate repeatable cuts where the wood being cut won’t get trapped between the fence and the blade.

 

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I used a 1/4″ spacer to initiate the first dado using my dado router jig.

 

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I decided to not put a dado in the center because I didn’t think I’d ever use it.  it was reallt the center two dados I was after.

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Using a spiral down-cut bit may lead to sawdust buildup in the dado while routing, but the tearout free cut is worth it to me on these smaller length dados.  If you want a quicker cut and don’t want to brush out the dados, use an up-cut bit.

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I took the time to properly layout the placement for the ends and vertical dividers.

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Once that was done, I could pre-drill the holes for the screw locations.  I did this while having the top and bottom clamped together.  When I drilled the top board I also drilled halfway through the bottom piece.

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This located the hole placement for the other piece as well.  After that, I could drill through holes and countersink those holes as well.

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A little bit of glue for insurance and then some brad nails made sure nothing was going to move.

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Then you can finish the joint with a couple screws.

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It was the same procedure for the center dividers as well.  Glue, brads, and then screws.

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Brad nails really help in keeping things from shifting around.

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Double checking everything with a combination square helps in keeping everything straight and aligned.

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It was a snug fit installing it into the bottom of the assembly table which I saw as a good sign.

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I know it really wasn’t going to go anywhere, but a few screws put my mind at ease.

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I needed 8 shelves for dividers.  Once cut to size, they could be inserted into the dados.

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Being they were a bit smaller in thickness than the dados cut, I added a drop of CA Glue to each side of the 1/4″ thick MDF shelves.  If the need arises in the future, a quick cut with a utility knife would free the dividers.

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All that was left was the storage bins.  You can find them here but if you have a local department store, often times you can find them for much less.

Workbench-Storage-Organizer36Thanks for checking it out!  Make sure to take a look at April and Jay’s video as well.

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