Build a Tall Drawer Chest

Need some place to put your tools, jewelry, or memorabilia? wikiHow can help! A tall drawer chest is a great storage unit that is relatively easy to build. All you'll need are the right tools and a desire for a new place to put your stuff.

Steps

  1. Decide on how big the chest of drawers is going to be and how many drawers will it have. The chest shown here had to fit in a cavity in the wall that was 37” wide and 24” deep and went up all the way to the ceiling, so the chest of drawers was planned to be about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} tall, {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} wide and {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} deep.
    • The chest box is made up of 5 panels of 3/4th inch plywood, two sides, a top and a bottom, and the front. The back will b of 1/4th inch MDF.
    • The dimensions of the 5 3/4th inch panels for the chest box were: Top panel = 22” x 34”; Bottom panel = 22” x 34”; Left panel = 22” x 46”; Right panel = 22” x 46”; Front panel = 20.5” x 44.5”.
    • A paper template with 1” = {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} and then laid these on 4”x 8” to see how to cut these from {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} x {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} plywood panels. Based on the best fit, lines were drawn on a 3/4th inch plywood panel and the individual pieces were cut. See the set-up to cut these without a table saw.
    • The panels were stained with a gel based stain that simulated mahogany.
  2. Assemble the bottom panel. The bottom panel is assembled by screwing in metal 3/4th inch L-brackets to the left front, right front, left back, and right back as shown in the diagram. Screw holes for the L-brackets are not shown, but each leg of the L had two screw holes. The brackets were coated with glue (Gorilla glue) and then screwed into the edge of the plywood. These brackets add a bit of strength during the assembly process.
    • Two 3/4th inch by {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} strips of wood were cut to a length 1.5 in longer than the front of the panel (3/4 in x 1.5 in, sold as 1x2 strips). One strip was attached to the front edge of the bottom panel with a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} overhang on each side.
      • The other strip is similarly attached to the top panel.
      • Strips are cut of the same length as the sides of the panel (22 inches) and then glued and screwed into the side edges of the top and bottom panel to form a three sided tray.
    • Finally you will end up with a top and bottom panel for the chest that have three strips covering the front and side edges of the plywood sheets. The strips will project about 3/4th inch from the surface of the plywood. The back edge of the plywood does not have a strip.
  3. Attach the metal slides for the drawers to the two side panels of the chest. It is very important to measure accurately and to make sure that the left and right panels match exactly. In the image the two sides DO NOT MATCH. The drawer slides from one of the panel had to be unscrewed and reattached after making more accurate measurements. These slides were purchased from ebay at about $2/pair. The slides are {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} long and came with instructions on how to attach.
    • Now these sides will be attached to the bottom and the top panels. Take the bottom panel with it's 3 strips and metal brackets and drill three countersunk holes in the side strips. Do the same for the top panel.
  4. Place the bottom panel on the floor, apply glue to the inside of the left and right strips. Place the left side panel on top of the bottom panel and attach the side panel to the bottom by using {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} drywall screws to screw through the strip directly into the side panel plywood. Screw the metal L-bracket into the edge of the side panel plywood. Similarly, attach the top panel of the chest to this side panel. The image shows the top panel attached to the side panel.
  5. Add the second side and attach, as you did for the other side panel to finally give you a chest carcass with the four sides. Now cut and attach vertical 3/4th x {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} strips to the front with the inside edge of the strip being flush with the inside of the plywood. Attach strips to the outside of the plywood to form an L-shaped edge with the front strip. Now place the chest carcass face down on the floor. Place the back panel of the chest cut from 1/4th inch hardboard or MDF. This panel has to be cut with square edges as it will help pull the chest into an exact rectangle once it is attached to the back of the carcass. Place a bead of the gorilla glue onto the edge of the plywood of the chest carcass and carefully place the back onto the carcass. Attach the left side of the panel to the plywood with {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} screws. Then adjust the chest carcass till it is aligned with the other edge of the back panel. Attach the top end of the panel to the top of the chest carcass and finally the bottom end with screws. Let dry and then stand the chest up.
  6. Attach molding to the edge of the chest as shown with glue and nails. Stain the molding. Apply another coat of stain and then three coats of polyurethane varnish. Apply a thin coat of stain between each polyurethane coat to give a richer color.
    • For the feet, four fence post crowns shaped as spheres were used. These were made out of redwood and were much cheaper than buying bun feet though they were hard to stain and varnish. These crowns had a screw embedded in them so they were directly screwed into the bottom of the drawer chest with a spot of glue.
  7. Prepare the four sides for each drawer, and attach them together with glue and a screw going in from one face into the edge of the plywood like a frame. The width of the drawers is exactly {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} less than the inside width of the chest carcass to allow the drawer slides to fit. Stain and varnish these drawer sides (avoid varnishing the bottom of the drawer frames as these will be glued to the drawer bottoms) and let dry. Attach to drawer bottoms cut from 1/4th inch MDF with glue and screws that go into the bottom of the drawer frames. .
  8. Attach the drawer slides to the bottom of these drawers and then slide them in. Measure the drawer front panel size required directly from the installed drawers and then cut these from the front panel that you had prepared earlier. Stain and finish these front panels and then attach them to the drawers. I used screws front the front as it was easier to adjust, and then screwed from the inside of the drawer into the front panel. Finally attached drawer pull handles.

Tips

  • Making the drawer frames individually took quite a bit of effort, especially the staining and varnishing. Might have been simpler to make another box that was the total height of all the drawers and then cut out the individual drawers from this box.
  • Attaching the drawer fronts with screws from the front was not a good idea instead double sided tape might have been more useful to temporarily hold the front in place till it was screwed in from the back.
  • Used a thick strip of cardboard to separate one drawer front from the other giving uniform spacing.
  • The drawer heights were relatively shallow and ranged from 3/4 th inch depth to about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} depth. This makes it very easy to find small items.

Warnings

  • Measure twice and then cut. If you don't the drawer bottoms might be a bit smaller.

Things You'll Need

  • 3/4th inch plywood sheets depending on the size of the cabinet for the sides, top and bottom, and front of the drawer chest.
  • 1/4th inch MDF sheet for the back of the drawer chest and for the drawer bottoms.
  • Drawer slides
  • Drawer pull handles
  • Gorilla polyurethane glue
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} and 3/4th inch drywall screws

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