DIY Lower Shop Cabinet | Free Plan

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Get the Free Plan for this project:

https://learn.outoftheww.com/shop-cabinet-lower-plan

The garage shop cleanup/makeover is underway! This project is the lower cabinet to match the upper cabinet I finished a couple of weeks ago.

Building the Case

The carcass is pretty straightforward with two side pieces and a middle divider. Two sets of these are attached together to form one cabinet.

Depending on your space you may need to cutout areas to fit around obstructions. It’s important to be able to push the cabinet up against the wall to attach it to the studs.

I used a jig to drill 1/4″ (6mm) shelf pin holes into the inside face of each side piece and both faces of the divider.

The bottom pieces get attached to a side piece and the middle divider with pocket screws.

The cleats fit into the cutouts on the divider and are attached with pocket screws into the end pieces. I drove two wood screws straight down into the divider.

Depending on the leveling feet you choose for your cabinet you may need to drill a hole into the bottom piece so that it will fit. The feet generally have a long screw and drilling a hole allows it to be tightened fully.

I used cup hinges and this jig makes drilling the holes an easy task.

Drawers

I used an extremely straight forward drawer construction for this project. I, personally, wouldn’t use this type for anything other than some shop cabinets, but it does work well and it’s quick.

I attached the front and back of the drawer to the sides with pocket screws. I attached the bottom with wood glue and countersunk wood screws.

I mounted the drawer slides in the middle of the side of the drawer. The positioning inside the carcass was simple with two spacers that allowed me to set the slides on them while attaching.

Installation

I clamped the two cabinets together and countersunk three wood screws to attach them.

Then, I marked the studs in the wall and drove pocket screws through the cleats and into the studs.

Drawer Fronts

After cutting out the drawer fronts I made a simple jig to drill the holes for the drawer handles.

I then removed all but the bottom two drawers and eyed the positioning for the bottom drawer fronts clamping them into place. I secured these two drawer fronts with pocket screws driven through the drawer handle holes.

After all the drawer fronts were in place I countersunk two screws in each drawer through the back of the drawer front.

Top

After cutting the top plywood piece I attached three plywood strips to the back with wood glue and brad nails. The outer strips should be flush with the edge of the plywood top.

I cutout some 1 1/2″ (38mm) solid wood trim and attached it with wood glue and brad nails. I used miter joints, but you could just use butt joints.

The top is attached with pocket screws up through the cleats on the carcass. I drove one screw in the front and back in each section of the cabinets.

I didn’t like the way the plywood edges looked, so I added edge-banding to the edges that would show all the time. The upper cabinet door, one lower cabinet door, and the edge of the toe-kick.

The final steps were to attach the toe-kick with brad nails, add the hardware, and then add finish.

I went with three coats of a water-borne polyurethane sanding with 220 grit in between coats.

The pair of upper and lower cabinets is done and the garage shop is starting to look much better! Go download the plan and build some for yourself!

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