It wasn’t long ago that I added the Ridgid Oscillating Spindle Sander to my shop.  This sander is a very handy tool to have and it’s also a very popular model, so once I got it setup and running, I started using it right away.  One thing I needed was somewhere to put it, so I grabbed a tool stand that wasn’t being used for anything else and I built a storage cabinet to mount on top of it.  Shop furniture isn’t always the prettiest furniture to look at, but I wanted this piece to be an attractive little unit and to do that I took inspiration from the end table I built when I attended the Jory Brigham Design Workshop this past winter in Paso Robles, California.  I did a full write-up on my experience taking that course and you can check that out here —> My Experience At The Jory Brigham Design Workshop In Paso Robles.

I don’t know about you but I’m a big fan of exposed plywood edges (when used in moderation) and I chose to go with Baltic Birch plywood for this project.  I laminated several strips of the plywood together, and after the glue dried I evened out the thickness using my DeWalt DW734 Benchtop Planer.  Once I had the desired thickness, I used what I learned at Jory’s course and set up a straight edge fence at an angle over at my Laguna Fusion Table Saw.  Sending the wood over the saw blade at an angle cuts an arch, or cove on the face of the wood.  The safest practice is to only raise the blade about 1/8″ after each pass.  There are several variables that allow you to get a pretty unique cove pattern.  I went with a fairly simple 3 cove pattern, which meant running the wood over the blade at 3 different fence distances.  Note to self….next time set up some sort of dust collection at either end of the wood when cove cutting.  Since you’re running wood over the blade in an unconventional manner, dust shoots out the open ends like there was no tomorrow, lol!

 

 

I knew I wanted to add a good looking, but easy to grip handle.  I ended up picking up a piece of 1-inch thick brass rod.  I determined how long my knob/handle needed to be, and cut off that length over at the chop saw.  Then I put on the 1-inch diameter sanding sleeve and started working the brass, creating a groove that would be comfortable to grab to pull open the drawer.  It took a while, but the Ridgid Spindle Sander did a great job.  Another note to self….wear gloves because the brass gets hot!!

 

 

The construction of the box was pretty straightforward, with butt joints and some exposed plywood edges.  After attaching the back I ran my Freud/Diablo 45 degree chamfer bit around the edges to give it a nice touch.  Once the box was assembled I also added a strip of solid birch around the front to hide the exposed plywood edges, and that birch strip had a 10-degree bevel on it to add a little bit of detail.  I sanded the whole box to 400 grit and gave it a good wiping of Watco Danish Oil and finished it off with a couple coats of satin spray lacquer.

The drawer boxes were simply assembled using pocket screws, thanks to my Kreg Pocket Hole K4 Jig, and I used 12-inch full extension drawer slides for maximum drawer content accessibility.  Then I used a 1-inch Freud Forstner Bit to bore a hole for the brass knob and used a little bit of Gorilla Glue 2-part clear epoxy to secure the knob in place.  Finally, I mounted the coved drawer face to the front of the drawer box and secured the the metal stand to the finished product using 4 screws from below, and secured the Ridgid sander on top using 4 more screws.  Done and done!!

 

 

By the time you’re reading this, the drawer is already much fuller than it is in the photo, haha!  If you enjoyed this project, please leave me a comment letting me know what you liked about it, or what you think I could have done differently!  Also, stay tuned to the blog because I’m currently building a cabinet base for my router table that will be in the same style as this….only bigger and more complicated  🙂

Also, if you plan on making any tool purchases, check out my affiliate links and add some items to your cart!!  Be sure to contact me directly if you have any questions or are looking for a custom piece of furniture.  Thanks so much, see you in the woodshop!