We'll start where we left off last time. To see part one of this project, click here. Or you can view the entire project in the PDF plans found at the bottom of this page. Starting from page 11 in the pdf plans, we've built the router table cabinet. Now it's time to fill it with 2 pullouts (these two pullout will hold 90 router bits) and a drawer for storing router bits , extra collets, wrenches and a couple of feather boards.

 

Cut out the pullout parts. Use on of the shelves to arrange your router bits. These are the largest cutter I have and they all fit on one shelf. I marked the hole locations and drilled them about halfway through the shelf. I drilled the rest of the shelves with two rows of holes spaced fairly evenly, just using my eye to gauge the distance between holes. I drilled three shelves with ½" holes and the other three with ¼" holes. I ended up with ninety holes total — more than enough for now and the future.



Screw the pullout parts together. I made one pullout for my router bits with ½" shanks the the other for my ¼"-shanked bits.



Glue up the pullout spacers. Use whatever scraps you have handy. Some of mine are made of plywood and some are made of leftover pine. So far, I've spent no money for materials. All this wood is leftover from other projects.

 

I After the glue has dried, machine the pullout spaces to their final dimensions and cut them to length. The spacers span the panels and are glued to the legs only. Locate them at the bottoms of the top rails and at the top of the bottom rails. Yeah, I think that's right. After the glue has dried, draw lines on the spacers perpendicular to the front rails. These are the center lines for the drawer siides. Drill pilot holes and install the screws to attach the slides to the spacers.



Measure the distance between centers on the slides you installed on the spacers Transfer this distance to the pullouts and attach the drawer sildes to the pullouts. I allowed ¼" clearance at the top and bottoms of the pullouts. Using two slides on one side of a pullout is a bit unusual, but it works great. If the pullout doesn't work perfect the first time, you can tweak the drawer sildes a bit by removing the all but the front screws on the spacer slides. Run the pullout into the cabinet about three-fourths in. This will allow the spacer slides to align with the slides on the pullout. Replace the screws, drilling new pilot holes if necessary.



Now cut out the parts for the box. I glued and screwed them together for positive holding strength. This box will look like a little cabinet when it's done. The back runs the full length top to bottom. The front needs top and bottom railis

 

Center the box inside the cabinet. Attach it to the cabinet rails using screws. This installation makes the cabinet solid. The top of the bottom shelf of the box should be 1⁄16" proud of the bottom front rail of the cabinet. Now the drawer bottom will slide on the bottom shelf without marring the front rail.

   
 
Cut out the drawer parts. First, fit the drawer bottom into the drawer opening in the box. Trim as needed so the bottom slides smoothly in and out. Now, put the bottom in the opening and fit the sides to the space. Fit each side as there could be slight differences in size. Finally, assemble the drawer. Attach the sides to the back, then center this assembly on the bottom. The sides should be about  1⁄8" in from the sides of the bottom.

 

The drawer should slide smoothly in and out with minimal effort. Glue some cleats to the pullout shelves, the sides of the top space and the bottom drawer (I haven't glued these in place yet).



Cut out the drawer front, pullout fronts and the vent panel. I then fit them to the front of the router table, leaving about a 3⁄32" space between all these parts. Then cut the vents in the vent panel. Here, I am using my old router table.



I glued the vent panel to the bottom of the top rail and installed one screw through each of the glue blocks. The panel is free to move with the seasons because the screws will move in the over-sized holes drilled in the glue blocks.

 

I glued the vent panel to the bottom of the top rail and installed one screw through each of the glue blocks. The panel is free to move with the seasons because the screws will move in the over-sized holes drilled in the glue blocks. I attached the pullout fronts using the same method as I did for the drawer front. This completes the assembly of the router table, inner box, pullouts and lower drawer.  This completes the assembly of the  pullouts and drawer.

Click here for PDF file.

Jim is Senior Editor for Popular Woodworking books