Workbench Drawer Inserts

Just because I built 10 drawers didn't automatically mean I was organized! So I built a bunch of drawer inserts to organize 10 year's worth of hardware doo-dads.

Back in 2013, I made Sarah a Christmas tree made of wooden slats. I had lots of left-overs that proved to be the perfect height to make my inserts.

I cut everything to length and then set up my dado stack to cut interlocking joints. It took a long time to set the saw blades up correctly because the pieces, while pretty uniform in width, weren't a standard width so I used the paper and cardboard shims that came with the stack to get it right.

Once I got the dado set up, I could start cutting. I cut enough inserts for 2 drawers each time so I quickly ended up with plenty of inserts. As you can see from the photo, I varied the number of compartments so that I had some flexibility as to where I could store different things.

Prior to having the drawers, I had about two dozen glass jars containing nails, screws, nuts, bolts, etc. as well as an old wooden tray. I was able to fit everything into the drawers and significantly tidy up the shop. I'm very happy with how it all came out.