DRAWERS FROM 1/4" PLYWOOD

I needed a small table in my office measuring 36" x 13" x 30 1/4" high to match the height of my desk. I tossed this together out of scraps in a little more than a day which included waiting for the glue to set.

I gathered together the scraps. A pine board, some decking, and lots of 1/4" plywood.

Here are the tools I used... and add to that lots of glue.

For the 13 x 36 tabletop, I pieced together the pine board.

Using two pieces of 1 x 6 decking, I ripped them in half, giving me 4 legs. I trimmed them to 29 1/2" and pocket screwed them into the bottom of the 3/4" thick table top, and got my 30 1/4 desired height.

I wanted the two drawers to be 5" deep so I ripped some 1/4" plywood to the width of the 1 x 6 and made two cubbies, using a piece of the 1 x 6 decking as a divider. The height of the cubbies was 5 1/2" which was perfect for the 5" deep drawers I wanted.

The whole trick to using 1/4" plywood for making drawers is rabbeting. The rabbets have to be half the thickness deep and the same thickness wide as the plywood. This method works great with 3/8", 1/2", and 3/4" thicknesses just as well.

Rabbet 3 sides of the front and back and just the bottom for the sides. Glue together, add the bottom, hold in place with tape and wait for it to set. You'd be surprised how strong the drawer is. I glued 1/4" plywood drawer fronts on and used small blocks of scrap wood for the drawer pulls.

The table fits perfectly into the limited space I had in my office. The drawer was deep enough to hold the tall items I wanted to get off my desk. Yes, only one of the two drawers is accessible, but someday this table will no longer be here and can be spruced up to fit the most decerning decore.

Let me know what you think.