Rolling Drawer Desk/Craft Station

A wooden rolling cart with 15 sliding drawers, versatile and perfect for home or office!

I used Birch 1/2 inch plywood, but you can use pine plywood for a cheaper buy.

-3 4'x8' 1/2" plywood sheets

-4 swivel casters (I recommend metal, not plastic)

-1 box of 1" deck screws

-1 box of 1" finishing or brad nails

-1 sheet of luan or 1/4" plywood

-Wood Glue

-15 drawer knobs

The whole cart is 31 1/2" tall (plus the height of the casters) by 38 3/4" wide and 17" deep. The drawers are 4 1/4" tall by 12" wide and 17" deep. I built the unit so that there is a small (1/8") gap between the drawers and the sides of the shelving unit, so that they wouldn't be too snug.

Cutlist for shelving unit:

rip enough of the 1/2" plywood to 17" as needed for the following:

2 @ 31" (sides)
1 @ 38 3/4" (bottom)
5 @ 37 3/4" (top and horizontal supports)
12 @ 4 12" (vertical supports)

Cutlist for drawers:

rip enough 1/2" plywood to 4" for the following:

30 @ 12" (front and back of drawers)
30 @ 16" (sides of drawers)

then rip the sheet of luan or 1/4" plywood to 17", and cut 15 @ 12" for the bottoms of the drawers

Assemble the cut pieces to the dimensions given. Remember, you need to center the vertical and horizontal pieces evenly, keeping in mind that there will be a bit of space between the drawers and the walls of the shelving unit. (this is where math skills come in handy :)

Also, reference the picture of the completed project and notice how the sides of the unit extend 3" above the top of the piece.

(This was an asthetic choice, and is included in the dimensions given for the cutlist of the side pieces. If you don't want the extra 3" and would rather have a level top, change the height of the side pieces from 31 1/2" to 28 1/2")

After assembling the shelving unit and drawers, sand everything down with a coarse grit (60) sandpaper, and then a finer grit sandpaper (120-250).

Select a stain, and stain everything once or twice with a soft cloth (I used one coat of Minwax Light Oak stain)

Let the stain dry for a day

After the stain has dried, coat the whole project with a protective coat of Polyurethane or Polyacrylic (I used one coat of Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane)

After that just screw in your drawer knobs and caster wheels, and enjoy your brand new piece of furniture!