Sweet Little Sugar Drawers

I scavenged a box of these restaurant sugar packet holders at an auction a while back, and figured they would be good for storing/organizing small parts in the studio. They are very thick and durable plastic compared to the easily breakable small parts drawers we’ve seen before. For simplicity I decided to use the thick ridge on top of the sugar holders to be the drawer glides. This way I would only need some slots for them to ride in.

Step 1: SketchUp Model

I made a SketchUp model of the spacing so I could see what it would look like. It requires one 1”x4”x8’ to build a 4x5 drawer unit. I decided to make it larger (6x6 drawers) so I bought two 1”x4”x6’ boards.

Step 2: Prototype

I also made a little test piece from scrap to make sure the drawers would slide well, and they did.

Step 3: Cut Wood to Length

For the 6x6 unit you’ll need 2 pieces 19 ½” long. 7 pieces 13 ¾” long.

Step 4: Cut Dados

Cut ¼” dados 2” apart and 3/16" deep in the 5 vertical pieces. Set up the saw to cut each dado and then run all the pieces through before setting up the next cut. Don’t forget to do both sides of the middle pieces

Step 5: Make Spacers

Apply 2-3 layers of masking tape to the top part of 12 sugar tubs. These will be used as spacers.

Step 6: Start Assembling

Glue and nail one side to the top and bottom.

Step 7: Add Spacers

Insert the first middle piece between the top and bottom on top of the spacers. 

Step 8: Nail in Place

Step 9: Continue

Add spacers and repeat for the rest of the vertical pieces.

Step 10: Clamp

Clamp it if there are any gaps.

Step 11: Remove Spacer Tape

Step 12: Fill Nail Holes

Step 13: Sand and Varnish

I used water base polyurethane.

Step 14: Load It Up!