Hi again;

WOW the price of small drawers is outrageous. I got 6 /3ea from Amazon at $60. Yea they a pretty and slide nicely, So. Then as I was eating my blueberry muffins (daily) and filling me and the LANDFILL I thought about this.

OK this is as easy as it gets but without a table saw it is much harder so instead of rabbits (grooves) just cut some 1/2 inch baseboard rounds. And any lowes/home depot will cut plywood into pieces for you at a fair charge.

I stacked the trays 2 each inside each other just to make them stronger. (See cutting the dimple below).

This means I have to eat TWICE as many muffins...what a sacrifice.

Step 1: MEASURE WIDTH

The food box will vary in size so use a box that you get often. These boxes are transparent which allowed for viewing what is inside. The sides are rippled and gives good support. The center has support as well by the cone. Having a full open lid is very weak and will sag.

This boxe have dimples and won't allow stacking or good
side depth for staying in the slot. So I filed them off and that gives another 1/4 inch for sliding. My box width is exactly 7 and 1/8 inches wide from inside walls. The groove is 3/8.

Step 2:

My sides are 12"x 8" and need to be 3/4" plywood. Chipboard or masonite or 1/2" will bow and the drawers won't slide well. I made mine from scrap wood but if you have to buy all the wood and get it cut this should be around $15.

Cut sides to the size of your box. cut grooves. Allow for some sag from one drawer to the other (1/2"). The only critical part of this is to keep the sides parallel when assembling. I just put two drawers inside and tack on the back and bottom and top. Note my trays have a built in pull !

This isn't rocket science so i did not go into detail on actual measurements or how to glue on rails if you can't cut the slide grooves. Besides three months ago when I started this I have been looking at all sort of food containers and they all vary in size. Fat chance you will eat the same muffins I do. This post just is an inspiration on using stuff we toss into the landfills. I use my drawers daily and will NEVER buy those fancy ones again.

Good luck with yours, thanks for viewing...oldmaninsc