Printers Drawer Cabinet Making

I am in the middle of building a printers drawer cabinet. You all remember my library card catalog that I just finished, well I am building a cabinet to set on the top of that peice. It will be in my studio and I want/need lots of storage. And these printer's drawer cabinet will house all of my tiny scrapbook items.

Last week my neighbor (awesome wood working neighbor...everyone needs one of these) helped me get the cabinet peices cut to size and all the dado joints. We just got it all glued together last night and we will have the face frame and the top and moulding peice left to make. It's been a really fun project and I can't wait until it's all built and ready to paint. 

We cut it from a high grade plywood because the cupboard is so wide that it would be super heavy to make out of solid wood. 

A quick sand on the corners so that when we put it together we wouldn't get slivers. 

Glue and nailed together. The top peice has screws to help shure up the peice. It has to be perfect to size to fit the printers drawer. 

Glued everything when assembling. 

We used lots of clamps to make sure the cupboard glued perfectly square. Each shelf was glued and nailed/screwed into place. 

You can kinda see how the cupboard will work. The top drawer (seen on the bottom since it's upside down) will be taller because we wanted a higher top (made with the face frame) so it can have moulding on the top of the cupboard to finish the peice. 

This is the cupboard all drawn up in the computer program (top moulding not shown here). We had to take precise measurements of the printer's drawer and then build the cupboard to fit around them.

This is one of the printer's drawer. I LOVE all the compartments!! 

This is the original hardware on the front of the drawer. I love the original patina. 

Here are the three drawers. Now just imagine the cupboard around it and you will be envisioning what I am up to. I am going to leave the drawers with their original patina and paint the cupboard around it the heritage white color of the library card catalog. I want the drawers to be what stands out. I love their patina and want to preserve that element.

The drawers aren't very tall, which will be perfect for all my small scrapbook items that need a individual home. 

At some point, someone labeled one side of one of the drawers. It shows the upper and lower case letters and the numbers. Each drawer held a few alphabets because every different font had to have it's own section. It's crazy to think that this is how newspapers and book used to be printed. I love that I can use these peices of history to reuse as useful storage options for my studio. 

I will be making the face frame and the top peice with moulding next and I can't wait until it's finished and ready for paint!! I love projects that get me so excited! I have had this idea for a cupboard for about a year now and I finally am getting it done! Eventually I will have both cupboard/hutches done so I can have more storage in my studio. These peices are going to be stand-out peices, super functional and BEEEAUTIFUL!!!