Adding a Side Hung Drawer to a Workbench
A year or two after building my English workbench, I added a drawer to one end, between the aprons. I found this drawer extremely convenient for keeping things like pencils, a pair of scissors, and other odds and ends. The drawer was a very easy add-on for the English bench because the wide front and back aprons create a space that is practically designed for such a feature.
The easiest way to add a drawer to the English style workbench is to make the drawer the width of the space between the front and back aprons. Then, by nailing some runners on to the insides of the aprons, the drawer is easily hung under the bench top.
The drawer sides get a groove plowed into them to mate with the wooden drawer runners. It’s a really simple design that dates back to before the 1600’s. I had always intended to add a similar drawer to my current French style workbench, but just hadn’t gotten around to it until now. However, the French style workbench poses some challenges hanging the drawer because there are no aprons to support the runners. So a different solution is required.
