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This is a scaled-down version of the old library card-catalog cabinet: five wide, shallow drawers stacked in a solid case, topped with a piece of safety glass so it doubles as an occasional table or console. The drawers are what make this project real casework rather than a box with holes in it — five identical shallow boxes, each riding on wood drawer guides rather than metal slides, so getting the guide spacing consistent across all five is the thing to get right before you build a single drawer.
Everything below the glass is joined with rabbets and dadoes rather than screws showing on the outside — the case sides, back, and top panel key into each other, and the legs are built up from laminated scrap rather than cut from a single thick blank, which is the standard trick for getting a leg thicker than your stock without buying 8/4 lumber. Source your drawer pulls before you build the drawer fronts if you can; vintage card-catalog pulls vary enough in size that it's easier to build around real hardware than to guess.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 1x4 board, 12 ftThe case: rip to 2-3/4" wide before cutting to length. | 3 each |
| 1x4 board, 10 ftDrawer fronts, backs, sides, and guides. | 5 each |
| 3/8" plywood, 4x8 sheetDrawer bottoms, side/top/back panels — choose a face veneer that matches or complements your solid stock. | 1 each |
| Safety glass, approx 30" x 24"Have this cut to your actual finished case dimensions, not the plan number, before you build the glass support ledge. | 1 each |
| Card-catalog style drawer pullsVintage or reproduction. Buy these first — drawer front layout depends on the exact hardware size. | 10 each |
| Wood glue | 8 oz |
| Finish nails, 1-1/4" | 80 each |
Overall cost: $$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Drawer backs1x4 | 5 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 31" |
| Drawer fronts1x4 | 5 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 31" |
| Drawer sides1x4 | 10 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 24" |
| Drawer guides1x4 | 10 | 3/4" × 3/4" × 23" |
| Frame horizontal top1x4 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 32 1/8" |
| Frame support1x4 | 1 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 21" |
| Frame top rail1x4 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 21" |
| Frame vertical1x4 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 3/4" × 15 5/8" |
| Glass support ledge1x4 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/4" × 2 3/4" |
| Drawer bottoms3/8" plywood | 5 | 3/8" × 23 3/4" × 30 1/4" |
| Side panels3/8" plywood | 2 | 3/8" × 14 1/8" × 19 1/2" |
| Top panel3/8" plywood | 1 | 3/8" × 21" × 28 1/8" |
| Top side trim, short3/8" plywood | 2 | 3/8" × 3/4" × 23" |
| Top side trim, long3/8" plywood | 2 | 3/8" × 3/4" × 32 1/8" |
| Back panel3/8" plywood | 1 | 3/8" × 14 1/8" × 32 1/8" |
| Bottom panel3/8" plywood | 2 | 3/8" × 12 3/4" × 21" |
| Legs (laminated blanks)1x4 scrap, laminatedGlue up scrap 1x4 offcuts face to face to reach 2-1/4" square before cutting to final length. | 4 | 2 1/4" × 2 1/4" × 2 3/4" |
Buy 22 boards at 8 ft.
1 board
10 boards
Rip every 1x4 down to 2-3/4" wide before cutting anything to length — every solid-wood part in this cabinet shares that width. Then cut the rabbets and dadoes in the case frame parts and side/top panels: a rabbet along the back edge of each frame vertical to house the plywood back, and a dado near the bottom of each frame vertical and the underside of the top frame to house the drawer-guide rails. There's no single universal depth here — set your dado width to your actual 3/8" plywood thickness and your rabbet depth to match, then cut a test piece before committing to the real parts.
Glue up scrap 1x4 offcuts face-to-face until you have four blanks roughly 2-1/4" square, clamp until dry, then cut each to 2-3/4" long. This is the standard way to get a leg thicker than dimensional lumber without buying thick stock — the glue line is invisible once it's on all four faces.
Glue and nail each drawer's front, back, and two sides into a box, then nail the 3/8" plywood bottom on square and flush. Attach the drawer guides to the outside faces now, while you can still get a square and clamp on flat parts. Build all five before you install any of them — with five drawers, small dimensional drift compounds fast if you build and fit one at a time.
Glue, clamp, and nail the side panels into their frame verticals and top rails, then the back panel in the same way, following the rabbet and dado joints you cut in step 1. Glue and clamp the joints and reinforce with finish nails set below the surface.
Glue, clamp, and nail the top panel and its trim, then the two bottom panels, into the case — these close out the case top and bottom and carry the frame support and glass ledge. Attach the four laminated legs to the underside corners now, while the case is still upside down and easy to clamp.
Slide each drawer into its opening and check it runs smoothly on the guides, trimming a guide rail slightly if a drawer binds. Mark and drill for your drawer pulls, keeping the hole spacing consistent across all five fronts, then attach the hardware.
Set the glass into the top ledge — don't glue it down; it should lift out for cleaning or for reaching whatever's stored in the top drawer. Once everything fits, pull the drawers back out and finish the case before final assembly. You just built the sweetest map cabinet of all time.
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Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →