Router Table Cabinet with Drawers

Before any glue: lay out the top horizontal, the two bay dividers, and the 1x3 framing exactly as they'll assemble, and mark where the small-drawer slides land.

This is the step the whole build pivots on. Once the box is together, no drill on earth fits into an 8"-tall bay to mount slide hardware. Anything the drawers need — slide cabinet members, screw pilot marks — happens now, on loose panels.

Build the small drawer that stores bits: sides, front, back, and the 14-1/2" holder block drilled with rows of 1/4" and 1/2" holes — bits stand upright by their shanks, visible and rattle-proof.

Space the holes with room for the largest bit bodies (panel bits are wide); a block that's all shank-spacing puts cutting edges in contact, and carbide chips carbide.

Install the slides' cabinet members on the bay panels — remembering the face frame adds 3/4" to the front, so set the slides back accordingly. Hang the bit drawer and test its travel with everything still clamped, not glued.

Happy with the fit? Now assemble the carcass: bottom, sides, mid shelf, drawer bay, top cleats — pocket holes and 1-1/4" screws, glue at every joint.

Pocket-screw the 1x2 face frame together flat, then glue and nail it to the cabinet front. The frame stiffens the box and gives the drawer faces something to land against — and its openings are what you'll measure for the big drawers, so install it before cutting any drawer parts.

Measure each face-frame opening and build each drawer box 1" narrower (standard 1/2"-clearance slides, both sides). Square boxes, glued and nailed, 1/4" plywood bottoms.

Build ONE, install it, and confirm it runs sweetly before building the second — small errors adjust out through the slides' slotted holes, but only if the drawer erred small.

Mount the big drawers 3/4" inset from the cabinet front — that's the thickness the applied faces will claim. Then attach the 1x8 faces with an even 1/8" gap all around: tack each face with two brads from the front, open the drawer, and screw it on properly from inside.

A playing card stack makes a fine 1/8" spacer.

Bolt on the casters — locking ones at least on one end, because a router table that migrates during a cut is genuinely dangerous. Then cut the top's router opening to YOUR router's base (trace the baseplate, or the mounting plate if using an insert kit), jigsaw it out, and fasten the top down.

Mount the router, stand a straightedge fence on top, and go make some rabbets. The bits are in the drawer, standing at attention, where they'll actually stay.