Birthday Gift

[waywardangler]

I think this is an easy fix (at least in my mind) without damaging anything if the drawer is as pictured in sapphire's post.  Take out all the wire bails ( they should pull out easily with a little sideways pressure where they are inserted) and store them in a marked container. Glue a small stop (small wood strip) on each side of the back edge of each drawer bottom using white glue.  Next, have a woodworker make separate boxes for all of your drawers and set them inside the backless drawers.  The stops will stop the inserts from sliding back, the inserts can be removed if necessary, the wire bails can be put back, the stops could be tapped out if needed, and the whole thing would be original again.

With inserts made separately, you could have some custom made with different sized dividers to hold smaller or narrower items , etc.

[mariok54]

Sound advice Wayward ... I was thinking along the lines of a 3-sided insert that could be moved, almost like an extending bookshelf, but not so technical   

[Oceans64]

Good suggestion Wayward..

IKEA makes some wooden stand alone drawers that you could make work for inserts if you know someone with a small table saw...  Even a chop saw would work with some fiddling or a jig saw if you have patience and a straight edge...  I use these drawers on my workbench outside and they have held up pretty well.  They come un-assembled so they would be easy to customize.  One set of 3 drawers (below) is in the $10 range.  You can also get them with a set of 9 smaller drawers.  Tried to find them on the site but couldn't... Individual drawer measures on outside edges: 9-7/8 X 13-1/4"  Height = 2-7/8" (probably the most critical since if your going to be ripping wood may as well go to Home Depot and start from scratch)...

Another suggestion is to go to Micheal's.  They have a large selection of soft woods that would be easy to work with if you lack tools.  You can just make stops for the back.

Lots of ways to do this and would be a fun project to learn some basic skills if you've not done something like this before...

[waywardangler]

That would be an easy fix Oceans.  My only concern is the thickness of the wood.  Hosman would need 1/8" or 1/4" at most as the existing drawer would be the actual support.  The inserts do not need to be thick to serve their function.  A cardboard insert would actually work also and be terribly cheap.  Maybe try the flats pop/beer/soup come in.  Try the local grocer and see if they have anything that works.  Or even cut down boxes if you can find enough in the right size.

[hosman321]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Here's some more pics of the drawers. The two rods and the metal parts that hold down the files are all screwed in. I think it would be a huge hassle to remove them all.

So, I was thinking about making small wooden boxes and drilling two holes where the rods are. Then, just sliding them over the top and they'll be held securely in place. But they would only be about half the size of the whole drawer because the metal paper holder thingy is a pretty big bump. But that's ok, I only really need small drawers. I'll probably only do boxes for half of them, It's a lot of work to do 18 of them. I wish I could find cheap premade ones because I don't have a garage and it's too cold and wet outside. Then I would just have to drill holes. I'm so impatient, I don't want to wait until summer.

[sapphire]

In that case hosman, do you have Dollarama or similar stores near you? A couple of those types of chains up here carry ready to paint boxes for jewellery/storage/whatnot.....nice light weight wood, variety of sizes and are lower height.  Also, a variety of finished cardboard boxes with lids 

[hosman321]

I didn't even think of the dollar store sapphire! And the craft store does have all sizes of wood and papier mache boxes. I'll let ya'll know what I find.

Also, isn't it crazy how light the oak is underneath where the labels used to be (on the drawer fronts)? Too bad someone took all those labels off. I bet they were cool and dirty and shabby looking. Just the way I love antiques. I'm glad the wood is so dark now. Light oak/blonde oak is my enemy!

It was funny because the space I got this from was brand new and they were just setting up and hauling everything into their space. But as soon as they were hauling it in, it was being sold within 2 minutes! Everything was super shabby chic or all beat up and primitive. They'd haul it in, and then haul it right back out to someone's car. They were all sweating. They just had everything so reasonably priced, at least for my area. I hope they keep it that way and don't get greedy and shoot the prices through the roof because everyone bought it so fast.

[waywardangler]

After looking at your pics, hosman, I see what you mean.  Those are totally different from the pic on the link.  I would try and find a box that fits in front of that humped bail also.  That humped bail would serve as your stop even though it decreases the drawer space.  The dollar store or craft store are good suggestions for finding some containers that fit.
Good luck.  Still a wonderful storage file.

[regularjoe2]

Nice little cabinet , hosman321 .

Ideal , actually , for many uses .... a birthday present is one of many dandy ones , for instance .

[mart]

If you don`t mind losing about 4 inches at the back, ( I am guessing at that) an easy fix would be to have 1/8 inch masonite cut in the size needed for the back . Then just use short paneling nails and nail two wood pieces like runners on each side 1/8 inch apart then slide the drawer back in. It would only take two of the small nails to hold each runner, one at the top and one at the bottom of each one. The paneling nail holes would be easy to hide with one of the filler sticks in that color if you ever wanted the drawers original again. Most all of the smaller lumber yards will cut wood for you if you buy the supplies there.  Or at least they do here !!  You just need the exact measurements.  A 4X8 sheet of 1/8 inch masonite is less than $10.00 !!

[KC]

I was thinking that as well sapphire or that it was originally attached to a wall!

[hosman321]

The back of it is actually somewhat attractive, like maybe it was meant to be seen from all sides. The sides have a bit of detail as well. It doesn't show any signs of holes or hardware on the back. It weighs about 100 pounds empty, must weight 150-200 full of papers! I'll let ya'll know what I find for drawers. Here's that little receipt I found. Something so little, yet it makes me think of who bought that yeast over 100 years ago.

[cogar]

Well now, iffen it was me fixing it up temporarly I would use 3/16” Luan plywood and cut 3 pieces for each drawer that I wanted to fix (see drawing below) with the largest piece being the height n’ width of the inside back of the drawer. The other 2 pieces should be shorter in length so that the wire bail will drop down into the slot between the 2 pieces. glue the 3 pieces together, stain iffen you want, …. then sit it in place and drop the wire bail into the slot and it will hold it in place.

Or you could use cardboard, etc., etc. whatever is easier for you to work with.

[waywardangler]

Great idea, cogar which led me to another thought.  Using a 3 sided insert, make the insert to slide just inside the wire bail.  Slot the sides of the insert just deep enough so when the bail is in the slot, the hump is below the drawer top.  The bail in the slot would hold the insert from shifting and you could have more use of the full length of the drawer.  See pic below for  a rough idea...

FYI hosman's Bday is now listed in Upcoming birthdays.

[cogar]

Like my ex-FIL use to tell me, ....... "Two heads are better than one".