Instead of making your own wood or plywood drawers, as described on the preceding pages, you might wish to use plastic molded drawers for your built-ins. These all-plastic drawers may cost you more than similar sizes built of wood, but they have their compensating factors. They are ready-made, easy to install, and don't stick or warp, even when used in bathrooms or laundries. They resist chipping and scratching, and corners are rounded for easy cleaning.

Plastic drawers come in a half-dozen sizes, from almost a yard wide for storage of blankets and linens down to 14 1/2" width to hold nuts and bolts or other small objects. Two general types are available. The first is a one-piece drawer molded of black plastic, such as those made of Bakelite and available in five sizes through building-supply dealers or direct from the makers, Knoll-Drake Co., of New York, N. Y. These drawers can be installed on wood guides, or you can buy metal hanger-tracks for easy installation and smooth operation, as shown below. The drawers have a stop to prevent pulling the drawer out too far and spilling the contents. Some of these one-piece plastic drawers have inside ridges to hold dividers, as shown in the step-by-step instructions below. The fronts can be painted or covered with plywood or plastic laminate, to match the wood around them. The one-piece plastic molded drawers are also available in cartons of four, made by Boonton Molding Co., of Boonton, N. J.

The other type of plastic drawer is a three-sided Styrene molding with a wood front. These can be bought in one size-6 1/8" by 16" by 28 3/8", and come with a supporting metal frame that holds two, three, four, five or six drawers.These self-supporting, multiple-drawer assemblies can be installed as a complete unit in built-in cabinets, or between studs in walls or under attic shelves or stairs. They can be obtained from building-supply dealers or the maker, Reiss Mfg. Co., of New York, N. Y.

The following step-by-step instructions show important pointers on installing and preparing one-piece Knoll-Drake plastic molded drawers.

If you mount molded drawers with metal hanger tracks, nail filler strips of thin wood to cabinet sides first, if you want drawers to fit flush with front. Then screw tracks in place over filler strips, making sure they are parallel and even in front. Allow at least 1/8" space between drawers.

Drawer front can be left in its natural black plastic form or covered with 1/4" plywood or plastic laminate to match its surroundings. Author covered drawers in this project with 1/4" plywood, using plastic laminate cement.

After cement is applied to both surfaces, rubber roller is used to press plywood to drawer front. If you have no rubber roller, rolling pin will work as well.

To make sure handles will be lined up with each other, make a jig with top and side guide strips to hold against drawer front so holes can be bored alike. Holes can be made with electric or hand drill.

Specially designed drawer pulls and knobs made of spun chrome or polished brass can be obtained from drawer manufacturers or building-supply outlets. Attach handles from inside of drawer with machine screws.           

Molded-in channels on the four inside walls of the one-piece plastic drawers make it possible to partition the drawers sideways, lengthways, or by using iriter locking dividers, into small compartments. Pieces of 3/16" hard board, such as Dekalux, used here, are cut to inside dimensions of drawer.

Lay out hard board pieces along drawer edges and mark locations of molded-in channels.  Then cut notches in hard board, half the depth and 3/16" wide, at points where partitions will meet. Notches in tops of lengthwise partitions must fit notches in bottoms of cross partitions.

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