Hidden Drawer Locking Mechanism Plans

If you’re here, you’ve probably seen my YouTube videos on the hidden drawer mechanism incorporated in my featured project bookcase. Now, take a look behind the scenes at the drawings and sketches used to create this project.

Includes:

• Preliminary shop sketches of the drawer locking mechanism
• CAD drawings in PDF format
• Specifications and Dimensions for Components

Price: $8.99

Files available for download immediately after you purchase.

How the Hidden Mechanical Locking Mechanism Works

The hand-crafted custom bookcase requires you pull open each of the visible drawers, before a hidden control springs out and allows you to trigger the secret compartment built into what looks like a normal molding.

To make things more complex, each of the drawers must be pulled out to a certain point before the latches they control slide out of the way, similar to how the pins in a regular lock work. That finally allows a length of wooden dowel to slide out – hidden, normally, as a knot in the wood itself – and when you twist it and then push it back in, a cable tracked around the back of the cabinet allows the hidden drawer to spring out.