Just finished installing the main drawer box- will be doing the "wings" to close up the sides hopefully by the end of the week.
Construction is pretty simple, the box and drawers are both glued and screwed, everything countersunk. The top is the only part made of the thicker plywood; Baltic Birch plywood looks nice and allows for greater strength with less thickness, so less weight, but costs a bunch more than regular plywood.
Finishing was done by sanding up to 150 grit with a random orbit sander, then using a spray on polyurethane finish.
The drawers are anchored to the 3rd row seatbelt bolts, the 3rd row seat pivot, and the front set of cargo tiedowns. They could've been bolted to the brackets with a bottom sheet of plywood, but I didn't use a solid sheet for the bottom to save weight (see pic). The anchoring setup looks a little goofy, but the drawers don't move at all now, hold my weight at full extension, and don't rattle a bit.
What was used:
2 pairs of Lee Valley 250 lb. 36" slides
3 sheets 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood
1 sheet 5/8" Baltic Birch (Baltic Birch comes in 5'X5' sheets, not 4x8)
Scrap Mahogany for trim
5 cans of Ace Hardware brand Polyurethane spray finish
6 2.5" hasps
6 turnbuckles
2 Draw latches
Misc screws, glue
Tablesaw
Router w/table
Bandsaw
Drill
Random Orbit Sander
Total: somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 and a lot of time
What I would've done differently: Make the top one piece rather than shape and support the side pieces; use sanding sealer before applying finish, though I'm pretty happy with how the spray on polyurethane has worked, and the Ace brand is a little over half the price of Minwax branded spray cans.
Construction is pretty simple, the box and drawers are both glued and screwed, everything countersunk. The top is the only part made of the thicker plywood; Baltic Birch plywood looks nice and allows for greater strength with less thickness, so less weight, but costs a bunch more than regular plywood.
Finishing was done by sanding up to 150 grit with a random orbit sander, then using a spray on polyurethane finish.
The drawers are anchored to the 3rd row seatbelt bolts, the 3rd row seat pivot, and the front set of cargo tiedowns. They could've been bolted to the brackets with a bottom sheet of plywood, but I didn't use a solid sheet for the bottom to save weight (see pic). The anchoring setup looks a little goofy, but the drawers don't move at all now, hold my weight at full extension, and don't rattle a bit.
What was used:
2 pairs of Lee Valley 250 lb. 36" slides
3 sheets 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood
1 sheet 5/8" Baltic Birch (Baltic Birch comes in 5'X5' sheets, not 4x8)
Scrap Mahogany for trim
5 cans of Ace Hardware brand Polyurethane spray finish
6 2.5" hasps
6 turnbuckles
2 Draw latches
Misc screws, glue
Tablesaw
Router w/table
Bandsaw
Drill
Random Orbit Sander
Total: somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 and a lot of time
What I would've done differently: Make the top one piece rather than shape and support the side pieces; use sanding sealer before applying finish, though I'm pretty happy with how the spray on polyurethane has worked, and the Ace brand is a little over half the price of Minwax branded spray cans.
