Hole saw and wooden drawers (1 Viewer)

[Beej]

Hey folks.

I have a set of birch wood drawers. I want to put a bunch of holes in them. They come up to a few inches below rear windows and extend far enough to block the 2nd row rear mounts.

They are heavy.

Even though its birch, its 5x ply and then the drawers are 3x ply. I was thinking if i took a hole saw to the bottom and sides of the exterior (leaving the top and center support), i might be able to drop 25 - 35 lbs. That may not seem like a lot but my rear end is something like 3700 at the axle when loaded. Drawers are already getting some surgery to change up how they are mounted. Every little bit counts.

Is there a way/pattern i can do/cut this to maintain most of the strength of the wood? And then when all the holes are drilled, how do I finish them? Maybe some kind of plastic caps or do it the hard way and prime and stain them?

drawers8

• Beej
• Jan 17, 2017

drawers10

• Beej
• Jan 17, 2017

drawers4

• Beej
• Jan 17, 2017

Thanks in advance for any replies!

-- Beej

 

[jfz80]

I think 25/30 lbs may be a bit ambitions to hope for but it cant hurt. No structural engineer here but id plan to not overlap the holes vertically. As to leave a bit of standing column for support and leave enough to handle the load when you have gear on top bombing down a corrugated forest road.

Maybe even the dice “5” pattern instead of rows of doubles up holes.

 

[chap79]

I’m not a structural engineer, but if you remove a pattern like this it would lighten it up quite a bit.

 

[cody c]

If I'm use a hole saw on wood sometimes I will start on one side till about 3/4 of the way through, then use the pilot to start from the back side, prevents blowing out a bunch of material and creating splinters. This trick may be old news to you but I thought I'd mention.

I'd go with the 5 hole pattern but maybe try and align a couple holes near the front for hand grips to lift it in and out. Sometimes bees wax helps to let the wood slide against itself too, make sure you sand over the edges of the holes on the top side after and have at er.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

I'm late to the party: but this is what I have for what its worth:


To keep the holes smooth and burr free you need to finish them from the far side. Drill with the hole saw till the pilot drill breaks through, then use the pilot hole to guide the hole saw from the far side, this will keep the outer lamination layer from exploding into tooth picks at the breakout.

As for a pattern, a standard offset stagger with 1.5 times diameter of hole between holes. But at that point, you might be better off going with an engineered solution, and cut the sides out with a jig saw in a truss shape, leaving 1.5x material thickness between cutouts.


Hole pattern...........................................................................truss shape

 

[cruiserpilot]

For structural integrity, cut holes or triangles. IMHO You could take weight off the sides as well as the bottoms. Rusty, you beat me to it by one minute.

 

[Beej]

Nice! The 1.5x diameter between holes is exactly the type of rule of thumb i was missing from my plan.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Save yourself some time and work, pull the whole bottom off and replace the solid bottom sheet with three strips... that's how mine are.

For the finishing, I'd take a router with a round over bit and clean them up. Then hit them with a coat of poly.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Rusty's hole pattern above will only give you a very small reduction in weight. IMO not worth the effort to drill and finish a lot of holes for little gain.

Trussed layout removes a lot more material, but you're going to want to leave more than 1.5 x material thickness for webs.
1.5x 1/2" leaves you spindly 3/4" strips. It would be as weak as piss.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Rusty's hole pattern above will only give you a very small reduction in weight. IMO not worth the effort to drill and finish a lot of holes for little gain.

Trussed layout removes a lot more material, but you're going to want to leave more than 1.5 x material thickness for webs.
1.5x 1/2" leaves you spindly 3/4" strips. It would be as weak as piss.

Yup, and that's assuming your plywood is perfect, any voids in that 3/4" strip and could have a situation.

 

[96FZJ80]

I'd agree with cutting the bottom and leaving 3 strips but if not using drawer slides then the drawers are liable to get hung up pushing them back in. Maybe something like chap79 drew removes a lot of weight and wouldn't affect drawer movement. Or replace the bottom panel with some 1/4". On the sides I'd align the holes vertically leaving a vertical column of meat between the holes. Think about wall framing. Studs are vertical to support the weight of the roof transferring load straight down to foundation.

 

[Beej]

The drawers are friction slide so holes on the bottom is likely best.

Truss pattern on the sides could free up a bit more weight.

 

[96FZJ80]

The drawers are friction slide so holes on the bottom is likely best.

Truss pattern on the sides could free up a bit more weight.

I agree but that changes the rules of the game as you need more than a hole saw.

Great discussion as my thoughts on building drawers thus far have been solely around thickness of material for weight reduction purposes. Just for giggles I did some quick math on excel and a truss layout results in more weight shed and a better look I think.

I assumed 10x46 for the side panel size. Used 2" diameter holes spaced 2" apart in the top example, and 1" apart in the second one. The truss example is 2" wide verticals, 2" wide on top and bottom and the diagonals are kinda sorta 2"ish wide as well. Didn't spend THAT much time on it.

 

[Beej]

Wow, not by much though.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I agree but that changes the rules of the game as you need more than a hole saw.

Great discussion as my thoughts on building drawers thus far have been solely around thickness of material for weight reduction purposes. Just for giggles I did some quick math on excel and a truss layout results in more weight shed and a better look I think.

I assumed 10x46 for the side panel size. Used 2" diameter holes spaced 2" apart in the top example, and 1" apart in the second one. The truss example is 2" wide verticals, 2" wide on top and bottom and the diagonals are kinda sorta 2"ish wide as well. Didn't spend THAT much time on it.

View attachment 1825317

Offset alternate columns of holes, and you could potentially take it a little more weight, by spacing vertical rows of holes closer together but retain more strength by keeping a 45° and a vertical grid pattern, but complexity and PITA factor increases too.

 

[Beej]

Might find a bulk order source for these desk inserts to avoid finishing the holes that are not on the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0746PRY4V/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ideas are brewing. This job should happen by Monday.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Might find a bulk order source for these desk inserts to avoid finishing the holes that are not on the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0746PRY4V/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ideas are brewing. This job should happen by Monday.

why do you need those? They are just going to add more weight

But seriously, why? They aren't going to protect anything...

 

[lumbee1]

My "drawer" system is a little different than most. I wanted a super light sleeping / camp bin platform with a lower level for my fridge. It had to be light and strong but I didn't want the complexity and weight of drawers. Instead I have pockets for tools, hammocks, and other camp gear. I've been really happy with the design however I wish I would have taken more time and used a better stain. I was in a huge rush to complete this project before driving across the country to the Grand Canyon.

 

[96FZJ80]

Might find a bulk order source for these desk inserts to avoid finishing the holes that are not on the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0746PRY4V/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ideas are brewing. This job should happen by Monday.

Curious to see what you came up with.

 

[Heckraiser]

My "drawer" system is a little different than most. I wanted a super light sleeping / camp bin platform with a lower level for my fridge. It had to be light and strong but I didn't want the complexity and weight of drawers. Instead I have pockets for tools, hammocks, and other camp gear. I've been really happy with the design however I wish I would have taken more time and used a better stain. I was in a huge rush to complete this project before driving across the country to the Grand Canyon.

I'd like to see more pictures of how you load this setup. Pockets/pouches sounds like a cool alternative.