Lessons Learned Designing & Building A Storage Drawer System (1 Viewer)

[cruzerDave]

Throughout the process of designing the Keep It Simple Storage (KISS) Drawers I was amazed and daunted by the range of creative solutions riding around in people's trucks today. It seemed as though no two had the same design goals, construction method, materials, finish, dimensions, quality, cost, effort, or really any metric you chose to compare them with. It was encouraging to learn there was almost no wrong way to build drawers, but the sheer variety also paralyzed me for a while as I read through thread after thread late into the night - how to decide between welded frames and plywood? Slides or bearings? Carpet or rhinoliner? Kitchen slide or cup holders?

I eventually did make those decisions, and as I did so I realized the data & research & factors & tests I went through might help others considering their own build decisions. And there were nuggets out there in other build threads as well... perhaps they could be grouped together for the community?

So I'm launching this thread but asking for a tight focus: lessons learned only. Not debates or builds, those deserve their own threads - just a collection of tips, tricks, tests, thoughts, files, data, and links to jump start anyone else interested in building their own drawers, and hopefully save them some grief.


If it grows long I will drop an index in this first post - in the meantime here is my To-Do list you can harass me over until I write them all:

- An all-plywood drawer system (done)
- 3D Modeling
- Slides, Bearings, and Tracks Oh My
- Handles and cutouts
- Critical dimensions
- Anchoring to the truck
- Finishes
- Holding stuff down

If anyone can share lessons on welding, refrigerators, and expand on any that I start PLEASE DO SO. Drawers are AWESOME and now that I've had some for a while I think every Cruiser should have a set!

 

[cruzerDave]

An all-plywood drawer system

I've worked with plywood most of my life, so it was naturally my first choice for building my storage system. After a quick design of a super-simple, no slides, all 3/4" plywood system, I added up the weight of the parts and was dismayed to see it coming in around 160 lbs. I know our cruisers can haul 5000 but that doesn't mean I WANT to haul that every day - these are going in and staying in (for me) and being a bit of a minimalist I wanted less. I was also designing a system that would ship to folks (so weight was $) and assembling it perfectly square could be tricky to an inexperienced person, so I decided against it.

If you want to pursue an all-plywood setup though, couple thoughts and suggestions:
- The thing will want to 'trapezoid' once a large weight is on top, potentially jamming your drawers, so add a solid back piece to prevent this.
- Seriously consider using Baltic Birch 7-layer plywood. This stuff is 10x time better than your average home depot construction material, and while more expensive, it is stronger, looks better, accepts end-screws without splitting better, and the ends finish great. It only comes in metric sizes, and in either 60"x60" or 60"x120" sheets. Fairly common at dedicated wood stores, not at HD/Lowes/etc. See if you can guess which is which, and which you would rather use:

- Anchoring likely through turn-buckles to the cargo anchors method. Getting at the 3rd row seat anchors will be very difficult unless you design access holes or slats in the bottom. Those turnbuckles in turn (see what I did there?) will get in the way of cargo storage and access a bit which may or may not be an annoyance to you. For me it was, but see my upcoming post on anchors for more info.
- If you don't have a big table saw get yourself a clamp guide, see links below
- My favorite screws are by Spax because they self-drill, self-countersink, practically never split, and use a star drive (bit included in box) so never strip the heads.
- All plywood builds without a sliding system of some sort are very, very rare on the forums - if you do not intend heavy loading it might work okay, but if you have 100 lbs in there it will be a bit tough to open


FILES:
- Sketchup (v8) .skp (if someone can teach me how to upload these to/host at mud it would be great)
All plywood drawers v8.skp
- AutoCAD (r14) .dwg
All Plywood drawers.dwg
- All_Plywood.xlsx for calculating weight
All Plywood.xlsx


LINKS:
Baltic Birch
3/8'' Baltic Birch Plywood Pack (Choose Your Size) - Woodworkers Source (they will do some cuts for you!)
Baltic Birch - Anderson Plywood Sales
Clamp Guide Trim board down
https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2675...d=1469712534&sr=8-1&keywords=circular+saw+jig
Better Clamp Guide but limited to 50"
E. Emerson Tool Co. C50 50-Inch All-In-One Contractor Straight Edge Clamping Tool Guide - Circular Saw Guide - Amazon.com
Spax: SPAX Do it once. Do it right.


PROS: Simple tools & skills, materials readily available, you can start tomorrow with my model

CONS: Heavy, building square can be tricky, probably needs a sliding method

 

[Itsky]

Very interesting. I don't use drawers but am interested. Just made some apple boxes for my wife with 1/2 Baltic birch. In using the material for the first time, it became obvious how great it was.

 

[brooa]

CONS: Heavy, building square can be tricky, probably needs a sliding method

For sliders you can use HDPE (chopping board, boat trailer skid etc) strips on the sides and bottom and you are good to go!

 

[Squatchy Adventures]

looking forward to following along!

 

[dfinn]

one thing I learned when building mine (all wood, no slides): make sure to have a way for air to move when opening/closing the drawers. this wasn't thought of on the first go 'round and the tolerances were so tight that there was resistance when opening or closing the drawers. I've since drilled some vent holes in the back of the main box so that air can move when opening or closing the drawers.

one tip: rather than slides I went with slickstrips (Slick Strips, 3/4" Width 1/32" Thick - Table Saw Accessories - Amazon.com). I stuck some on the drawers and then matching ones on the base. These didn't actually slide all that well when they were on top of each other, which was surprising. I almost think just wood on wood would have been better. What really got things sliding nice for me was spraying everything down with 3M dry silicone spray (Amazon.com: 3M 08897 Silicone Lubricant (Dry Type) - 8.5 oz.: Automotive).

here's an almost finished shot of mine, it's just missing the d-ring tie down points on top and the ever important bottle opener on the left drawer:

 

[C6H12O6]

One thing I learned in using my drawer-less system is that I never really missed the drawers.

I skipped the drawers to save weight and maximize storage space that I could slide some fly rod tubes into. I needed every bit of length I could get, so losing a couple inches with the drawer front/back/latch/etc. wasn't going to work for me. I thought it was going to be a bummer not having drawers, but I've really been happy not to have them. I use soft, military-surplus zippered storage bags for tools and recovery stuff and I can just slide them into the front of one side and squish them to make them fit. I built a flip-up hatch on the front of the longer side to access stuff that is too far out of reach, and it has been great. I originally thought this would be v. 1.0 and I'd re-do it after I used it a while, but it has moved from the 80 I had for 11 years, into my 100.

Second thing I learned is that I wish I would have figured out side wings. My v. 1.0 box is just one big box that fits inside the wheel wells. I always thought I would put the side wings in, but never did. Ultimately, I will likely end up building v. 2.0 just for the 100 and selling the old box, but I think some sort of removable side wing would be great. When sleeping in the back with the seats folded down, mine works, but a bit more width would be great. It's nice to be able to put shopping bags in the ditch next to the box, so removable or hinged would be best, but having a full, flat deck back there would be an improvement.

 

[cruzerDave]

@C6H12O6 interesting thoughts on the side wings. I see those as one of those personal decisions - dropping cargo into the slot between a box and side can be real nice. Having a full platform gives more room to stack and jam stuff int he back. Hinged sides can be convenient IF you didn't just stack and jam stuff on top of them

As for adding them, my favorite design was European (hidden) hinges (European Hinges | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware) with 2 shelving L-brackets attached to the wing. When it lowered they rested against the side panels of the box resulting in a very strong support (sorry no pic)

 

[savirc]

I built 3 separate prototypes before actually being happy with one design.

Single wide drawer (scrapped that after problems over reaching), metal welded frame (scrapped that due to slides and fitting) and finally single drawer modular plywood by far best design.... only regret is not using cabinet grade birch. Build two identical and you have two drawers, want to user one third row? leave one in. One recommendation I have that I've not seen anyone here use is speaker box wheels on the bottom edge of the drawer, makes it extremely easy to roll off the truck and put in the garage when not in use. Also although I have 500lb locking slides I don't think they are necessary the volume inside of the drawer could be filled with concrete and it wouldn't reach the weight limit. If I had do it over again I would do 100lb or 200lb slides. I do recommend using locking slides however I could only find locking slides for the 500lb set. I may have one set of 500lb slides for sale here soon that I didn't use.

 

[cruzerDave]

@savirc good point on the weight. As part of my testing for the KISS drawers I loaded mine up and then weighed them. The below picture represents 70 pounds worth of stuff, which filled the drawer about 60%. The survival/camping drawer was about 80% full and only 65 lbs (lighter stuff). Of course everyone's needs are different and I have things I still wanted to add, but at the end of the day I was struggling to get to even 100 pounds, so I would encourage anyone designing their own to put everything you think you want into a box and weigh it before taking the cost, weight, and space impacts of super heavy duty slides, or going all 3/4 plywood (this drawer was using a bottom of 3/8" and holding fine).

 

[hifu]

Built one a bout a week before our month long journey. Used plain ole 3/4 inch plywood. Has 2 drawers I think are 24" a has about a 12 by 40" cubby behind the drawers and 2 more cubbies that are approx. 20 by 20 behind it, those have removable lids. Then side cubbies that are pressure hinged. I removed the 2nd row seats to accompany all this, then have a platform to hold 2 large coolers . This has been so cool, 80% of our gear is in the cubbies and clothes for 2 people are stashed in our drawers so our dog lays on top of it all with nothing bugging him. 3 weeks out now and in cape Breton, 3 weeks and back to the grind........

 

[hifu]

Oh yea, thanks to all who have walk me through all this building. Without you I never would have thought about it all

 

[WhereToGo]

one thing I learned when building mine (all wood, no slides): make sure to have a way for air to move when opening/closing the drawers. this wasn't thought of on the first go 'round and the tolerances were so tight that there was resistance when opening or closing the drawers. I've since drilled some vent holes in the back of the main box so that air can move when opening or closing the drawers.

one tip: rather than slides I went with slickstrips (Slick Strips, 3/4" Width 1/32" Thick - Table Saw Accessories - Amazon.com). I stuck some on the drawers and then matching ones on the base. These didn't actually slide all that well when they were on top of each other, which was surprising. I almost think just wood on wood would have been better. What really got things sliding nice for me was spraying everything down with 3M dry silicone spray (Amazon.com: 3M 08897 Silicone Lubricant (Dry Type) - 8.5 oz.: Automotive).

here's an almost finished shot of mine, it's just missing the d-ring tie down points on top and the ever important bottle opener on the left drawer:

Hi - what brand latches are you using on the drawers? Can you share link to buy? The one you're using are pretty slick - I'm only finding less robust ones.