Operation Overkill-Drawers

[TLCAddict]

thinkin out loud here

On a side now, I found a really cool company in San Jose that will CNC my foam for my drawers

BTW see you on Tues

hey joey-
a couple of ?s, how thick or thin is your foam & what kind? I'm concerned that the cnc might create tear-outs. just a thought, did you consider having the foam laser-cut, water-jet or hot-wired instead? I have a water-jet source in sun valley & a laser-cut source in la puente.

I shall be ready to feast at coco's...haven't been there yrs!

619toy where did you buy your bolts from? i called a ton of fastener companies and nobody could get me them, so i ended up ordering the 8 I needed in stainless buttonhead from England, they will be here next week.

how about mcmaster-carr? they might have what you need - somewhere w/in their gazillion page catalog.

 

[Bluetribal]

Hmmm, the one thing that I see right off the bat is the lowered engle fridge. Personally, I would prefer a completely flat top, so i could take the fridge out and make it into a completely flat sleeping surface for two (and same height as folded-down 2nd row seats.)

Piano-hinged tops for the side-compartment access?

SF80 here is a 3D deign I have put together that I plan to build this winter. Mine is only a single drawer cargo box since I want to still be able to use one rear seat but it would be even easier to do with a dual drawer box. Here is the link: Cargo Box Album

 

[NLXTACY]

Updated images.

As far as getting the fridge lower, I think it would be very prudent of me to first see both the 45 and 35 versions of the fridge to see which I should go with. Height for my wife and I isn't much as an issue being as we are both 6'2" in heels

Hopefully I cant find these things somewhere locally so I can actually view them.

And please please please keep the suggestions coming.

 

[NLXTACY]

hey joey-
a couple of ?s, how thick or thin is your foam & what kind? I'm concerned that the cnc might create tear-outs. just a thought, did you consider having the foam laser-cut, water-jet or hot-wired instead? I have a water-jet source in sun valley & a laser-cut source in la puente.

I shall be ready to feast at coco's...haven't been there yrs!

Ok well I know nothing about foam or the process to cut it. So I would LOVE any help in this area. The Sun Valley one sounds perfect because I can stop by there after visiting Mark's Off Road today. If you could send that info that would be cool. The folks I talked to up in San Jose wanted about $150 to do all the tool cuts out of the foam they recommended.

And don't feel bad about CoCo's. Until Trail Team, I NEVER went to one before

 

[bpassmore]

would you mind posting the skp file (or what ever format you saved to) so we could work from this?

thanks!

 

[NLXTACY]

would you mind posting the skp file (or what ever format you saved to) so we could work from this?

thanks!

Here ya go!

BTW, don't expect perfection. I am just learning the program and there is a LOT I dont know so YMMV.

http://www.vmrdesigns.com/downloads/drawer.skp

Its a 9.21MB file BTW

 

[bpassmore]

Thank you sir!

 

[TLCAddict]

water-jet resource in sun valley

Ok well I know nothing about foam or the process to cut it. So I would LOVE any help in this area. The Sun Valley one sounds perfect because I can stop by there after visiting Mark's Off Road today. If you could send that info that would be cool. The folks I talked to up in San Jose wanted about $150 to do all the tool cuts out of the foam they recommended.

here ya go>
they're near industrial metal supply
Charisma Design Studio
8414 San Fernando Rd
Sun Valley 91352
818.252.6611
charismads@earthlink.net
Father & son business
son is Ron Amnish (sp?)

I had some aluminum water-jet cut some time ago. quick turn-around. nice guys. imho, water-jet will give you cleaner cuts, esp on tight turns and angles.
They accept dwg or dwf file, as long as they're vector lines.
good luck

 

[NLXTACY]

here ya go>
they're near industrial metal supply
Charisma Design Studio
8414 San Fernando Rd
Sun Valley 91352
818.252.6611
charismads@earthlink.net
Father & son business
son is Ron Amnish (sp?)

I had some aluminum water-jet cut some time ago. quick turn-around. nice guys. imho, water-jet will give you cleaner cuts, esp on tight turns and angles.
They accept dwg or dwf file, as long as they're vector lines.
good luck

Well shoot, the ONLY issue with Google Sketchup is that you can only export the file is .skp unless I pay $500 for the honor and quite frankly I would rather spend that finishing my projects. I will try and hunt down some who has the PRO version.

 

[TLCAddict]

importing/exporting files

Well shoot, the ONLY issue with Google Sketchup is that you can only export the file is .skp unless I pay $500 for the honor and quite frankly I would rather spend that finishing my projects. I will try and hunt down some who has the PRO version.

I'm not familiar w/ sketchup files. I wonder if you exported each elevation into Illustrator, then imported it from there. call ron at charisma, n ask him if he knows how to export/import your files, OR better yet, he might even be cool w/ .skp files. worst case: it might be a two/three step process(sketchup>illustrator>dxf file), but it could save you from buying the pro version.

 

[NLXTACY]

I'm not familiar w/ sketchup files. I wonder if you exported each elevation into Illustrator, then imported it from there. call ron at charisma, n ask him if he knows how to export/import your files, OR better yet, he might even be cool w/ .skp files. worst case: it might be a two/three step process(sketchup>illustrator>dxf file), but it could save you from buying the pro version.

Thats the problem, I cant export into any vector file using the free version of .skp.

What I "could" try to do is just have AI line trace the image to make it into a vector THEN export to dxf, but that seems kinda lame too. I dunno.

 

[TLCAddict]

CADtools for Illustrator

Thats the problem, I cant export into any vector file using the free version of .skp.

What I "could" try to do is just have AI line trace the image to make it into a vector THEN export to dxf, but that seems kinda lame too. I dunno.

ARGH!!! sometimes technology and apps are so lame!

I have solidworks on my pc (hd crashed a few months ago) I could have helped you there & I only have illustrator cs on my powerbook. you know what! you could do a line trace in AI. try this> go on-line, there is a free trial plug-in for illustrator called CADtools (like the free version of sketchup) but it uses basic dimensions & axis, which could work when you layout your elevations.

 

[96r50]

Updated images.

As far as getting the fridge lower, I think it would be very prudent of me to first see both the 45 and 35 versions of the fridge to see which I should go with. Height for my wife and I isn't much as an issue being as we are both 6'2" in heels

But only one of you wears the pink panties

And please please please keep the suggestions coming.

Two ideas. Why not move the sub over to the fridge/bookshelf/CO2 side of the truck so you can have one full length drawer instead of having to crawl into the back of the truck to reach stuff. It's difficult enoguh to reach stuff now, but if you lift the truck it will be that much more of a pain. I know at 6'2" myself with a lifted truck and no drawers, reaching stuff in the centre of the cargo area is a huge pain. To retrieve bigger items that I can't drag out with one arm I have to climb up each time.

My other idea is more nitpicky than anything else. It looks like you plan on having a top layer of solid foam to cover over the tools before you shut the drawer. If you get the bottom layer of foam cut out to friction-fit the tools you shouldn't need the top layer (and can drop the fridge a bit more).

I like the household outlet for the inverter output. Make sure you put a nice upscale brushed nickel cover plate on it so it feels like your at a mansion in the woods

 

[TLCAddict]

... If you get the bottom layer of foam cut out to friction-fit the tools you shouldn't need the top layer (and can drop the fridge a bit more)... I like the household outlet for the inverter output. Make sure you put a nice upscale brushed nickel cover plate on it so it feels like your at a mansion in the woods

that's true. that's why I think water-jet cutting the foam might be better for those tight cuts. you could then cover the tools w/ a sheet of 3/16" or 1/4" blk ABS.

... n to go w/ that brushed nickel cover plate, you could add some other bling hardware from west marine.

any luck w/ the illustrator trace or CADtools plug-in?

 

[NLXTACY]

Two ideas. Why not move the sub over to the fridge/bookshelf/CO2 side of the truck so you can have one full length drawer instead of having to crawl into the back of the truck to reach stuff. It's difficult enoguh to reach stuff now, but if you lift the truck it will be that much more of a pain. I know at 6'2" myself with a lifted truck and no drawers, reaching stuff in the centre of the cargo area is a huge pain. To retrieve bigger items that I can't drag out with one arm I have to climb up each time.

My other idea is more nitpicky than anything else. It looks like you plan on having a top layer of solid foam to cover over the tools before you shut the drawer. If you get the bottom layer of foam cut out to friction-fit the tools you shouldn't need the top layer (and can drop the fridge a bit more).

I like the household outlet for the inverter output. Make sure you put a nice upscale brushed nickel cover plate on it so it feels like your at a mansion in the woods

Good call on the sub, I think I will move it and make the drawer a little deeper. I am now thinking about having the books be in the drawer accessible from the access door on top.

Ok the top layer of foam is not a protective cover, I should have completed that. Its going to be a double layer of tools. The top layer of foam will sit in a tray and will have a 10# gas strut to hold it open on both sides. I just didn't finish it. The plan is to have small, narrow, stubby tools on the top section and the larger, mallets, hub sockets, etc be on the bottom along with some spares. The space in front of that drawer will be an insert for a plastic Plano bin for really small tools and such.

 

[NLXTACY]

... n to go w/ that brushed nickel cover plate, you could add some other bling hardware from west marine.

any luck w/ the illustrator trace or CADtools plug-in?

So ordered!!!!

I haven't messed with it again, I got client feedback now so its time to earn a paycheck for a little while

 

[wierdbeard]

looks good! and you guys hassle me for using a T-square and triangle. lol

 

[NLXTACY]

looks good! and you guys hassle me for using a T-square and triangle. lol

hahah, that is so 11th grade drafting class


So here is the tool drawer set up

 

[619TOY]

Ok, you are completely out of control now. Actually, we build stuff like this every day at my shop, it's all still pretty straightforward as long as you're a pretty proficient woodworker. But I should let you know that the gas strut will never work oriented like that How long 'til wood hits the saw?

 

[wierdbeard]

hahah, that is so 11th grade drafting class

that sounds like my old boss, he would get soo pissed that i wouldnt use the comp to do commercial building sets, but i was still faster than the guys that did.

So with the tool drawer, how deep is it overall? it seems like its going to have to be fairly deep to fit two layers of tools, and abs insert between the two and the floor still retain enough strength since your using that "wood" stuff.

I'm tellin ya Aluminum is the way to go. Oh and you can use woodworking tools to cut it in a bind.