Metal drawer from extrusions?
 

I've got a project I'm working on that requires several metal drawers. I've
had really bad luck buying them. I've bought four drawers and every one of
them has arrived damaged. This is a work related project, and I really need
to boogie. The bottom line seems to be that, in order to be able to control
quality, I am going to have to build some drawers myself.

Here are some products that I bought (that arrived damaged):
http://tinyurl.com/46z7l and http://tinyurl.com/5cfme . I got two of each.
All of them arrived with damaged cabinets, and three out of four arrived
with damaged drawers.

Is there a simple way to build something nice myself, that doesn't require
all kinds of tooling? I've been thinking about putting together something
out of aluminum extrusions.

I'm wide open for suggestions here. I've got a budget of fifty or sixty
bucks a drawer and would like to stick within that if I can.

Thanks!!

Daven

Daven Thrice wrote:

I've got a project I'm working on that requires several metal drawers. I've
had really bad luck buying them. I've bought four drawers and every one of
them has arrived damaged. This is a work related project, and I really need
to boogie. The bottom line seems to be that, in order to be able to control
quality, I am going to have to build some drawers myself.

Here are some products that I bought (that arrived damaged):
http://tinyurl.com/46z7l and http://tinyurl.com/5cfme . I got two of each.
All of them arrived with damaged cabinets, and three out of four arrived
with damaged drawers.


Did you have these shipments insured? If so, just find out who is
responsible for
handling damage claims, and call them 3 times a day. Make sure you give
them the
info so they can order the item from where you ordered yours. It
shouldn't take
too long to get that person bugged enough to do something about it.

It is AMAZING how when a shipping company sends out a shipment to
replace something they damaged, it NEVER has a scratch on it! One wonders
how they do that!

Even if you didn't have the shipment insured, the receiving dock person
shouldn't have signed
for it. From the sounds of it, the damage must have been visible from
the outside.

If we (the customer) stop putting up with all this shipping damage, the
shipping companies
are going to have to stop throwing large boxes around. It gets worse
every year.
A long time ago, UPS would ship very breakable items that were lightly
wrapped,
and never damage them. Now, you can put an engine block in a 2" thick
crate,
and they will find a way to bust it.

I have made drawers from aluminum sheet and angle, but I can't recommend
it as a cost-saving measure! It took me a week to do it. (Of course, I
probably
could have done 6 drawers with just a couple more hours total, it is all
in the
setup.)

Jon

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:44:32 -0700, "Daven Thrice"
wrote:

I've got a project I'm working on that requires several metal drawers. I've
had really bad luck buying them.
snip
Is there a simple way to build something nice myself, that doesn't require
all kinds of tooling? I've been thinking about putting together something
out of aluminum extrusions.

I'm wide open for suggestions here. I've got a budget of fifty or sixty
bucks a drawer and would like to stick within that if I can.

Thanks!!

Daven


I had one cut and bent of 18 ga. steel by a sheet metal shop near me.
I tigged up the corners, and mounted with roller glides after painting
with a rattle can. In my case, the glides cost more than the drawer,
and they were relatively inexpensive. Here's a pic of it mounted.

http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/weldcart06.jpg

If you want something with more refined looks, Jon Elson's post was on
the right track.

Pete Keillor

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:44:32 -0700, "Daven Thrice"
wrote:

I've got a project I'm working on that requires several metal drawers.
I've
had really bad luck buying them.
snip
Is there a simple way to build something nice myself, that doesn't
require
all kinds of tooling? I've been thinking about putting together something
out of aluminum extrusions.

I'm wide open for suggestions here. I've got a budget of fifty or sixty
bucks a drawer and would like to stick within that if I can.

Thanks!!

Daven

Lee Valley has aluminum drawer sides for sale (If the link doesn't persist,
look for "
Veritas® Micro Drawer Slides/Sides"):

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a... 0,43298,43315