Thread: Tradies van chest of draws

My son-in-law sells gas struts and metal fabrication parts that you can see here, and carries a fair few bits and pieces around with him in his van.

I got an urgent request for a chest of draws to very specific dimensions 350w x 650L x 800H including a 200mm deep box on top. The dimensions were determined by the amount of space left in the rear of his van

The 5 drawers had to be about 100mm deep, and divided into 4 compartments, and had to be quite strong to carry the heavy load in each compartment.

I made the carcase and drawer sides out of 15mm ply, with 8mm ply for spacers and drawer bottoms for additional strength. In addition, I used full extension drawer runners rated at 45kg so that he could get at the rear compartments. It was my 2nd go at installing runners, ( don't ask about the first, it is sitting in my laundry unused because the drawer comes off the runner with any weight applied), and the carcase interior width measurements were down to 0.5mm margin for error. ie the runners were 12,7mm wide, and the carcase allowed for 13mm interior gap - a bit tight, but no play in the final result.

I also added a centre shelf for strengthening the sides because of all the heavy weight in the top box and the top drawers, and to stop the carcase side from bowing outwards with all the top weight.

Had trouble with the ply splintering at the edges of each of the drawers - should have taken a bit more time and done them with a shallow cut first. In addition, to keep the plywood drawer sides straight for their 600mm length, I needed a 15mm ply divider in the middle of each drawer.

The job took me a week to do, between monsoonal type rain we are having here in the north. Terrible working conditions, had to change wet soggy clothes from the humidity three times each day during daylight hours in the shed. Lost a few days with the rain, as I use my dust collector outside the shed. It was essential for use with the 15mm wide dado blade setup for the rabbets and dados. Took a couple of days for the paint to dry becasue of the constant rain too. Wasn't too fussy with painting, as it will all be pretty dirty in a month or so of use.

Quite a few lessons learnt through various mistakes, a good practice project before I move on to a desk with filing cabinet draws. All up, the materials cost $250, but it is solid as a brick outhouse, and built to last

An interesting feature was how to prevent the rear facing drawers from flying open when the van accelerated- ended up using a travellers locking rail on the front LH side of the case, from the ideas suggested here in this forum. Works great, doesn't even need a bolt to lock it in place. Have included some detailed photos of the locking rail below. Son in law provided the piano hinge for that, as he sells them as part of his farbication products line

POSTSCRIPT: The locking rail lasted until the second corner home after installing the chest of drawers in the van and loading up the drawers. It vibrated loose and swung open. Need to put a barrel bolt on the front of the chest to hold it in place