Drawer system - Sheet Steel vs Wood?

justinhw

Adventurer
I am a new owner of an old wildernest, and am going to make a cabinet/drawer system in the bed of my pickup. I plan to have the drawer be the full length of the bed (6ft) and half of the width (2.5ft). There will be 2 drawers open along the length of the bed so I can access it after dropping the tailgate, and a few that open widthwise so I can access them while sitting inside.

My question to you all is: Is it lighter to make the structure out of sheet metal or birch? I'm not sure of the gauge of sheet metal I'd need for stability, but birch I'd probably go with 3/4".

Thoughts?
 

4x4junkie

Explorer
I built my setup using the thin rectangular steel tubing from an old EZ-Up canopy frame (pics are here in the Storage Drawers thread).
Sheetmetal by itself though I don't see being very sturdy without some sort of a structure behind it, especially if the unit is to support any weight on top (not sure if you were building this as a sleep platform or not). To go with thicker sheetmetal would no doubt drive the weight of it up very quick.
 
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Woodsman

Adventurer
If you have a good cabinet material supplier in your area they will also have 5/8" baltic birch.

The problem with metal, whether it is steel or aluminum, is that in order for the panels to have any rigidity they must be bent at the edges. This eliminates any space-gaining advantage of the thinner material because this edge return is usually 3/4" or so. The second issue is noise, metal cabinets just aren't as quiet as wood since wood is an insulator. Third, ease of customization. Now, you might be totally set up as a sheet metal fabricator but in most cases the average individual will have a much easier go of making something to fit their own needs with wood than with metal.

Metal does have the advantage of being more weatherproof although the contents will not be unless you've come up with some great gasketing system.
 

MANUCHAO

Aventurero
I build mine out of metal (alum 5150 what the boat industry uses) had them bend to size and TIG welded the ends only...
As far as noise a think rubber padding at the bottom and it as quiet can be...
the only draw back is the weight.......and slides.. those suckers are heavy...
If I was to do it again I would use the inline skate bearings that some have used..... that would put the weight much much closer to a wooden drawer system.......

BTW.. I did not use wood cause I dont have the tools or know howto about making a sturdy joint for the drawers....
 
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justinhw

Adventurer
Thanks everyone for your replies! It sounds like for weight savings I am going to use birch for the drawers.

1/2" Baltic Birch, if you know what your doing (joinery). 3/4" would be overkill. Steel would be about the worst material for interior cabinets. Think cold, rust, condensation......weight

Would 1/2" be sufficient for the carcass that the drawers fit in as well?
 

Woodsman

Adventurer
Thanks everyone for your replies! It sounds like for weight savings I am going to use birch for the drawers.



Would 1/2" be sufficient for the carcass that the drawers fit in as well?

I would really recommend 5/8" or 3/4" for the carcass. This gives you additional corner joint strength as prevents sagging of the top panel. You can shave some weight from the carcass by cutting out a large portion of the bottom panel (kinda like when they make things look like swiss cheese on race cars).
 

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