Drawers: Metal vs. wood

[mortimersnerd]

I just picked up a F150 and am planning out my sleeping platform/drawer system. I've done a ton of metal fabrication, but am seeing very few drawers made out of welded tube. Is it that most people don't have the tools and ease of construction, or is there something better about setups made from plywood?

 

[Roverrr]

Ours are metal, built by American Adventure Lab, along with the shelf. They are super sturdy. We also didn’t want wood. Both the fridge slide and drawers are mounted on custom aircraft grade aluminum.

 

[NatersXJ6]

More woodworkers in the world and the tube adds thickness and removes space. No reason you couldn’t make welded tube drawers if you have the tools and skills.

 

[dstefan]

I’m a woodworker, but went with 8020 open frame with some 12mm Baltic birch where needed and 5mm for some sides. What I dont get is the seeming desire to overbuild drawers and making them really heavy. I made coroplast drawers that weigh about 1.5lb and are very tough. Definitely keeps the weight way down. No need for heavy and expensive runners, but they need a solid base to slide on. Sure, go that route if you need a 5’ pullout full kitchen, but not all drawers need to be built to handle a Class 5 hurricane!


I weighed these full and the top pic in the camper weighed 13lbs and the bottom 27. They both slide out for storage indoors which is necessary for me. I have had zero problems on some really rocky rough off camber roads.

Here’s a quick how to make them from another thread:

The drawers are actually completely made of coroplast, but with some corner and edge reinforcement which actually can be optional. There's no inside frame. The strength comes from the folding. Don't have construction process pictures, but I was garage cleaning this morning and found my cardboard drawer template so I marked it up quickly:
View attachment 700414

Here's a quick how to:

1) Layout and cut the drawer blank (I like a quick cardboard mock-up to verify it's gonna fit first)
2) Slit the top layer ONLY of the two fold lines that go in the direction of the channels/flutes
3) Lightly score with a utility knife the other two fold lines that go across the flutes. (I also run a rotary pizza cutter along the line using a straight edge to break down the little walls). ALL the cuts/scores of the fold lines are done inside the box only. Gives you smooth bottom edges and corners.
4) Fold it up and tape the corners.
You could stop here for a really light duty box if you use good tape. I've made boxes with 2" Gaffer tape that have held up for years. Read on for a more durable one . . .
5) Clean the inside corners with isopropyl alcohol and lightly scuff with ~120 grit sand paper (using the VHB primer as well is even stronger)
6) Apply VHB tape to the corners (dashed lines in the picture) and roll it or press for a good adhesion
7) Fit 4 corner braces of hardware store 3/4' alum angle that you've cut to the box height in the corners and roll/press again. Oh, first clean and scuff the alum angle too. No need for primer on it.
8) If you want real side rigidity, you can buy some hardware store/Home Depot 1/4"aluminum plywood trim channel for edging. You can just press fit this. It will be held by the alum corner braces plus the coroplast

No need for a frame otherwise. The bottom fold lines on each side give rigidity. The drawer I made for my back seat platform is holding 27lbs of stuff and I take it out to store in the house, so I VHB'd another full piece of coroplast on the inside bottom of the drawer for a little more bottom support as its quite long.

I made the drawer in the camper exactly as described and its quite rigid.

If you're gonna work much with coroplast, get one of these:

Makes it real easy to cut either 1 or both layers along the flutes. You can also use it to make coroplast hinges, and you can make corner reinforcements with it.

 

[llamalander]

Metal is great where tension comes into play and thinner than nearly any other material... but heavy. I don't think even aluminum has the same strength/weight ratio as good birch plywood.
I had a wooden pull-out kitchen, basically a 5' long box that cantilevered off of my tailgate, that eventually started deforming my bed panels, so I remade it in metal with proper slides.
To me it was important to have a fixed counter and side access, so the box has a drawer slide on the back and one on the bottom and needed to remain rigid and square wherever it sat on those slides.

The frame is thin angle steel and the body two sheets bent into various "Z's" to fit the wheel wells and stove and provide stiffness where the wooden box could not.
The door fronts and end panels are still wood--easier to finish or attach hardware to, and the top is 1/4" Corian, hard, heat resistant and easy to clean.

The end result is a stable work surface stiff enough to store & support a stove, hold cookware and cutlery and easily slide in and out of my truck bed.
The new pull-out is about 80 lbs with the slides (which are 1/3rd of that), probably 30+lbs more than the wooden version, but it is entierly supported with the utili-track rails in the bed.

Basically, weight is incredibly important. If folks can build things lighter using aluminum or wood (or coreoplast) they probably will.
There is a place for metal drawers or other furniture, but usually when lighter materials won't do

 

[billiebob]

I just picked up a F150 and am planning out my sleeping platform/drawer system. I've done a ton of metal fabrication, but am seeing very few drawers made out of welded tube. Is it that most people don't have the tools and ease of construction, or is there something better about setups made from plywood?

Think DECKED.... plastic drawers.
Steel tube is kinda wide, Plywood can be pretty thin. If you want to maximize storage plywood might gain a few inches.
Otherwise DECKED is a fabulous bolt in and go option.

 

[ricoisme26]

I really want to build a set of drawers for my F150 as well. I have only really considered wood as the main material to this point but maybe I'll explore metal as a material choice instead. I want to mimic the decked system, two full length storage drawers for general purpose as I use my truck for many uses not a dedicated camping rig. I also want to build a full length bed slide for on top of the drawer system so that items can be stored near the cab and still accessed easily. its a lot of material and weight for storage solution alone so looking to save weight without sacrificing strength any way I can.

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

Metal is heavier and can rust, wood is heavy and can rot, plastic is lighter and will plague the world forever.

 

[mortimersnerd]

Does anyone have days points about metal being heavier? It keeps coming up, but I have a hard time imagining that thin wall metal tube is much heavier than solid wood.

 

[Herbie]

Onlinemetals.com publishes weight per lineal foot or square foot for all their materials.

Estimating the weight of a steel drawer would be a simple matter of calculating material needs. I've build many a spreadsheet for comparing materials when building stuff.

That said, here's a back of the envelope comparison that might be enlightening:

1/2" Birch plywood: 4'x8' sheet = ~55lbs (depending on source), or ~1.72 lbs/ sq-ft.
16g Steel Sheet = ~2.5 to ~2.66 lbs/sq-ft, (depending on alloy, galvanized, etc.)

So, for ANY given size drawer box, assuming your drawer has the same material dimensions (4 sides + bottom), a 16g steel drawer will be 45% to 55% heavier than 1/2" birch plywood.

18g sheet (0.048") is getting on the thin side, but that gets you down to 1.96 lbs/sq-ft, or only about 14% heavier than plywood.

Similar calculations can be made for the frame/carcass of the drawer system - compare the weight of a tube frame, etc. and pick your material.

 

[NatersXJ6]

And, if you’re a tablesaw wizard, you can use 3/8 or even 1/4 Baltic birch and cut the weight even more. I finger jointed my entire chuck box out of 3/8 Baltic birch and it is delightfully strong with no lost space to corner framing.

 

[ITTOG]

Onlinemetals.com publishes weight per lineal foot or square foot for all their materials.

Estimating the weight of a steel drawer would be a simple matter of calculating material needs. I've build many a spreadsheet for comparing materials when building stuff.

That said, here's a back of the envelope comparison that might be enlightening:

1/2" Birch plywood: 4'x8' sheet = ~55lbs (depending on source), or ~1.72 lbs/ sq-ft.
16g Steel Sheet = ~2.5 to ~2.66 lbs/sq-ft, (depending on alloy, galvanized, etc.)

So, for ANY given size drawer box, assuming your drawer has the same material dimensions (4 sides + bottom), a 16g steel drawer will be 45% to 55% heavier than 1/2" birch plywood.

18g sheet (0.048") is getting on the thin side, but that gets you down to 1.96 lbs/sq-ft, or only about 14% heavier than plywood.

Similar calculations can be made for the frame/carcass of the drawer system - compare the weight of a tube frame, etc. and pick your material.

I built my camper out of 1.5", 16 gauge tube. I think that is overkill. If I were to build truck bed drawers I would use 1", 16 gauge tube for the frame and 18 or 20 gauge for the skin. Drawers would be fine at 18 as well.

 

[mortimersnerd]

I ran my design past a mechanical engineer buddy of mine. He recommended 3/4" square tube.

 

[NatersXJ6]

It would be interesting to hear what his reasoning was. Getting thin 3/4 is not always easy, round seems easier to find in thin walls, but square certainly makes for easier layout and fabrication…If you can’t find thin, the weight builds up really fast. Of course, the final layout and use has a lot to do with what thicknesses and sections you really need. I build lots of little metal bits, but lacking a 6-8’ sheet metal brake has always held me back from achieving what I think I could.

 

[mortimersnerd]

Mostly expertise building stuff, and my willingness to include triangles. 18ga 3/4 is easy to get here in Denver. I called several yards and all had 24' sticks in stock.