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):

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and
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. 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

Reply to
Daven Thrice
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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

Reply to
Jon Elson

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.

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

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Peter T. Keillor III

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

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Reply to
Pete Bergstrom

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