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G'day everyone! Welcome back to another episode of our van build journey. In this video, I'm tackling the construction of custom storage drawers for our camp kitchen slide out system, and we're getting close to the finish line with only three drawers left to complete!
Working around my day job and daily responsibilities like walking the dogs, I've been squeezing in building time whenever possible. The challenge is balancing power tool usage with being respectful to the neighbors - no loud tools before 8am! So I've developed a system where I prep everything in the evenings with power tools, then use quiet hand tools in the early morning hours before logging on for work at 9am.
Today's focus is on the top drawer for the passenger side of our camp kitchen slide out, which will house all our dry goods like canned foods. This drawer design is unique compared to the others we've built. While our previous drawers used a combination of 19 x 42mm timber with 12mm plywood, this specialized container drawer uses 19 x 42mm timber flipped on its side (42mm on the flat) with 6mm plywood for both the base and sides.
The reason for this different construction approach is functionality. This drawer needs to be more of a solid container with walls on all four sides, accessible only from the top. We'll be storing items like canned beans, tomatoes, and other foods that tend to rattle and bounce around while driving. Unlike larger items such as kettles and toasters that naturally stay within their designated footprint, smaller canned goods could easily fall between the drawer mechanisms and the drawer body if not properly contained.
The hyperlapse footage shows the progression we've made over these busy few days, with drawers coming and going as we perfect the fit and finish. Each drawer is custom-built to maximize storage efficiency in our camp kitchen slide out system while ensuring everything stays secure during travel.
Building a van conversion requires patience, especially when juggling work commitments. My routine has become: morning prep work with hand tools, full work day, lunch break for some sunshine (though not enough time for major construction), then afternoon building sessions when I can fire up the power tools and make real progress.
This particular drawer will be essential for our camp kitchen functionality, keeping all our pantry staples organized and easily accessible. The solid-wall design ensures nothing escapes, while the top-access approach makes it easy to see and reach everything we need for meal preparation.
Join me as I walk through the construction process, share the challenges of building around a work schedule, and show you exactly how this specialized storage drawer comes together. Whether you're planning your own van build or just enjoy watching the process, this episode offers practical insights into custom storage solutions for mobile living.
Transcript
00:00G'day, it's Matt here and we have had a couple of busy days trying to fit the building of the
00:06drawers in between working and everything else that's going on and taking the dogs for a walk.
00:11It's fun, it's exciting, there's some challenges. We are making progress. Based on the hyperlapse
00:16that you would have seen, there's been a lot of drawers coming and going and stuff like that.
00:20We are at three drawers left to go. So I'm hoping that this afternoon I can knock over at least
00:26another one and get the next one started. Try to do a bit in the morning as well but the challenge is
00:31using the power tools before 8am. It's probably not exactly very good for the neighbourhood. It might
00:36be disrupting the quiet a little bit. So try and do that in the evenings and have everything set so
00:41that all I'm doing in the morning is I'm using hand tools and it's as quiet as possible. After
00:468 o'clock that's fine but 9 o'clock I'm logged on and I'm working. Come lunch break I'll come down
00:50and get some sunshine but not really enough time to get stuck into the tools. So we're wrapping up
00:54for the afternoon and there's a couple hours of sunlight left so I'm going to get stuck into
00:59the top drawer on the passenger side which is going to be where a lot of our drive goods are
01:03going to be. Cans and stuff like that. It's going to be slightly different to the other drawers that
01:06we have which are a combination of 19x42 with 12mm ply. This is going to be 19x42 flipped on the side
01:14so that it's the 42 on the flat with 6mm ply on the base and 6mm on the sides. I want to build
01:20this drawer so that it's more of a container with solid walls all four sides and just accessible
01:25from the top because the type of things we're going to be putting in there'll be like you know
01:28cans of whatever food we may have could be beans, tomatoes, stuff that is likely to sort of rattle
01:34and bounce around a little bit and maybe leave the confines of that drawer footprint whereas with the
01:39other stuff they're a lot bigger and they're not going to be more inclined to like fall down between
01:43the drawer mechanisms and the body of the drawer. So you know kettles and toasters and stuff like that
01:47will really stay within the footprint that they've been delegated to. So that's what I'm going to get
01:51stuck into. Hyperlapse time again so get ready for it.
01:54Heat Swing
01:59Great pain, the one who fights and runs,
02:06Is the one who loves when the battle's done seniors,
02:11True Lionheart wants

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