Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
When we last left my work on the fridge cabinet I had a problem.
The drawer sliders I bought were supposed to keep the drawers shut but that feature might have worked in a stationary setting but not in an RV. The drawers would open and close with the corresponding turns as I drove. Used bungee cords as a temporary measure but needed a more permanent solution. You can buy marine style latches that do the job but besides being pricey they would require me to modify the cabinet frame. That would mean removing the frame from the van and doing some welding on it. I wanted to come up with a different solution. Dreamt up several ideas for tackling the problem, some much better than others, and finally narrowed it down to the one I'll show you here.
This is a close-up view of where the drawer slider attaches to the frame. The frame is made of angle iron so to the right of the slider is an edge. Looking at the piece of angle iron that runs along the top right gives you and idea of the depth of the edge or lip.
This is the the side of the the drawer. I've drilled a hole near the front edge of the drawer.
Through the hole in the side of the drawer will extend this 3/16" rod. It will slide behind the lip of the angle iron and hold the drawer closed. Now how to slide it back and forth?
I've got the drawer standing on end and here's the view looking down at it. The front of the drawer is unfinished because I'm going to cover it with Formica and wasn't going to do that until I got the drawer latching problem fixed. The handle is new from Lowes. I picked this particular style since it's wide enough to get a good grasp of.
You can see the two holes from the handle that was on there temporarily since I've been using the van in the interim. Mark the screw holes for the new handle.
Drill out the two holes for the handle screws. Then mill out slots that extend from each of these two holes 3/4" to the left. This is how the 3/16" rod will be slide back and forth to unlatch the drawer. By grasping the handle and sliding it to the left before pulling the drawer open.
So how to attach the handle to the 3/16" rod? Here is a section of metal I surplused a while back from some machine at work we were getting rid of. The metal is around 18 gauge with a 90 degree bend along one side.
Cut off an appropriately sized piece.
I'm using a pair of vice grips to hold the rod and metal piece together. The handle on the front of the drawer will be bolted to the metal and the metal will be attached to the rod.
Move the handle which moves the metal which moves the rod and unlatches the drawer.
So to attach the metal to the rod, say "Hello" to my new friend. Bought his for another project. Surprisingly affordable.
Line up the metal slide with the slots on the front of the drawer. Clamp it in place then drill two holes in the slide for the handle screws.
Attach the handle and give it a test slide.
Here's the inside the drawer view.
Mount the drawer inside the van and test it out. With the handle all the way to the right the drawer is latched.
Slide it to the left and the drawer can be pulled open. Here's the rod and the edge of the drawer with the drawer barely open. The rod just clears the drawer hardware since I wanted to keep it as close to the vertical center of the drawer as it could.
continued
The drawer sliders I bought were supposed to keep the drawers shut but that feature might have worked in a stationary setting but not in an RV. The drawers would open and close with the corresponding turns as I drove. Used bungee cords as a temporary measure but needed a more permanent solution. You can buy marine style latches that do the job but besides being pricey they would require me to modify the cabinet frame. That would mean removing the frame from the van and doing some welding on it. I wanted to come up with a different solution. Dreamt up several ideas for tackling the problem, some much better than others, and finally narrowed it down to the one I'll show you here.
This is a close-up view of where the drawer slider attaches to the frame. The frame is made of angle iron so to the right of the slider is an edge. Looking at the piece of angle iron that runs along the top right gives you and idea of the depth of the edge or lip.
This is the the side of the the drawer. I've drilled a hole near the front edge of the drawer.
Through the hole in the side of the drawer will extend this 3/16" rod. It will slide behind the lip of the angle iron and hold the drawer closed. Now how to slide it back and forth?
I've got the drawer standing on end and here's the view looking down at it. The front of the drawer is unfinished because I'm going to cover it with Formica and wasn't going to do that until I got the drawer latching problem fixed. The handle is new from Lowes. I picked this particular style since it's wide enough to get a good grasp of.
You can see the two holes from the handle that was on there temporarily since I've been using the van in the interim. Mark the screw holes for the new handle.
Drill out the two holes for the handle screws. Then mill out slots that extend from each of these two holes 3/4" to the left. This is how the 3/16" rod will be slide back and forth to unlatch the drawer. By grasping the handle and sliding it to the left before pulling the drawer open.
So how to attach the handle to the 3/16" rod? Here is a section of metal I surplused a while back from some machine at work we were getting rid of. The metal is around 18 gauge with a 90 degree bend along one side.
Cut off an appropriately sized piece.
I'm using a pair of vice grips to hold the rod and metal piece together. The handle on the front of the drawer will be bolted to the metal and the metal will be attached to the rod.
Move the handle which moves the metal which moves the rod and unlatches the drawer.
So to attach the metal to the rod, say "Hello" to my new friend. Bought his for another project. Surprisingly affordable.
Line up the metal slide with the slots on the front of the drawer. Clamp it in place then drill two holes in the slide for the handle screws.
Attach the handle and give it a test slide.
Here's the inside the drawer view.
Mount the drawer inside the van and test it out. With the handle all the way to the right the drawer is latched.
Slide it to the left and the drawer can be pulled open. Here's the rod and the edge of the drawer with the drawer barely open. The rod just clears the drawer hardware since I wanted to keep it as close to the vertical center of the drawer as it could.
continued
