Drawer materials other than wood

I am sure drawers can be made from materials other than wood? Obviously decked and others are but I have never seen any DIY. Seems like a lot of weight advantages to either HDPE or fiberglass and foam for a single drawer
Any experience from anyone
Would like to know

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I have the same question. I want to build out my bed similar to what @julian has done, but I don’t want to deal with a huge weight gain. Many people do aluminum extrusion, but I’m not sure what panels would work best if I wanted them to double as a seating area.

We’ve got a lot of smart, experienced folks in this forum, hopefully someone will have some insight.

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I made my kitchen drawer slideout stealing the roller skate bearing idea from Pask Makes. https://youtu.be/ELP41pDKaqs?si=GQaIkXt-Hdla-GWU

The video above is very much a DIY version of decked slideout drawers but with wood. I don’t think foam/plastic is strong enough. ’

here’s an 8020 aluminum long drawer option. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnmYKkzPglw

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You can use PVC Foam board and PVC glue. That is probably the lightest and strongest option. Just expensive and a little more complicated than wood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-srsB0F6l8

1/2in Baltic Birch plywood is very strong and will save you a ton of weight compared to 3/4in. You can also add internal voids into parts to reduce weight. I don’t think I would use 1/2" Birch or Sande plywood, as it is not as strong as Baltic Birch.

8020 extrusion builds waste space in such a small area where storage is at a premium. If you are just doing a few big drawers then it might make sense. Once you start designing in multiple compartments, the extra width starts to become a nuisance. They do make sense when you have more room in a Van or larger camper. Its also expensive.

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i had the crazy idea of using carbon fiber panels since I have access to CF sheets at my part time.
but ended up scraping the idea after calculating MY cost.

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Appreciate the links

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This is what I’ll be using for my build. Just need to figure out how much material I need and I’m hoping to find a supplier local.

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HDPE board and tnutz 1x1 aluminum and fasteners. Full drawer slide out for camp kitchen and all other camp essentials. Made a mount for our joolca shower too. Still enough bed room for our coolers and dog bed. Could have done HDPE for top but I already had some marine ply.

If I were to do something different I’d replace the wood with coosa board.

Safe travels everyone.

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The expanded PVC arrived today. I’ll start cutting and glueing in a couple weeks…still finalizing the design but the box will be 2ft x 4ft and 8" high to match the height of the wheel wells. Planes storage for the battery, compressor, recovery gear, tools, and some camping equipment.

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This guy is a vanlife wizard, he has multiple 30min+ long videos testing the process out

It seems xps foam adhered to window screens and /or 1/8 wood veneer makes insanely light and durable furniture built ins

There is aluminum composite panels that can be used too