Everything is built out of 20 series and 1/2 plywood. Went with 20 series because the Chinese extrusions and lower cost for components and connectors. Looking back I’d spring for us made 10 series which I’ll explain below. The project is About 70 percent complete. Still need to paint and bedline the raw wood, install water tank and build the 12v system.
Lessons learned
20 series from Amazon and the connectors/ components are not high quality. Expect things to be out of tolerance.
Threading aluminum sucks. Just order it threaded.
I ordered all of the extrusion precut. If you plan on cutting yours to length, be sure to have a plan to make sure all of your cuts exactly the same length. You cannot cheat this material.
Clean all your threads w parts cleaner and use lock tight.
I didn’t use any connectors to connect the individual pods. I cross drilled the extrusion and bolted them.
Use high quality plywood. The home depot wood is a joke.
The cabinets look great! Having done a few cabinets & a full bed slide out of extrusions underneath my GFC, I relate to some of your lessons learned (especially loctite!). I can also add a few:
-Threading aluminum works pretty well if you chuck the piece in a vice, go slow with a drill & the appropriate sized tap, do 1-2 turns in then back out again, and use plenty of cutting oil. Clear out the chips & oil after with air/brake cleaner.
-Tnutz is a great supplier for extrusions & brackets at decent pricing. I’d use them over an amazon supplier every time.
-You can use flat head screws on the top piece of plywood and countersink them to get a nice flush fit. McMaster is great for buying the specific size/length/material/color that you want.
