Friend of my just got promoted to Sergeant in a local city.  His new vehicle is a 2020 Ford Explorer.  As such they have no inserts available yet to put away or lock up his weapons and such in the back.  Concerned someone would bust out the back window he inquired about a custom cabinet.  While the city will not pay for it he did get permission to make his own, at his expense.  Thus far he has $450 in materials, $225 being in the 36 inch long drawer slides.  

 

Getting started.

 

Had to edge band the plywood, I don't like raw plywood drawer edges.

 

 

Once all the edges were done I set about making the carcass of the cabinet.  The bottom plate has been matched to the back of the SUV.  That decided the footprint of the cabinet itself.

 

 

 

Next up was drawer assembly.  I made a jig that fits my TS.  This allows for even a larger drawer to be assembled and kept square.

 

 

Drawers getting dry fitted.  The drawer slides are attached to the cabinet via 1/4 x 20 machine screws.  Each slide has 4 that hold it in place to cabinet.

 

  

 

My friend wants a thin blue line through the top and sides.  All of the inside of the cabinet has been painted light blue.

 

 

Weapons drawer has been carpeted and inserts to hold them made, but not finished yet.

 

 

 

Progress thus far after two weeks.  

Love the detail on the inside of the storage.

Gunny, have you considered Kaizen foam? 

I agree with Gene and I had the same thought. I have that in my plane drawers and some of my lathe stuff is in it. 

 

By the way you call that blue line thin?

33 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Gunny, have you considered Kaizen foam? 

I had offered it to my friend and he wanted exactly like one of his other buddies did his.  Even showed him how well it works.  Concern here was the ability to get at it easily.  I would have designed more drawers and laid the rifle and shotgun flat.  Of course my way required 3 more sets of 36 inch drawer slides.  

 

14 minutes ago, Gerald said:

By the way you call that blue line thin?

  Yeah when he told me 8 inches I used blue tape and showed him how it would look.  Said was perfect.    Once the spare tire is mounted on top you barely see that line.  And he has no choice but to put the tire on top, it normally is underneath where this cabinet is.  At 145 lbs unloaded you don't casually pull this cabinet it out and set it aside.  Unless you are Hercules or something.  

 

The drawer fronts are 3 inches wide and even that looks too wide to be a thin line.  Maybe 1 1/2 inches but hey it's not mine.  

 

Getting the carcass minus the drawers INTO the SUV, now that was fun.  Have dry fitted twice, back had to be angled to meet up but not rub the back cage.  The length of his M-16 was what made this a challenge.  BARELY fits and I had to angle it tip down to make that happen.  Only so much room available in the back and with drawers you lose 1 1/2 inches in depth.   

 

 

Sent him this picture, his reply.  Perfect.  Glad he is happy.

 

 

Drawer fronts need 2 more coats of blue yet.  And I need to get on making a drying rack for finishing room.  

 

 

Looks great, Gunny. Glad you were willing and able to do this for the "Man in Blue"! 

Looking great . Like the posts for the long guns, neat idea.

That is a very nice box, well designed and executed.  Great job!  

Where does he get those fantastic toys? Er I mean ideas? (Sorry, watched the Batman movie the other day). Life is good when Gunny is not bored. NICE work WBBN!

2 hours ago, Artie said:

Er I mean ideas?

Scary ain't it???

That is quite the project Gunny, and coming along great.  Be sure to post up pics of installed.

Looking good.

Danl

Ammo box he wanted.  Had to make it fit the narrow space between rifle and shotgun.

 

Finished assembly this evening.  Ready for a Police SUV to be here tomorrow for install.  Glad this is done I am tire of moving it around. 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, another beautiful project.

That is really super Gunny

Beautiful work, buddy. When others get a gander at it, you may have more to build. 

2 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Beautiful work, buddy. When others get a gander at it, you may have more to build. 

Gunny's planning ahead. They won't be able to reach him in the Ukraine!

BTW, nice work, Gunny!

John

That is a great box.  Wonderful work and yes, they will be lining up at the door.  You may have to figure out a way to ship from Ukraine or you may get a government contract there.  So much for retired life.

Installed this evening.  Fit like a glove and worked as planned.  Drawers slide nicely, and very smooth.  

 

 

My friend is very happy with how it turned out.  Now he can spend few days figuring out how to organize that big drawer with his stuff.  The weapons drawer, all done.  Everything fit as planned.  Even has a spare ammo box.

 

 

 

Police Department Policy forbids picture with my friend so you just get me.