Cabinet Unit Manufacturing

[Tourershine]

@Matt M / @Bryn23
I’m in the same boat as Salty Spuds and am veering towards something similar to this -
most places appear to advertise gloss white units but in reality they are about as glossy and attractive as an MFI kitchen-cupboard carcass. And then they have the knock-n edging to boot.

How hard is it getting panels sprayed in the high-gloss stuff (assuming it’s a spray-on paint)
and how durable is it?

The bodyshop I use for all my own and business work often sprays wooden units for a high end kitchen company in Leicester. They also paint one side of cut to size glass for the same company, who turn it the other way round and use it as work surfaces. (so the painted surface in on the underside, and never gets damaged) They look amazing with the obvious benefit of any colour you want.

 

[Bryn23]

Its not hard to have them painted, its worth doing a little prep work on the MDF panels and doors, as you will get a better result.

It's worth finding a place that sprays them for a cabinetmaker, as they tend go the extra mile to go a really good job and the lads have more experience spraying kitchen doors.

As for durability in a campervan, i'm not sure on that.

There will be small scratches in the High Gloss paint over time and the edges are more susceptible to damage than a 1-2mm ABS edging

MDF is normally around 40-50% heavier than light weight laminated ply as well.

At the end of the day, choose what you want, its your van, just enjoy it

 

[Ads_Essex]

Its not hard to have them painted, its worth doing a little prep work on the MDF panels and doors, as you will get a better result.

It's worth finding a place that sprays them for a cabinetmaker, as they tend go the extra mile to go a really good job and the lads have more experience spraying kitchen doors.

As for durability in a campervan, i'm not sure on that.

There will be small scratches in the High Gloss paint over time and the edges are more susceptible to damage than a 1-2mm ABS edging

MDF is normally around 40-50% heavier than light weight laminated ply as well.

At the end of the day, choose what you want, its your van, just enjoy it

@Bryn23 I take it there’d be no problem using ply instead of MDF, in order to keep the overall weight down?

 

[Bryn23]

@Bryn23 I take it there’d be no problem using ply instead of MDF, in order to keep the overall weight down?

Are we talking about using ply and then painting it instead of MDF?

I've never done that, so i'm not 100% sure as there would be a lot of prep work to fill the edges, if i've used ply, and i love birch ply, its to showcase the edges

I put a guide below, for weight


MDF

16mm 11.6 Kg/m2

Birch Ply

15mm 10.4 Kg/m2

Vohringer Light Weight laminated Ply

15mm 6.2 Kg/m2

 

[Zave]

I'm about to build my own units in 12mm birch plywood. I'll post the results but this could take some time.

 

[Ads_Essex]

Are we talking about using ply and then painting it instead of MDF?

I've never done that, so i'm not 100% sure as there would be a lot of prep work to fill the edges, if i've used ply, and i love birch ply, its to showcase the edges

I put a guide below, for weight


MDF

16mm 11.6 Kg/m2

Birch Ply

15mm 10.4 Kg/m2

Vohringer Light Weight laminated Ply

15mm 6.2 Kg/m2

To be fair I wouldn’t know what could be used and what couldn’t, but that’s interesting to see how much lighter the Vohringer stuff is! It’s he laminated look that I’m after, but fully aware that it can’t be too heavy as the van is rated 2800kgs

 

[Salty Spuds]

To be fair I wouldn’t know what could be used and what couldn’t, but that’s interesting to see how much lighter the Vohringer stuff is! It’s he laminated look that I’m after, but fully aware that it can’t be too heavy as the van is rated 2800kgs

Be very careful, I had a shock when I put my van on a weighbridge. 2960KG!! This was with full diesel, water etc. The van was “ready to go”. Admittedly it's a 4motion DSG so I lose lose some weight there. Thankfully it's a t32 so I’m ok, just. If my base van had been a t28, I’d be stuffed.

 

[Zave]

So this took a month of Sundays but pretty much done. I want to get some stays so the lids stay up when you lift them. Plus get rid of some glue overspill. And a table for the rail. I managed to squeeze in the chest fridge with a 118 cm wide bed. The bike just about fits across the back. Obviously I move it to sleep on the bed.

 

[Marcovan8]

Evening all, first post here

A friend was showing me his transporter camper conversion the other day and started talking about the troubles he had sourcing and installing the wardrobe unit and kitchen pod. I have a small cabinet making & joinery business and the precise nature, design and utility of the units has piqued my interest.

I have since done some research looking at what is currently available and methods of construction, and wanted to seek opinions from other people who would be interested.

I would like to find out what would make the process of fitting out the interior better for you and how.

As I am approaching this from a cabinet makers standpoint there is a number of techniques and hardware options I would typically use but have yet to see in my research.

A few things I am currently giving thought to are:

Would delivering the cabinets flat packed or assembled be best.

Would offering an installation service be practical.

How much customisation would be useful in ordering the units

From what I have heard the lightweight panels typically used are also quite soft and prone to damage. Would a denser substrate weighing slightly more be a big issue?

Drawers don’t seem to feature in many variations. Would these be useful?

I’m currently working on some cad drawings and will be producing some mock ups in due course.

Anything learned from this thread will be greatly appreciated

Hi I'm interested in what your doing wanting my t 6 fitting out how further down the line are you
Also what part of the country are you from
Regards Mark

 

[Jack T]

Old thread I know but when we converted ours we had very similar thoughts to a lot of the previous posts.

Didn’t want a mass produced look with edging etc, but that is personal preference and everyone likes different things.

We manufactured the units out of lightweight poplar 15mm ply and then had them body shop painted. We are delighted but it certainly takes a bit more care looking after it. It also took an age to do!

Bare ply



And painted





Drawers work well







Also we made a drawer for under our Cambee bed, similar space to a Kombi. Not on runners but on 4 flat casters on the underside. Just a couple of thumbturns and rivnuts to hold it.







There are companies out there that would build something like this but the lead time and cost was too great, hence doing it ourselves.

Hope this helps.

 

[Marcovan8]

Old thread I know but when we converted ours we had very similar thoughts to a lot of the previous posts.

Didn’t want a mass produced look with edging etc, but that is personal preference and everyone likes different things.

We manufactured the units out of lightweight poplar 15mm ply and then had them body shop painted. We are delighted but it certainly takes a bit more care looking after it. It also took an age to do!

Bare ply

View attachment 47424

And painted

View attachment 47428

View attachment 47429

Drawers work well

View attachment 47430

View attachment 47423

View attachment 47431

Also we made a drawer for under our Cambee bed, similar space to a Kombi. Not on runners but on 4 flat casters on the underside. Just a couple of thumbturns and rivnuts to hold it.

View attachment 47426

View attachment 47425

View attachment 47427

There are companies out there that would build something like this but the lead time and cost was too great, hence doing it ourselves.

Hope this helps.

Thanks you looks mint love the colour and the sliding drawers under the bed

 

[Kevin]

Nice work Jack T.