The kitchen space on our Hero Camper is limited — well, actually all space on the camper is limited, but this post is about the kitchen.
So we need to make the most of the three drawers in the kitchen — the top drawer is for cutlery and misc kitchen utilities. We looked at store-bought drawer dividers, but didn’t find anything that fit.
The dimensions of the drawer are probably somewhat unusual at 45.8 × 43.2 cm, meaning every divider we found left lots of unused space around it and just didn’t seem like a good solution. We didn’t want a plastic divider moving around as we were driving.
So we figured: we’ll make one — and so we did 😀
We started by placing what we wanted to fit in the drawer, figuring out how to best utilize the space while making sure the design would actually be buildable in wood.
Based on this, I made a CAD drawing — checking the dimensions, and that nothing interfered with the locking mechanism in the front. The result is the drawing below, complete with dimensions in cm.
With the design locked in, it was time to choose materials. My initial plan was to build it using 9 mm oak baseboard, but looking at the price I figured I would at least try something cheaper first.
So instead I cut 9 mm strips of a regular untreated 2×4 construction wood. It is held together with long and thin screws; I pre-drilled to avoid the thin strips from cracking. No glue was used.
It turned out really well, and fits snugly in the drawer. No wasted space here! The design also makes it quite sturdy and easy to build.
A notch is cut in the front to fit the locking mechanism.
The visible sides were sanded, as well as the top to round off the corners.
The drawer has a cutout in the back, probably to allow for the gas stove, but it seems excessive. So much so that things could fall out onto the drawer below, or the Webasto heater which is located behind the third drawer.
The back wall of the divider prevents that. As I used strips of 2×4 — mine is 48 mm tall. It’s important that it doesn’t get too tall as that will interfere with the gas stove.
I have not applied any finish, oil or otherwise, and I don’t plan to do so. We’ll see how it holds up, and if it develops a problem I’ll deal with it.
We did find one problem after our first trip driving on roads with frost heave: the divider got lifted up and that caused some things to slip under. I’ve added some adhesive rubber feet to each corner to hold it down. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to figure something else out.
All in all, it was cheap and easy to build and very functional 👷♂️
