Aluminium profile suitability

[grantw]

I came across this stuff after doing some random googling and started wondering about how it would go with building out the back of my 80 with some drawers/shelves and a rear barrier.

Being aluminium the weight savings would be great, they also have all sorts of hinges, rollers & sliders.

With some of the bigger weights I've even been thinking you could knock up an aluminium roof rack fairly easy.

Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing that could comment about strength etc? The biggest concern would be how the fittings would deal with severe vibration.

Examples of what i'm talking about are here http://www.valuframe.co.uk/

 

[majic79]

That looks quite useful - there's a few things to consider about aluminium, so long as the grade of material is good, then it should mount fine (and be vibration proof, I'd be inclined to put some rubberised blocks between the mount points to ensure it stands up to it)

No no no no no, need to clear other projects out of the garage before I start down this route!

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

structurally it's probably about the equivalent of screwing some bits of wood together. Check you wouldn't end up spending as much on that as just buying some ready made commercial draws, load barrier etc.

 

[grantw]

Good point re cost Jon. Costs of these sorts of things can spiral upwards very quickly with all the little bits you miss. I'm planning on costing it out to see just how much it would cost. The fittings are quite expensive ... hopefully that means they are quite strong.

 

[helen07]

I would use fibreglass because the cost of aluminium is just daft . The mistake most make with fibreglass is they tend to make things out of wood them just glass over it leaving the wood in which trebles the weight at least . Cut the wood to the shape you want , cover the wood in beeswax or something similar , fibreglass over it and once the glass sets you can pull it off the wood . You end up with a lightweight and strong material that will last forever .