Bath Vanity Drawer as Child Step – help
Firestorm9
| Posted in General Discussion on
I have built two bathroom vanities and I want to make the bottom drawer useable both as a drawer and as a child step.
Here is the difficulty – the bottom drawer is 10 inches from the bottom of the drawer to the ground (see pic-drawer and door fronts not yet installed, just set in place). I want to be able to have legs extend down in front to add stability (with some automatic extension, either then you hit a lever, or whenever the drawer is extended), and retract automatically when the drawer is pushed in. The drawer (when made) will be 20 inches deep 19 3/4″ wide and 6″ tall (and 10″ off the ground).
Any ideas?
Replies
Nice Work
Those vanities look great. I guess what you're thinking is possible but why not build a matching foot stool with the arched apron and Child's name in the top.
SA
Vanity
Why does it have to fit under the vanity - can it be a seperate stand alone piece of furniture
SA
There is no room in the bathroom to keep a stool for the sink.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to make supports that will extend when the drawer is pulled out and retract when it is pushed in? Maybe something with springs?
I would . . .
. . . just make a removable, sliding "lid" for the drawer. Automating the process gets too complicated.
I already planned on having a lid for the drawer, otherwise you would be stepping in the drawer :)
That is not the problem - the problem is that even with the lid, the drawer will be suspended in air over the floor. This is not sturdy enough to support the weight of a child.
In other words, I need retractable legs that can extend and bear the weight.
If you don't have ideas for how to design this so the legs easilly come up and down, that is fine...however, telling me that it is too much trouble (because you find it too troublesome) is not helpful. I personally enjoy this kind of challenge and am interested to hear from others who would like to help me solve the puzzle.
I thought of an idea using pulleys - see rough sketch in the picture
As the drawer is pulled out, the string loosens and the leg drops. When it is pushed in, the string pulls around the pulleys on the drawer, pulling up the leg. The difficulties of this design are space, the string/line coming off the pulleys with use (especially as the line crosses itself when the drawer is pushed in), and getting the placement of the pulleys just right so that the string/line is never slack (I'm not that great at math).
Anyone have any other ideas on how to make it work?
LET GRAVITY HELP
Just an idea, that is simple and less work. If you could hinge the legs in the drawer with a steel rod connecting them at their feet for additional weight and stability you can eliminate pulleys and cables. See attached sketch ( sorry I am not an artist) Gravity will allow the legs to hinge down and stop against the stop and the bottom of the cabinet will push them back up when door is closed. I'll leave the final design to you.
Gary
This is a good solution but I have one concern. The distance from the floor to the bottom of the drawer is half the length of the drawer. That means that the leg would need to attach to the drawer in the very center of the drawer.
I am not sure that this will provide enough stability for when kids inevitably step on the very end of the drawer. It would also mean that the drawer/step whould have to be 100 percent extended any time it is used. If the child uses the drawer by him or herself I am sure they will not always make sure the drawer is all the way out.
Any ideas on how to modify this simple concept to make it more stable?
DRAWER DIMENSIONS
Firestorm9
I have to leave then specifics up to you. There are some saftey concerns with this concept, as there will be be with any design with springs or pulleys also. How complicated do you want to make this project, I can conceive a positive locking design to make sure the legs are down and a lever would have to be pulled to allow them to hinge back up. This could get very complicated and involved for children to cope with. I know my grandchildren would pull in out once and leave it open.
Any step over 8 inches is probably to high for a toddler to navigate without a support bar to grab on to?? Is there height enough in the drawer to angle the retracted leg and pick up additional length in the diagonal dimension of the drawer? What depth is the cabinet?
One other idea is to copy the design of an antique secretary desk design. I have one that when you open the desk writing surface, two sleepers slide out and support the desk surface. This is acomplished with wire and pulleys. I wouldn't stand on it though!!
Gary
Will the 100lb drawer slides really support 100lbs?
I have always been dubious of their ability to do so.
Has anyone tested them to see?
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