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Project 03Furniture

Lager Trolley

This is inspired by, almost a copy of, the all-aluminium design from the Danish design brand Ferm Living. I took the already industrial and Brutalist design one step further by replacing the aluminium with stainless steel, and made the joints visible with stainless steel screws.

Instead of a clean, precise fit at each corner, I chose to leave gaps. This was both a design choice and a safety one, since hand builds are not pixel perfect.

Enquire about this piece↗ Made to order · Greece only
Lager Trolley, finished
Materials
Stainless steelStainless steel screws
Dimensions
72 × 38 × 60 cm
Time spent
24 hours
Finish
None

The Process

Stainless steel plates and formed profiles loaded in the back of a car
01 · Our Renault 5, with over 1 million km on it, loaded with the inox plates from the press brake.
A drilled steel tray on the workbench beside a drill press and hand drill
02 · Drilling.
A partially assembled trolley clamped together for hole mapping
03 · Assembly and holes mapping, a crucial step.
A drill, spray oil and casters laid out on the trolley's top shelf
04 · Wheels installation.
Close-up of a bolted corner joint with a deliberate gap
05 · Screws detail.
The finished stainless trolley in the garden, an old wheelbarrow behind it
06 · Finished.

Tips &
Tricks

What I would tell someone building the same trolley tomorrow. Inox is not forgiving and it shows every rushed step.

  1. 01

    Build the top and bottom pans from 2mm inox

    The two pan-shaped shelves, top and bottom, are the skeleton of the whole build. At 2mm the joints line up and everything else bolts onto them cleanly.

  2. 02

    Deburr every edge before assembly, not after

    Clean and smooth the edge of each sheet before it goes together. Assembling first and sanding afterward is the harder way round, and the sharp inox edges will cut your hands the whole time.

  3. 03

    Drill slow, with pressure and oil, and listen to the bit

    Stainless steel does not drill easily. Use bits made for it, a slow speed, firm steady pressure and cutting oil every time. If the bit starts to squeal instead of cut, it is dull, stop and swap it before it work-hardens the hole.

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