# Best drawer slides for dresser?



## ms1780

I am building a dresser for my son and would like to know the best drawer glides for the money. I'm thinking about just using the white 3/4 extension cheapies from Grizzly, but I don't like the look of them so maybe the center mount wood rail with the plastic runner and let them slide on the bottom of the drawer on some runners. Most of my wood working experience is building cabinets. What do you guys suggest? I want good quality, but I ain't spending 20 or 30 bucks per drawer slide.

Thanks,

Mike


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## cabinetman

ms1780 said:


> I am building a dresser for my son and would like to know the best drawer glides for the money. I'm thinking about just using the white 3/4 extension cheapies from Grizzly, but I don't like the look of them so maybe the center mount wood rail with the plastic runner and let them slide on the bottom of the drawer on some runners. Most of my wood working experience is building cabinets. What do you guys suggest? I want good quality, but I ain't spending 20 or 30 bucks per drawer slide.
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I would use 100# full extension side mount slides. The drawer opens all the way, and they are durable enough to take the beating kids can do. Check out these and the pricing.













 







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## mveach

I received the same advice a few month ago. One of the best leads I ever got.


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## GeorgeC

cabinetman said:


> I would use 100# full extension side mount slides. The drawer opens all the way, and they are durable enough to take the beating kids can do. Check out these and the pricing.
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I recently purchased 10 of that exact slide. I am very pleased with them. Just sent this same link to my chiropractor as she wanted some full extension slides for her kitchen cabinets.

For some reason these slides come coated with something that feels like "cosmoline." I need to clean them.

George


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## ms1780

Thanks for the link! I ordered 5 sets for the dresser this morning and the plastic rear mounts. What is the best way to mount this to be sure your drawer front closes flush against your face frame?

Thanks again! The price on those is awesome!


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## cabinetman

ms1780 said:


> Thanks for the link! I ordered 5 sets for the dresser this morning and the plastic rear mounts. What is the best way to mount this to be sure your drawer front closes flush against your face frame?
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> Thanks again! The price on those is awesome!


When I do slides in a cabinet that has a face frame, I add a filler to bring out the mounting of the cabinet member flush to the face frame. If you mount the slide to the face frame and the rear, that leaves the length of the slide to be able to deflect.

For a single drawer, I make just a strip of wood to mount to the side of the cabinet that goes to the rear. For a bank of drawers, I mount two vertical strips, that are in the middle and the rear. If you lay out the mounting holes with a framing square to the face frame, just use a scratch awl to poke the holes, and pre-drill them for the screws. 

To lay out the mounting holes, take an assembled slide and figure out where on the drawer box you want it. Then measure where the mounting holes are in relation to either the bottom or top edge of the drawer box. When installing, the slide will position the drawer box flat to the face frame. Install the cabinet member a minimum of 1/16" to 1/8" back from the front edge of the face frame. That will allow the drawer to seat when closed.












 







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## Tom5151

C-man turned me on to these a while back...used them for workbench drawers that get loaded down with all kinds of heavy stuff...they have performed flawlessly,,,in fact they seem to get smoother as the load gets heavier...love them and will be using them on some dressers I am building for the cabin.....


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## omextreme

thanks, those slides will work for me as well....


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## ponch37300

Is that price per pair or for a single slide?


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## Corbin3388

I think I pay something like $12-16 for these. They rated above what I know the drawer will hold. The only issues I've ever seen with these is when there not shimmed or spaced correctly

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## cabinetman

ponch37300 said:


> Is that price per pair or for a single slide?


It's for a set (one drawer).












 







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## ponch37300

cabinetman said:


> It's for a set (one drawer).
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Wow that's a great deal, thanks!


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## cabinetman

Corbin3388 said:


> I think I pay something like $12-16 for these. They rated above what I know the drawer will hold. The only issues I've ever seen with these is when there not shimmed or spaced correctly
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You're paying way too much. 

You can have problems if:

If the opening is not square to the cabinet face.

The cabinet sides (or rails for mounting slides) are not parallel. 

The slides aren't aligned both in height or installed at different depths.

The drawer box itself is not square.

The slides are mounted at different heights or depths (front to back) on the drawer box.

There is some latitude in using these slides. If you allow 1 1/16" (17/16") between the mounting points in the cabinet larger than the drawer box, the slides will work good. That will also allow some shim space if you've screwed up somewhere.

I mount the drawer member flush to the face of the drawer box, and the cabinet member 1/16" to 1/8" back from the front edge of the face frame or cabinet front edge.

When checking for drawer/drawer front, or cabinet door for alignment to the cabinet, or the spacing (gaps), if the cabinet isn't sitting absolutely perfect to the floor, it can throw out the alignment by being racked. You can induce the racking by accident or by having one corner being pushed higher, and see that the door alignment will get off kilter.

If all went well in laying out and installing the drawers, and doors, when you install the cabinet, you may need to shim one corner to get it back to alignment. Likewise, this condition can happen when screwing the cabinet to the wall, if one back corner gets pulled more than the rest, an out-of-square (racking) can occur.












 







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## PPBART

cabinetman said:


> Check out these and the pricing.


Thanks for that link! I've got a project coming up that will require a bunch of full-extension slides, and those prices make it a whole lot easier to handle.

(Update 12/2/2011) Rec'd my order of 8 pr of slides today and they look good. Guess I'd better get busy building the drawers!


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## ms1780

I did end up buying five sets of these. I have put one in so far and it turned out really good. I used a sheetrock square to install them. I made a runner the same width as the cabinet face frame on the left and right and used this to hold the back of my drawer slide. The was I used the sheetrock square was I clamped it lightly to the face frame so the long piece of the square acted like the drawer and crossed the runners I had installed. So, the square was down against the bottom of the horizontal and ran square to the face frame to the back of the cabinet, then I just took some small scrap blocks and put them under the square and nailed them into the runner so when I installed my cabinet member of the drawer slide it just reated on the block on the back and the face frame on the front. Drawer had a tiny bid of gap when the drawer face was installed, but it was a close to perfect as I have ever had a drawer turn out when using pocket holes to put the face frame and cabinet toghether. Bottom line is I love the drawer slides and not too dificult to install and best of all is the price.

Thanks again.

Mike


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## ms1780

Here are some pics! I think it is turning out really nice.:smile:


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## Fudwrecker

cabinetman said:


> When I do slides in a cabinet that has a face frame, I add a filler to bring out the mounting of the cabinet member flush to the face frame.
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I'm about to this - I need to come out 1.25 inches and thinking my best way to get that is to rip a 2 x 4 down to this thickness. 
as it is construction grade spruce am I asking for trouble with shrinkage - the project is pine - should I make the filler out of 2 pieces of 3/4" pine glued and then cut to thickness instead?

Sorry to hijack the string - but you guys already having a good discussion here


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## GeorgeC

Fudwrecker said:


> I'm about to this - I need to come out 1.25 inches and thinking my best way to get that is to rip a 2 x 4 down to this thickness.
> as it is construction grade spruce am I asking for trouble with shrinkage - the project is pine - should I make the filler out of 2 pieces of 3/4" pine glued and then cut to thickness instead?
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> Sorry to hijack the string - but you guys already having a good discussion here


I just finished a desk with 5 drawers doing exactly what you have stated. This desk was basically popular and plywood and I used pine, construction grade 2x4's ripped to dimension as spacers. I anticipate no problems. 

George


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## ms1780

That is what I did, basically. I ripped a couple of stips of 3/4" mdf to the 3" that I neede then glued/screwed them together and nailed them in. I probably should have clamped and glued or used pocket holes to prevent the nail holes in the side of the cabinet, but lets just be honest, I'm lazy. :laughing:

Mike


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## Lola Ranch

That is a very good price on the link that Cabinetman provided, thank you for that.

When it comes to drawer guides, I make a distinction between "cabinets" and "furniture". Industry standards and expectations essentially require the use of "drawer guides" which, for something like "Blumotion" bottom mounts, can be very expensive.

When it comes to fine furniture I go the traditional route and make some sort of wood guides. IMHO nothing beats the fit and feel of well tuned wood on wood drawer, especially if it's a sealed case and you have that nice air cushion created by the close tolerances of a wood to wood guide system. They are also cheap and can be built with hardwood scraps that might have otherwise gone into the dumpster.

I make full extension wood glides also, in fact I have one on my keyboard slide.

There are some limitations to a properly functioning wood slide. Narrow deep drawers will operate better than wide short drawers. I would not recommend a wood slide on a drawer that has a width to depth ratio of higher than 3 to 2.

There is also the aesthetics to consider. If you are going to spend the extra time and effort to do some nice hand dovetailed drawer boxes, do you really want to slap a commercial guide to the side. Kind of spoils it in my opinion. 

The photo show my office desk where I used both wood runners on the smaller drawers and "Acuride" full ex guides on the lower file drawers. It's a good compromise but I prefer the "action" of the wood slides.

Bret


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## PPBART

Lola Ranch said:


> ...I make full extension wood glides also, in fact I have one on my keyboard slide....


I also like the look and action of wood guides, and I'm curious as to how you make full extension wood glides. Could you please post some details/pics?

Bart
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## Lola Ranch

PPBART said:


> I also like the look and action of wood guides, and I'm curious as to how you make full extension wood glides. Could you please post some details/pics?
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Bart,

Here it is. two stage slide. two frames with a floater in the middle. The inside frame attaches to the cabinet, outer frame attaches to keyboard slide, then the floater in-between. You have to put stop blocks on the backs of the individual slides.

I'm not explaining it very well, more coffee needed

Bret


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## PPBART

Lola Ranch said:


> ...two stage slide. two frames with a floater in the middle. The inside frame attaches to the cabinet, outer frame attaches to keyboard slide, then the floater in-between...


Thanks for the quick reply. I'm still on first cup of the morning, too, so maybe I'm perking a bit slow. Still trying to visualize how this works... The inside frame is fixed, the floater slides on the inside frame, and the outer frame slides on the floater -- right?

Bart


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## Lola Ranch

PPBART said:


> Thanks for the quick reply. I'm still on first cup of the morning, too, so maybe I'm perking a bit slow. Still trying to visualize how this works... The inside frame is fixed, the floater slides on the inside frame, and the outer frame slides on the floater -- right?
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I think you have it!

Bret


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## cabinetman

These are pretty interesting:
http://lairdproducts.com/wood/7-slim-slide/

This PDF has a detailed plan:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/Materials/MaterialsPDF.aspx?id=2398












 







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## Lola Ranch

cabinetman said:


> These are pretty interesting:
> http://lairdproducts.com/wood/7-slim-slide/
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> http://www.finewoodworking.com/Materials/MaterialsPDF.aspx?id=2398
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Your first link clearly shows the stops at the back of the slides that I was trying to explain. But it essentially the same as the ones I make. The one in my example was for a keyboard slide and was undermount.

Bret


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## Tom5151

Didn't these guys used to have a 22 inch slide in this particular style? 

http://www.wwhardware.com/kv-tt100-economy-100-lb-full-extension-drawer-slide-kvtt100

I see a 21-3/4 and a 23-3/4......but no 22.........i can use the 21-3/4 but could have sworn they had a 22


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## cabinetman

Tom5151 said:


> Didn't these guys used to have a 22 inch slide in this particular style?
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That's pretty much the way most slides are. I still make the boxes to the full dimension.












 







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## Tom5151

cabinetman said:


> That's pretty much the way most slides are. I still make the boxes to the full dimension.
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Got it...yeah my boxes will probably be a little over 22 inches but still I should be just fine........won't be 100% full extension but that's no biggie...that's on me


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## jjrbus

You people do some amazing things! 

Thanks for the link on the slides, I will buy from them because they give more info than some of the other online sources.

In looking at the PDF on the slides http://www.wwhardware.com/media/installation/kvTT100.pdf

It appears that the tab's/ cutouts?? are where they want the cabinet side screws to go. Is that a must, that the screws go in the holes in the tab? Cannot think of a better description than tab?

Due to re-purposing a cabinet I will have a difficult time using those holes.
JIm 0311


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## cabinetman

jjrbus said:


> You people do some amazing things!
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> Thanks for the link on the slides, I will buy from them because they give more info than some of the other online sources.
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> In looking at the PDF on the slides http://www.wwhardware.com/media/installation/kvTT100.pdf
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> It appears that the tab's/ cutouts?? are where they want the cabinet side screws to go. Is that a must, that the screws go in the holes in the tab? Cannot think of a better description than tab?
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> Due to re-purposing a cabinet I will have a difficult time using those holes.
> JIm 0311


You can use any holes you want. If you notice that the slotted holes on the drawer member are vertical, and on the cabinet member they are horizontal. Having both ways to make an adjustment would be to use those holes first. When the drawer is finally set, use standard holes (any), to fix the side from moving.

In any case I would recommend at least use 3 screws (truss head phillips) (front, middle, rear) to offer as much support as possible. Screws in the slotted holes can be the fixing screws in addition to using the regular holes...if tight. Make sure you use the screws for drawer slides, that are the correct length and the heads don't rub or catch when the slides are moved.












 







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## jjrbus

Thanks Cabinet Man!


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## Tom5151

Tom5151 said:


> Didn't these guys used to have a 22 inch slide in this particular style?
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So it appears that not just sizing has changed but the finish and action as well. My most recent order of these slides are anachrome finish and the action is much stiffer. When I last ordered them they were more of a matte zinc finish and the action was much smoother. It also appears that the manufactuer has changed. I am sure they have to source out different manufacturers from time to time to keep such a competitive price point. 

Having said that, you still cannot beat the price and quality value combination for these slides. I will be buying many more.


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