# Best Material for Drawer Runners?



## Curmudgeon10 (Nov 12, 2014)

I am building three mobile shop cabinets; each is going to have three or four drawers for storage. If I choose to make a three drawer unit with a large lower drawer, I'm going to splurge on full extension, heavy duty drawer slides for that bottom drawer. But for the bulk of the drawers, I'm just going to use straight runners of hardwood or other material. The question is --- what is the best material to insure smooth sliding?

The drawers themselves will be made from plywood, but of course a better sliding material can be mated to the bottom of the sides if need be.


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## mako1 (Jan 25, 2014)

I would use hard maple and wax them.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I have not tried this...*

I have saved the 3/4" nylon packing straps for several years only to throw them away when I accumulated too many. Now I have a need for them for a lathe cabinet that will have a bunch of heavy chucks and tooling and the drawers. There are metal angles the drawer runners sit on at present, but I think those nylon straps would be a perfect friction reducer and a wear resistant material, if only I had some now..... :yes:


Formica, HPL would work also. Glue it on and it will slide effortlessly.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

*Drawer slides*



mako1 said:


> I would use hard maple and wax them.



I agree with Mako, hard Maple is hard to beat for drawer slides. 
Theoretically any tight grained hardwood can work, but the more you use it and the more weight you put in the drawer calls for a wood that can take some punishment.


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## Curmudgeon10 (Nov 12, 2014)

Hard maple it is, with wax. Thanks.


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## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

Also consider re-enforcing the bottom of the drawers to hold extra weight. Have a friend that made simple drawers to hold all his "stuff" but over-loaded every drawer to the point that two had broken bottoms and another was too heavily filled it could not be pulled open! Be safe.


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