Drw Guides

[John J. Desmond]

I was wondering how some of you installed your drawer guides. Where I work, we attach them to "track backs" which is 3/4" in kitchen cabinets and 1/2" for vanities. We then staple them to the back of the cabinet. I was wondering, and I am sure there is, if there is a better way to do it? We use 1/2" material for most partitions as well as for unfinished ends. It is difficult to screw them to the sides and partitions this way.

John

[Nick M Singer]

John what is a "Track Back"? I thought most people would just screw the carcass profile to the side.

[Damon Nabors]

It sounds like he is referring to a rear drawer slide socket. That is the only thing I can think of that would or could be stapled to the back of a cabinet. I have had to go out and repair some of these things when the socket is stapled and the drawer gets overloaded and causes the socket to fall off. Some of these sockets are mounted in a track to allow side to side movement as the drawer goes in and out to prevent the drawer from binding up in the event the opening is too tight or too loose.

[John J. Desmond]

Yes Damon, it is a plastic mount that the drawer guide slides into. The plastic mount is then screwed onto a piece of 3/4" material and then stapled to the back of the cabinet. Notice in the attachment I make the drawer an inch narrower than the opening so as to receive the drawer guide which is a half inch. I attach the front of the guide to the inside of the face frame between the drawer and the stile. Notice at the back of the drawer there is no place to attach the guide unless a socket is used. I guess you could use filler strips along the guides. Do any of you make the drawer openings that same size as the face frame and attache them right to the side and partition of the cabinet? I am just trying to see how others do it so that I am not stuck doing it the way the "other" guy does it simply because that is what I was taught. I hope that makes sense. Anyone's experience will be appreciated.

John

Sample Vanity.jpg

[Damon Nabors]

Using your example and assuming the right side of that cabinet is not a finished end. I would flush out the partition and the right side with the inside of the face frame so that I could mount my slides directly onto the panels.

[John J. Desmond]

Damon,
Thanks for the information. I use 2" stiles which on an unfinished end would then leave an 1 1/2" scribe. Is this what you would do? It would seem to be fine on the partition which would give a larger area for use on the sink side. It sure would make it easier for one man to install slides. Where I work it takes to guys to install slides. One guy pushes the drawer in and holds it straight, the other staples it off from the back. Just so you know, I work for a man who explained that he wanted his shop to be the wal-mart of cabinet shops. It is pretty low budget but yet the finished product looks fairly nice. He just does what it takes to get the job done. I want to do more for my customers. I know I need to break away from what I have learned there and upgrade my own work. I am appreciative to all you guys who are willing to offer seasoned advice and helps.

John

Sample Vanity 2.jpg

[Damon Nabors]

Yes, if the end is unfinished, that is what I would do. You do not benefit from having the extra 1.25" space inside of a drawer stack.

KREG makes a tool that holds your slide in line with the face frame so that you can attach them by yourself. I use it all the time on FF type cabinets.

Look HERE

If you need to, flush the partition side and then use a vertical 2" or 3" wide strip on the end panel side towards the front of the cab just behind the face frame and then another at the rear. This way you only have two strips rather than blocking out each individual drawer slide.

[Damon Nabors]

One other thing about the vertical strips. You can use them like a ladder rack and premark your slide position so that you can align your slides accurately if you do not have a jig of some sorts like the one I posted by Kreg.

[Gary Puckett]

John,

Try using blum tandom they cost a little more but you get a much better slide and installation is a one man job so 1) your client gets a much better slide and 2) you save on labor.

Gary

[Gary Puckett]

John,


Sorry didn't read all of your post these slides are pricey, and I misspelled the slide it is blum tandem.

Gary

[Rick Palechuk]

This jig will hold the slide in the correct position for you to fasten it to the carcase. All manufacturers have there version of this. (This one is Blum).

[Nick M Singer]

Can you use that Jig with Tandem Rick?

[Rick Palechuk]

I'm not sure. I beleive it is for the Epoxy slides only.

[Gary Puckett]

No Nick you can't , but if you use 3" wide rails between your drawer openings you can just set the tandem on the rail and up against the side works great.

Gary

[BEN HOLM]

Were do you guys get your drawer guides and hinges. Namely blum tandem. Im sure some of you get them locally but how about an online store or on in the Los Angeles area. The cheapest I found was at WWW.ahturf.com $27.98 for the 21" Tandem slide - full extension - integrated blumotion 562H5330B and the clips are $0.72 each. Then there is shipping. But no TAX!