Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Drawer mounting question
Howard Pollack
Hi- I'm making a small chest, with 3 1.5"x16" drawers to hold my chisels. I don't want to use commercial drawer slides on this project. Would it be best to have the bottom of the drawers slide on a hardwood web or should I mount a hardwood runner in the middle of the drawer side which would slide in a groove? All thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
Howard
Re: Drawer mounting question
William Duffield
My tool chest has center runners. Both the drawer sides and the chest sides are cabinet grade plywood. The grooves are in the drawers, and the runners are attached to the chest. In my case, I thought it was easier to mount runners to the case sides, and easier to build the grooves into the drawer sides, but either way works. Either of these construction techniques yields a more compact chest than if you attached kickers and runners to the case sides that wore against the tops and bottoms of the drawer sides, and that required drawer blades and some space between the drawers.
Re: Drawer mounting question
JL
If you go the center runner route - you might want to do a loose sliding dovetail.
I have found that it works to keep thing aligned as well as preventing the drawer from dropping out of the cabinet when it is near full extension.
Couple options
Ellis Walentine
Side-hung drawers are certainly one way to go, but here are a couple options just to add some food for thought:
- Bottom-hung drawers. The drawer bottoms extend some distance, say 1/4", from the sides of the drawers, and they slide in grooves in the case sides.
- Runners. Instead of side-hung runners, position them between the drawer sides. This has the advantage of not having to put grooves in the sides. You can lay out and clamp your entire stack of drawers and runners on the case side, and just screw the runners to the sides. I like to make the drawer sides the full depth of the cabinet and build the back of the drawer a few inches forward. This way you can pull the drawer out to fully expose the contents, while the back few inches of the sides are still firmly supported between the runners.
Ellis
not a demanding drawer requirement
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
If I was not experienced fitting "traditional" drawers I would buy side mount 3/4 extension Accuride metal ball bearing slides in the lightest load specification available. Obtained from a kitchen cabinet supply source they add about $10 to the cost of a drawer and work flawlessly for decades.
If I was going traditional I would build a traditional dovetailed drawer and drawer support as shown in the picture. When well fit such a drawer will function smoothly and last centuries. And building them will provide practice for building furniture.