Drawer runners

[Jones]

I have dismantled an old cabin bed and think I could make a useful chest of drawers with the bits. There's three drawers already nicely dovetailed together but square sided, i.e. no overlap of the front. Does anyone know of any type of drawer runners that would work with them? None of the kitchen type ones I've used would do.

 

[Jacob]

What is wrong with trad drawer runners? They are cheap, easy to make and very practical. I've no idea why they have gone so much out of fashion.
The ready-made steel versions were for steel filing cabinets etc but adopted by the fitted kitchen trade.
Have a look in Joyce or similar. The key words are runner, kicker, stops and spacer.
PS I've just been doing a 2 drawer kitchen table I'll see if I can take some snaps. Still got the drawers to make. The runners etc just use up bits and bobs of off-cuts, effectively cost nothing and are very easy to fit.
PS Ernest Joyce "The Technique of Furniture Making" always available at daft prices but if you hang on a cheap one will turn up on ebay etc. I got one for £1 plus postage. But the same stuff is covered in dozens of other books..

 

[Chunkytfg]

Surround the drawer fronts with face frames and use Blum undermounts?

 

[Cabinetman]

Or build the cabinet the same way as the one the drawers came out of- the old fashioned way. Ian

 

[Ollie78]

I agree with the Blum undermount suggestion but they need a certain clearance underneath and a small hole in the back.
Dimensions can be found in the vast blum catalogue.
Or you could do it traditionally as others have said. I like to use hdpe plastic as runners because it's slippery and is easy to machine.

Ollie

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I have dismantled an old cabin bed and think I could make a useful chest of drawers with the bits. There's three drawers already nicely dovetailed together but square sided, i.e. no overlap of the front. Does anyone know of any type of drawer runners that would work with them? None of the kitchen type ones I've used would do.

All the metal types would work with the drawer boxes you have. You'd just need to make a cabinet with an appropriate extra width in the opening. By that I mean you'd need the opening ~25 mm wider than the drawer box for side mounted runners, and ~9.5 mm wider than the drawer box for undermount types. There may be other opening requirements for different runner configurations; for example, I seem to recall coming across a side mounted runner that needed an opening that was only about 16 - 18 mm wider than the drawer box. Whatever runner type you used, you'd need to add a planted front to the existing one, which would likely make the combined front thickness rather inelegantly chunky.

I'd understand if none of what I've suggested will work from both an aesthetic aspect, nor from the point of view of construction requirements, e.g., you don't want to make a new cabinet with wider drawer openings. In which case you could go back to what Jacob suggested, i.e., wooden side runners ... if the drawer sides are thick enough, which I'd guess from the pictures, they are. Slainte.

 

[Jacob]

....

I'd understand if none of what I've suggested will work from both an aesthetic aspect, nor from the point of view of construction requirements, e.g., you don't want to make a new cabinet with wider drawer openings. In which case you could go back to what Jacob suggested, i.e., wooden side runners ... if the drawer sides are thick enough, which I'd guess from the pictures, they are. Slainte.

If the sides are thin and/or have no slips there is a quick but rough solution which you often see in old and cheapish furniture. Basically you stick a slip on the underside of each edge of the board, flush with the side. The weight of the drawer and contents is then borne by the side and the slip, bearing on the runner. The slip itself may be sawn into sections as it is across the grain of the bottom board and would resist shrinkage etc. I'll do a snap tomorrow.
I've seen this detail often but it took me some time to work out what it was about! Never seen it in a book but I expect it's out there somewhere.