Drawer slides

[transatlantic]

So I just installed my first set of drawer slides, and although it didn't go as horribly as I thought it would, it didn't go well either!

My problem was that the drawers were too tight width wise for the slides (i.e I'd made the drawers too wide). I had to spend some time with the belt sander taking a few fractions of a mm off each side of the drawer to get them to fit. And to be honest, the result is still too tight. They'll open and close ok, but not with minimal effort as with other furniture (I may try some WD40 on the bearings tomorrow).

So what I did in measuring up, was to measure the width of each drawer slide with my calipers (12mm). And then I subtracted that off the drawer opening to figure out the width of the drawer itself. Next time, should I perhaps add 1mm (per slide) to the size I measured for wiggle room? I'm not sure how much play there is with drawer slides in this direction?

There were the slides I used : https://www.screwfix.com/p/ball-bearing ... pack/1590r

 

[Doingupthehouse]

I always make the drawer 1 inch smaller than the opening (about 12.7mm space for runner each side.)

Simon

 

[user 26031]

Don't use WD40 - you will not make them run any easier and by washing out the grease, you could make them feel "gritty".

As already mentioned, you should have allowed 12.7mm each side. Could you route a 0.7mm recess on each side of the drawer?

 

[hawkeyefxr]

When i made my draws in the shed i made the with slides and they were tight, and still are, but there no going back. I a bar of soap and rub it on the slides. It helps a little but not much.
Later i made a couple of tall cabinets for out bedroom, this time i made then to run in frames and left a bigger clearance. They run beautifully and have never stuck.

 

[tomatwark]

The other way of solving this is to take a mm or so off and then try them, if you have gone a bit heavy you can always slip a bit of veneer or card down one side to correct them.

Also if you have been attacking them with a belt sander you may have taken to much off the back or front, making the drawer tapered which will make the drawer run tight, again if this is the case a bit of veneer or card under the runner at the point it is wrong will work.

 

[transatlantic]

So is the 1/2" 12.7mm a standard thing then? across all drawer sliders?

 

[Doug71]

1" clearance does seem to be the standard, you can sometimes get away with slightly more but they don't seem to like any less.

 

[Seiken]

All the ones I've bought over the years are 1/2 inch (so 1 inch clearance ) including recently for replacing kitchen drawers.

 

[transatlantic]

Cool - well I guess that explains it then. These were definately 12mm, so the 0.7mm must be required for wiggle room, and would have definately solved my issue.

There was nothing about this in the instructions btw!

 

[transatlantic]

Don't use WD40 - you will not make them run any easier and by washing out the grease, you could make them feel "gritty".

As already mentioned, you should have allowed 12.7mm each side. Could you route a 0.7mm recess on each side of the drawer?

Ah ok. I won't try to lubricate them then. I think I'll just run them through the table and try to take whisper off without ruining them. Cross fingers!

 

[user 26031]

Screwfix are notoriously poor on giving useful product information in their specifications, but if you check the Q&A tab you will often find the important questions have already been asked & answered (which was also true in this case :wink: ).

 

[transatlantic]

Screwfix are notoriously poor on giving useful product information in their specifications, but if you check the Q&A tab you will often find the important questions have already been asked & answered (which was also true in this case :wink: ).

Yes - I did see the QA, but that was somone asking the width of it (which they responded with AFAIK) which I figured I'd just get by measuring it. The important info was how much space to leave (including wiggle room), which isn't really the same thing.