help with drawer runners

[marcros]

I need to make a built in shelving unit for our lounge. Focus will be on quick- otherwise the wife will hit Ikea in a big way and buy something else.

The plan is to make a painted mdf unit, 25mm sides and some flowing shelves to make a mix of actual shelves and cubby holes. That part is easy enough I think, and I can biscuit and screw them together. I plan to put an AWO face frame on to cover the edges of the MDF, and a back of 12mm pre-veneered MDF (so that I can screw the cubby holes to that for reinforcement). I am thinking either 2 x 2ft wide units, or 3 x 18” units, side to side. 2 x 2’ would be more efficient for the veneered backing.

A couple of questions:

There is a decorative coving at the ceiling. It extends 5” down. Is the job likely to look an arse if I run the unit to just underneath it? I don’t particularly want to cut it in case I make a mistake, but likewise, if the job would be improved, then I could do so.

Below the unit there are going to be some drawers and I have never done anything with drawer runners before. There will be a frame of 18mm mdf, and 2 drawers tall. The drawer part will be 18” or 24” tall. I was going to use solid American White Oak for the fronts and overlay them so that there is no frame visible. Would something like http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/prod ... ods/349677 make the job easier- I assume that I just need to cut the back, bottom and fronts, and fix to the hardware? Does anybody use these? I don’t want to spend a fortune, but I don’t want to spoil the job by buying nasty hardware!

 

[xy mosian]

Hi marcros, I cannot advise on the draws I'm afraid. However my thoughts on the unit top. If you leave a gap of 5" between the unit and the ceiling you will be able to lose all sorts up there, and collect dust. I think you are right not to cut the coving, always a problem if the unit is later moved. How about scribing an upstand at the top of the unit to both the ceiling and the coving. It will hide a dust trap and preserve the coving. Of course if you can then how about running extra coving around the unit making it appear to be built in?
xy

 

[marcros]

the coving is a bit unusual, and I dont have any more. Scribing an upstand is a good idea though. I agree on the dust trap, and fear that the gap would make the whole thing look a little odd- like it had been made the wrong size.

 

[xy mosian]

Units anywhere are difficult. Whether to go fully 'built-in' or truly freestanding. I always fall foul of removing part 'built-in' units to find that the carpet has a stonking great hole in it. If you go for an upstand it does not have to be vertical, a slight outward tilt could perhaps look like a modern coving.
xy

 

[custard]

Originally i only used Blum hardware. Then I tried the drawer runners from Rutlands thinking they might be better value.

They were Chinese manufactured, and once I'd worked out the horrible instructions and got them fitted they worked okay-ish! They weren't a complete disaster in that they did the job, but neither were they as smooth, well made, or consistently easy to fit as Blum.

 

[jasonB]

I tried the ID draw runners on a small bathroom vanity last year they are not as good as the Blum tandembox so won't use again..

You could just make a dovetailed or biscuited box and use Blum tandem runners which are quite easy to do.

J

 

[marcros]

is that just a matter of fixing them to the side of the box and the runners to the unit? What thickness would you use for a drawer 22" x 22" x 8" deep (give or take) with a solid front? It could be a way of saving a few pennies actually by just buying the Blum runners.