Undermount draw slides for kitchen cabinets

[Sam Layton]

I want to use Blum undermount drawer slides for my kitchen cabinets. My drawers will be anywhere from 19" to 30" wide with 3/4" sides. The drawers will house pots, pans, etc, which can be heavy.

Blum makes standard and heavy duty undermounts. The heavy duty are more expensive. I do not want to pay more than necessary. However, I don't want to replace them later because they were not heavy duty enough.

What do you recommend, are the standard duty OK, or should I go with the heavy duty, or should I use the heavy duty only on the larger drawers?

I appreciate any suggestions and help, Sam

[Gene Howe]

We used the standard Blumotion under mount slides for all the drawers including the pot/pan drawers. Four cast iron skillets and two matching iron lids in one deep drawer. Installed dividers so they could be set in the drawer on edge.
No problems and they work very well.
PLEASE get their mounting jig and bit. Money well spent.

[Thomas love]

Sam , I have used them quite a bit with the loads you speak of never a problem . These are the original blums on the dovetail cabs in my home for approx 5 plus years . The Ebony kitchen is 3 years old, these have the blue motion.
Tom

[Jeff Duncan]

This is a simple one...take the bathroom scale, weigh all the pans you want to put in your drawer, plus a few more for good measure, and see if it falls within the slides weight rating.
I haven't done this myself as I've never been concerned with the weight. I've been using them for years and never had anyone put enough weight in to come close to the capacity. But if your worried it would be good re-assurance.
good luck,
JeffD

[Jeff Wright]

I too am building a new kitchen using Blumotion slides. I decided to use the 568 series, the heavier capacity ones. I had used the lighter load slides, but found in an entertainment center I built that they slightly underperformed for drawers that housed a whole lot of music CDs. You can definitely feel the drawer being weighed down. I felt that for only a few extra dollars I would go with the heavier duty ones. They appear to be the same overall size as the 75-pound series.

[Robert Reece]

I am using the 568s also. One reason is that I have some 30" deep drawers, so you can only get 568s in that depth. I intend on using the heavier duty ones for the smaller drawers too because I have some young kids and I figure I might find one or two of them standing in the drawers one day. You may not have that problem though, so I'd guess the 75# would work for you.

There is also the though in my mind that these slides are rated for some number of cycles at their weight rating. I figure if you put 50# in a drawer and cycle it 10,000 times, the 568s will have more life left than the 562s. Of course I may never come close to wearing out a 562, let alone a 568.

[Paul Murphy]

Just a heads-up, if you are using 3/4" drawer sides I believe the 562 will work, while the 568 is limited to 5/8" max drawer side thickness.

[Jeff Wright]

Just a heads-up, if you are using 3/4" drawer sides I believe the 562 will work, while the 568 is limited to 5/8" max drawer side thickness.

Paul, good catch. You're correct.

I am not sure why the original poster is using 3/4 inch drawers, unless he doesn't have a planer. I typically use the 5/8 thick drawer boxes. On larger drawers, I'll also use 1/2 inch ply for the bottoms.

[Sam Layton]

Thanks everyone for your response. It is good to know that the standard slides hold up well. My daughter came in from out of town last night. Her suit case was 49 lbs she said. It was heavy, not sure that much weight would be in a drawer...

Gene, I am going to get the mounting jig. It seems like it would make things quicker, and more accurate.

Thomas, thanks for the photo's. Those are both great looking kitchens. Our kitchen will have all drawers on the base cabinets.

Jeff Duncan, last night my daughter suit case was a good weight test.

Jeff, and Robert, my problem is I always think, bigger is better, more rather that less, etc. I have not seen the heavy duty ones. Is there much difference in them?

Paul, I have seen the 568's for both 5/8" and 3/4" sides.

Jeff, I do have a planer. I was trying to decide between 5/8" and 3/4" drawer sides. I like the looks of the 3/4". However, I am not sold on the idea.

My drawers are going to be solid maple, and I was thinking 3/8" Baltic Burch ply bottoms. What do you all use for the sides, 5/8" or 3/4", and for the bottoms?

Where do you buy your drawer slides?

Thanks a lot for all of the information, it is a big help.

Sam

[Stuart Gardner]

I've been using the 562H with Blumotion in my kitchen project. I built a pantry with 30" drawers and my wife immediately filled it with canned goods. As she pulled it out, it would start sagging and accelerate open. I'm pretty sure the whole thing weighed less than the 75 pound capacity. So she changed the loading scheme and is storing less stuff in the drawer. I've been getting mine at A&H Turf http://www.ahturf.com/catalog/itemdetails.phtml?ss=b%07%07c%074662%07a%07C%07e%0 71%07g%0722%07f%076665%07z%07e761 A&H is a wholesaler, so you really need to know exactly what you need. Screws and latches are ordered separately.

I use 5/8" Alder for the sides and 1/2 Baltic Birch for the bottoms of the wide drawers, and 1/4" plywood for the bottoms of narrow (15") drawers. With the undermount, the weight of the drawer is supported on the bottom directly on the slides, and the drawer sides are supported on the bottom, which is the opposite of using side mount slides. The biggest worry you have with drawer bottom support is whether the bottom will sag in between the slides.

Our kitchen will be all Alder with a Honey Pine finish. Alder is a really soft wood, but has beautiful grain and color.

[John Morrison60]

Sam

I have made many drawers with Blumotion Tandems. You will love them.
I have exclusively settled on 5/8 sides. with 3/4 fronts and backs.
If you have a planer, shaving the sides to 19/32 gives some room for error.
I use 1/4 inch Baltic Birch for bottoms. If the drawer is large, I glue a stiffener,
(also 1/4 B.B.) from front to back in the middle. I have kitchen drawers that are
24" wide and 21" deep, filled with canned goods (very heavy) that are plenty stiff enough, and work fine with the Tandems.

I Use Cherry for front & Back, and either poplar or ash for the sides. (I have a cheap supply of ash).
I get all my Blums from A&H turf.

This "drawer construction" thread has pictures of some of these drawers.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=130062

Good Luck
John

[Karl Brogger]

Just a heads-up, if you are using 3/4" drawer sides I believe the 562 will work, while the 568 is limited to 5/8" max drawer side thickness.


Ah, sorta.

B562H's require a 1/2" or 5/8" side, while the B562F series accomodates a 3/4" side.

Same thing with the B568H vs the B568F.

[Alan Bienlein]

You can use 3/4" sides for any of those slides. The only part that has to be 1/2" to 5/8" thick is the part of the side under the drawer bottom. We do it all the time at work. Make your drawers, set your fence at 1/2" or 5/8", raise the blade up to cut to the dado for your drawer bottom and run them thru the saw. Could never see spending the money for the jigs to mount the catches or drill the holes in the back.

[Steve Griffin]

Another tip if you are doing dovetails with Blum tandems is to not do the recommended notchy bit in the back for the slides--after dovetails or rabbits are cut, I just rip off the entire dado on the back piece.

Why? So you can glue up the drawer without the bottom. Sometimes with deep drawers I even finish the drawer without the bottom to save finish time. Then slip the bottom in last and staple or screw it to the back piece which is missing it's dado. Nobody will ever know, and it works like a charm.

Warning--unless you want to drive yourself nuts at the dovetail operation, keep the back piece full width until AFTER dovetails are cut. I put the groove into all pieces though before dovetails, since it saves the step marking which side is "IN"

-Steve

[Karl Brogger]

Another tip if you are doing dovetails with Blum tandems is to not do the recommended notchy bit in the back for the slides--after dovetails or rabbits are cut, I just rip off the entire dado on the back piece.

How is this not seen when the drawer is all the way out? Cutting the notch is easy, especially when you have a shaper dedicated to the task.:D


As far as the part that contacts the slide only having to be "X", yeah, but why not save your self the step? Unless someone wanted a super thick drawer side for absolutely no reason this seems like adding a step to an already tedious and crappy job.

[Sam Layton]

Thanks everyone for all of the help. The information will make it a lot easer for me to decide which slides I want. Alan, good point on making the sides fit the 5/8" slides. Now, whatever size I decide on, the 5/8" slides will fit.

Thanks again everyone, Sam