Drawer Slides or Not

[Kevin Swindle]

I am in the process of designing an 3 piece entertainment center to hold a big screen TV. The center section will be a low cabinet 58"W x 28"H x 22"D. It will have three drawers lined up horizontally across the top to hold CD's and DVD's etc. My question is. Is it appropriate to use drawer slides like the Accuride slides in this type of application or should I just go with wood guides? I will gain a little bit of space if I do without the slides.

[David Perkins]

I like using slides myself, if it is planned to hold any great amount of media maybe you should. If it will be used for remotes and such slides maybe a overkill.
David

[Kevin Arceneaux]

I am not the expert that the others are, but I would put the slides. Due to the weight of the TV and the change of seasons, it may cause some flexing of the wood and I think it may bind the drawers.

[Bob Smalser]

I've been making solid-wood traditional drawers in furniture and boats for 3+ decades...heavy file and tool drawers too....and have never needed metal slides for smooth, easy function or length of extension....just oak on oak in a proper fit with paraffin wax between.

The good ones are expensive and they offer no advantages I can see in speed of construction, as the fit tolerances are the same as in traditional construction.

[Dave Loebach]

I tend to use metal slides when the drawers will contents will weigh a lot and when I need full extension. I tend to use all wooden drawers for "fine furniture" that I hope will be used by my childern and grand children. The more casual the use or the more temporary the use, the more I tend to use metal slides. For items that fall in the middle, I might use either. That is probably clear as mud. So here are some examples. All wood slides: a bedroom set, dining room buffet or cabinet, a formal desk. Metal slides: shop cabinets, built in closet organizers, kitchen cabinets, compter desk, most projects made from plywood.

Hope this helps.

Dave Loebach

[Jamie Buxton]

You're smack in the middle of modern technology with TVs and DVDs and such. There's no reason to not use another bit of modern technology -- metal drawer slides.

[Jim Becker]

I'm kinda with Jamie on this. For kitchen, bath and other cabinetry like an entertainment center, I'd likely use metal drawer hardware. For fine furniture...no way!

[Michael Perata]

I agree with BOTH Jamie and Bob. For a piece that is meant to show off your electronics, put the slides in. I would opt for the Blum Tandem or maybe the Hettich Quadro (I have only read about the Quadro but it looks interesting and expensive). The Blum Tandem will go full extension and is mounted to the underside of the drawer.

If I were building a piece of furniture, and showing off my talents, I would opt to go as "Neandertal" as my skill level would allow.

[Keith Christopher]

I've been making solid-wood traditional drawers in furniture and boats for 3+ decades...heavy file and tool drawers too....and have never needed metal slides for smooth, easy function or length of extension....just oak on oak in a proper fit with paraffin wax between.

The good ones are expensive and they offer no advantages I can see in speed of construction, as the fit tolerances are the same as in traditional construction.
I agree with Bob. I also know if I use wood I know EXACTLY how do cut them and I can plane them down if they're a little snug to get a great fit. not worrying about 1/32 of an inch (which as we all know can bind the crap outta a drawer) because of a mounting screw. Also wooden slides are always the perfect size. :)


Keith

[Mark Singer]

I woul use the metal slides...Blum, Accuride or Dyna slide...some even retract softly....I make penty of drawers without them...but not in this application...its like butta

[Kevin Swindle]

One more question. If the drawers are dovetailed, does this change your view on slides?

[Lee Schierer]

For me it is a question of the amount of use the drawer will get and the weight that will be in it. Using wooden slides in a kitchen drawer that will get used 4-5 times per day is a way to insure short slide life and a grumpy cook. Using metal slides in a hall table drawer that will get opened maybe once a week is probably over kill. I prefer metal slides in dresser drawers for the smoother action and self closing feature you can get. Dresser drawers also tend to see considerable weight and lots of use.

Media, particularly CD's or DVD's gets pretty heavy. I would suggest using metal slides in your entertainment center.

I make all my drawers with dovetails.

[Chris DeHut]

Hi Kevin,

When I come to a cross roads like this, I tend to ask myself the question in reverse. Instead of asking yourself if you should, look at it from the other side, "Why not use them?"

This is a new design, it is not a reproduction, so I don't see any reason why a metal slide should be avoided beacuse of that reasoning. While it is possible to get full extension with a wood slide, a metal slide offers that inherently (if you buy full extension slides). Full access to the drawers contents would be of greater benefit to me than to have wood slides (just because I like wood slides better).

If the sides of the cabinet are of plywood, then the metal slide attaches without worry. However, if the sides of the cabinet are solid wood, attaching directly to the cabinet sides could cause problems as the width of the side "comes and goes".

Fear not modern inventions (although metal slides are far from "modern"). I guess I always look at this type of situation like this....

As a cabinetmaker, I have always strived to make most everything out of wood - that is the nature of what we do. However, there are times when it just doesn't make sense to me. I have yet to see "wooden hinges" last longer or work better than their metal counterparts. In recent years, I tend to choose components more for the benefit of the user (functional aspects that don't detract from astetics), not for the benfit of my desire to make everything out of wood because I can.

Chris

[Jim Dunn]

I'm using both in a design for a Mitre Bench. Accuride for what I think will be "heavy load" drawers and wooden for "light weight".


This bench aint gonna be fine furniture but this is a practice piece. Doing dove tails, bisquit joinery, half lap joints just about every thing I can think of out of the need to pracitce.

Don't think they'll have me but I may get up the guts to go to "totherside" and check out hand cut dovetails too.

[Neil Clemmons]

Kevin,

I'm new to the forum but have used Blum on dovetailed drawers for an entertainment unit.

An advantage of the underdrawer slides is they don't detract from the details of the dovetails but allow the drawers to fully open which is great when you're looking for a CD or DVD at the back of the drawer.

Neil

[Bob Smalser]

When your trusty old oak-on-oak-in-paraffin wears down far enough in 60 years so that the drawer will no longer extend all the way to its back, then you simply add some new oak to the bottom of those drawer sides with fresh paraffin....you can see a little of that wax sticking to the glue joint:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/41055236.jpg

Use your TS rip waste to make traditional raised panel, crossgrain bottoms...all of 20 minutes more to do than plywood...and learn to fit drawers properly and you can do many drawers for the price of one good ball bearing slide....

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/40988956.jpg

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/36624721.jpg



...regardless of any quality issues over contemporary versus those who believe that slides fall into the category of T-nuts and particle board. ;)

[Steve Jenkins]

Kevin, Blum makes an undermount slide that has a soft selfclosing feature. You need to have the sides 1/2" below the drawer bottom to allow for the slide. You can't see the slide at all when you open the drawer and it is full extension. The side gap is minimal and you can slam the drawer as hard as you want and it will slow down and softly self-close the last couple inches. They're pretty cool. I think I have one around if you want to see how they work.

[Jim Becker]

Bob, you're absolutely correct that traditional drawers/slides are durable and workable when made and maintained correctly...and they would be my preference for most projects. But Lee makes a very good point regarding usage patterns of this kind of project. I do believe that this is a good case for taking advantage of metal slides to better support the weight of the kind of things that an entertainment center is required to handle and not just incidentally, but over time. Even if there are no kids in the house, ECs tend to take a beating, especially for folks who are "collectors" and build a substantial library of media. (I'm not one of them...)

Sometimes mixing the new with the old is a good thing...it's not about cost; it's about function.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I'd go with heavy duty full extension slides. You can do the same thing with wood, but it complicates construction about one order of magnitude. I buy slides by the case from my hardwood supplier. Ten in a box for about $85 or to put it another way, about the cost of 5 slides at Lowes. I always need 'em anyway.