school me on drawer slides

[Rick Moyer]

My drawer building experience to this point has mostly been shop cabinets that I used full ext slides that I purchased at Lowes. I am beginning a nightstand project soon and need some info to help me decide what slides I want to use for a few drawers it will have. I can modify the design to either face-frame or frameless at this point, as I don't have a set of plans per se, but I suspect I may go face-framed.

Regardless, I would like your opinions of what slides you prefer; manufacturer, style, mount type, etc. I can look up prices myself, so lets just discuss or compare slides relative to their quality, usefulness, mounting ease, etc. and I will factor in costs myself. I have no experience installing Accuride, Blum, etc. so what are the pros/cons of those and others, as well as undermount vs. side mount, etc. I'm leaning toward not making wooden runner slides, but if you're set on that tell me why as well.

edit: actually I believe the Lowes slide ARE Accuride, but I'm not sure.

[Prashun Patel]

I have a bathroom and some bedroom furniture outfitted with Blum "Tandem Plus Blumotion" slides. They are slow close and , full extension. I also like the locking mechanism that attaches the drawer to the slide. I find them to be reliable and feel good.

[lowell holmes]

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=46576&cat=3,43616&ap=1

You can not go bad with Lee Valley. I wouldn't hesitate.

[Andrew Seemann]

Nightstands can be a little bit on the light side compared to other things with drawers, and they often sit on carpet. If you go with a drawer slide, you might want to make sure that doesn't have a lot of resistance to opening or closing. The full extension drawers slides I just used on a heavy oak desk would have been too stiff for a night stand, especially the last "lock" step.

If it was me I would probably use no drawer slides and just round the top and bottoms of the sides and put a little candle wax on them, mostly since nightstand drawers don't get opened and closed with the weight and regularity of a desk. If I was to do slides, I'd probably do the wheeled 3/4 Blum ones that mount on the side and bottom. However, the main reason I would do either of those is that it tends to fit how I tend to design furniture.

If do you go full extension, make sure it doesn't make the nightstand tippy.

[roger wiegand]

I wouldn't bother with glides for a nightstand, wooden runners will be fine. I wouldn't use exposed slides for any piece of furniture. The Blum undermount Tandem glides recommended above are great and out of sight. They are also easy to install if you plan ahead and size your drawer correctly. There is a guy "ahturf" on fleabay who sells them at a good price and provides almost instant service. I just put the heavy duty ones onto two new kitchen drawers I built to replace two badly built ones that had failed.

[Robert Chapman]

I have used Blum slides/hinges for years with never a problem. Go to Blum's website and ask for their catalog. If they still send it for free it is a great resource for any hinge/slide you may need. If it costs a few bucks spend the money - IMO it is well worth it.

[Jay Aubuchon]

I am in the middle of building a night stand. I plan to use wooden runners, a first for me. The two drawers are quite small.

[scott vroom]

+1 on wood runners.

[Cary Falk]

I have installed hundreds of the Blum Tandem slides. I have a bedroom set that has them. They are fine if you don't mind the lack of full extension. If you want to get fancy then you can do the undermount soft close. That will be what I put in the kitchen when I get that far. I wouldn't waste the time on wooden slides unless you are making a reproduction. They are a pain and the reason metal slides were created.;)

[Prashun Patel]

Thinking back, if you are doing a nightstand, and only need to make a couple drawers at most, I would also consider wood runners. It's a great project to learn on and they're not hard - just take a while.

[scott vroom]

I have installed hundreds of the Blum Tandem slides. I have a bedroom set that has them. They are fine if you don't mind the lack of full extension.

I believe all of the Tandem models are full extension. I first used them around 7 years ago and I believe they were full extension at that time as well. Where they initially designed as partial extension?

I'm using Blum 430E full extension Euro slides on my current project (kitchen). I haven't built the drawers yet and am hoping they are as easy to install as the partial extension 230M's. I paid $20/pr which is considerably cheaper than Tandems.

I prefer wood runners for small, light furniture drawers. But that's just a personal preference. I built small craftsman style nightstands for our bedroom using wood runners. If I were building large nightstands with heavy drawers I'd be inclined to go with metal.

[Cary Falk]

I believe all of the Tandem models are full extension. I first used them around 7 years ago and I believe they were full extension at that time as well. Where they initially designed as partial extension?

I'm using Blum 430E full extension Euro slides on my current project (kitchen). I haven't built the drawers yet and am hoping they are as easy to install as the partial extension 230M's. I paid $20/pr which is considerably cheaper than Tandems.

I prefer wood runners for small, light furniture drawers. But that's just a personal preference. I built small craftsman style nightstands for our bedroom using wood runners. If I were building large nightstands with heavy drawers I'd be inclined to go with metal.


Sorry I was thinking we were talking about these(standards).
https://www.amazon.com/230M5500-Standard-Drawer-Runners-White/dp/B007IHVHC8/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1515861208&sr=8-21&keywords=blum+drawer+slides

[Rick Moyer]

Well, while I could have gone with wooden runners for this project, I decided to "get my feet wet" with the Blum 563H slides. Although pricey, the nightstand is for me anyway so I'll spoil myself. Plus, I like the adjust-ability to assist with my less than perfect skills. Thanks for the comments.

[Roger Marty]

I find wood runners far easier than slides

[Rick Moyer]

My slides will be here next week and I'm not second-guessing my choice, but I'm curious... Can anyone compare the Blum563H with the KV8450FM? I'd guess each have their fans but hoped someone could enlighten me on either's merits.

[Nick Lazz]

My slides will be here next week and I'm not second-guessing my choice, but I'm curious... Can anyone compare the Blum563H with the KV8450FM? I'd guess each have their fans but hoped someone could enlighten me on either's merits.

First they are completely different slides (side mount vs under mount). I've used both. Blum IMO is the standard for drawer slides. That being said, not all projects call for an under mount slide.
Benefits - Blum Tandem are smoother operating and less prone to drag from my experience. With side mount drawer slides, the margin for error on squareness and drawer width is less. For example if your carcass tapers toward the back 1/16 you could have a drag issue with the side mount slides. I have not had that problem with the Tandems.
-Better soft close mechanisms on Blum slides.
-You can't see the Blum Tandem slides when installed.
-3/16" vs 1/2" With side mount you lose more drawer space. You need a full inch (1/2" each side) to account for the slides. With Tandem the drawer width is 3/16 off each side.
-Side mount are easier to install. With Tandem it is handy to have the jigs for drilling out the back of the drawer and when installing the locking mechanisms. A screw hole slightly at the wrong angle can cause the locking mechanism to not sit flush with the bottom of the drawer. The back end of the slide has a hook that goes into a hole at the back of your drawer..if this hole is off, your slide doesn't fit on the drawer perfectly and can affect the adjustment, fit and operation. Using the jigs eliminates these mistakes (90% of the time it works every time! ;)
-Tandems are more expensive and have more parts. They also require more drawer modification. Side mount do not require any extra parts typically, and require no drawer modification. These modifications need to be considered before you build the drawer. I believe the dado for bottom, for example, needs to be 1/2" up for the slide to fit correctly. Side mount...no such requirement.

I could go on, but I will stop boring you. Both slide manufacturers are excellent IMO. I use them both, but for most projects I use Blum Tandem.
Hope that helps,

Nick

[Bob Cooper]

I know this is probably a stupid question but when y’all say wooden runners does this mean runners going down the center of the drawer side — drawer has a dado and the drawer side has a runner? Or are you saying the drawer sits on the bottom of the drawer cavity?

ive never done anything but slides but I’d like to built some using wooden drawer slides

[Rick Moyer]

Excellent info Nick! That was the kind of insight I was looking for. I knew about the different mounting and I've used many side-mount, but this will be my first excursion with the Blum, both because of the margin of error and also because I want to expand my horizons. Thanks!

[Philipp Jaindl]

I know this is probably a stupid question but when y’all say wooden runners does this mean runners going down the center of the drawer side — drawer has a dado and the drawer side has a runner? Or are you saying the drawer sits on the bottom of the drawer cavity?

ive never done anything but slides but I’d like to built some using wooden drawer slides

Thats one way of doing it the other as i have been taught is to use 3 strips of Hardwood either side, 2 in the bottom corners for the drawer to run on 2 vertically to form an L shape in the bottom corner and guide to Drawer and 2 more in the top corners to stop the drawer tilting. There are variations of this principle like building the top and bottom strips into the Carcass.

Otherwise we also use BLUM Tandem/Movento slides.