Soft-close SHELF hardware???

[David Wyson]

Building custom cabinets and pull-outs for my kitchen.

Using Blum tandem undermount drawer slides…for the drawers….

Looking now to make several thin SHELVES that:
1. slide out, but I do not want to see the slides, so don’t want undermount
2. have soft-close
3. hopefully have “push-to-open” feature.

My current idea is to source and buy SIDE MOUNT slides, for a typical drawer, but instead mount them on the bottom (hidden) side of the SHELVES (not drawers).

Will this work? Can anyone recommend a brand or model? Are there specific soft-close SHELF hardware….?

And…..is this the right forum to ask about this? Right sub-forum? Other woodworking sites better?

David
Seattle

[Jamie Buxton]

The usual sidemount slides can indeed be mounted flat. However, their strength is severely compromised by this, so you can't expect them to hold up much in your proposed configuration. Maybe that's okay for you, but you'd best prototype your slide before you commit to this plan.

KV makes a soft-close sidemount slide. I tried them on one job, and it was a nightmare. Parts fell out of several slides. I replaced them all with self-close slides.

[Jared Sankovich]

Building custom cabinets and pull-outs for my kitchen.

Using Blum tandem undermount drawer slides…for the drawers….

Looking now to make several thin SHELVES that:
1. slide out, but I do not want to see the slides, so don’t want undermount
2. have soft-close
3. hopefully have “push-to-open” feature.

My current idea is to source and buy SIDE MOUNT slides, for a typical drawer, but instead mount them on the bottom (hidden) side of the SHELVES (not drawers).

Will this work? Can anyone recommend a brand or model? Are there specific soft-close SHELF hardware….?

And…..is this the right forum to ask about this? Right sub-forum? Other woodworking sites better?

David
Seattle

The thin part is problematic. How thin? I'm assuming a pull out tray is not what you are looking for?

All slides mount to the side of the cabinet, what is your plan to mount them to?

[George Yetka]

how deep are the shelves?

[David Wyson]

Hello

There are several shelves. All are 3/4” Baltic Birch ply. They are different sizes, but generally about 12” by 12”, and do not hold much weight. I may want to build one that holds my coffee maker, which would weigh quite a bit more.

Again. My goal is to have a very low profile, hidden way for the flat shelves to pull out easily (push to open better but not mandatory) and then soft-close.

David
Seattle

[Jamie Buxton]

So for each shelf, you'd have 3/4" for the shelf, 1/2" for the flat sidemount slide, plus something for the slide to rest on. Maybe that's 3/4" tall. So each shelf would take 2" of height. In contrast, you could use standard undermount slides like Blum Tandems. Inside the cabinet, they're a little less than 2" tall. Outside the cabinet, there's 1 1/16" of height before you put the actual shelf on. You could use your 3/4" shelf, and still be under 2". With the standard undermounts, you get soft-close, and you can get push to open.

[Jared Sankovich]

I think undermounts are your only option. The side mounts still need mounted to the cabinet and you can't do that on their edge, so you would have a fixed shelf under the pull out shelf even if flat mounted. If you flat mount them I wouldn't trust more than a couple pounds on them. There really is no support when mounted that way.

It's that or some sort of custom hardware.

[andrew whicker]

If you want to get creative, undermount slides can be mounted other than their typical location on the drawer / pullout

You may need to shim the cab box and build the shelf creatively but you could have the undermount slides sit back and inward. I would think anyway.

[Lee Schierer]

Here is a way you can do what you want. Use the KV 8450FM self closing drawer slides. You would need to make your shelves 1" thick to match the height of the extending track on the 8450FM. Center the extending track on the side of the shelf. Make a blind dado in the cabinet sides the same height and depth as the non-moving part of the KV 8450FM. Open up the front end of the dado so it has a 1" opening to clear the extending track and the thickness of your shelf. A lip on the front of the shelf would hide the front end of the tracks and the shelf would appear to be in a dado when closed.

The KV 8450FM (https://www.knapeandvogt.com/8450fm) does come in a 12" length and will support 100 pounds. You get a little over 10" of extension. They are really good slides and have a very smooth operation.

[Alan Lightstone]

If I'm understanding your need correctly, I think I did this on my last workshop, and they held considerable weight just fine (albeit with heavy duty hinges).
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[Jared Sankovich]

If I'm understanding your need correctly, I think I did this on my last workshop, and they held considerable weight just fine (albeit with heavy duty hinges).
511341511344511342

Op would need a fixed shelf in addition to a moving shelf for each "pullout", assuming the shelves are not only on the bottom of the cabinet

[John Pendery]

You can build a very low profile pull out shelf with Blum tandem under mount slides. If you take a look at your drawer boxes just picture that with the sides cut off at the height of your drawer bottom. Miter the corners for a cleaner look and I don’t think it needs to be more complicated than that.

[Jim Becker]

Jason Bent just used Salice under shelf soft close slides in his new kitchen island. So video on the 'Tube yet, but in "stories" on Instagram today...Bent's Woodworking. These slides are specifically designed for pull out shelves

[John Pendery]

The reason I recommended Blum tandem under mount slides is because he is already using them in the rest of his build. So he won’t have to change hole pattern, etc for mounting hardware. Blum makes pull out shelf locks and push to open features that integrate with their under mount slides. Both Blum and Salice (and Grass) have very similar catalogs. Unless you are attempting to make a pull out shelf that appears to be less than 3/4” to 1” thick all these under mount drawer slides will work. My only thought is to choose a manufacturer you like and stick with it to avoid reinventing the wheel and minimizing added time that different hardware might introduce.

[Jared Sankovich]

Jason Bent just used Salice under shelf soft close slides in his new kitchen island. So video on the 'Tube yet, but in "stories" on Instagram today...Bent's Woodworking. These slides are specifically designed for pull out shelves

Those slides mount to the bottom of the cabinet or a fixed shelf, so your overall thickness is more than a standard unmount.

[Jim Becker]

Those slides mount to the bottom of the cabinet or a fixed shelf, so your overall thickness is more than a standard unmount.
They are the same half inch thick as would be required for typical undermounts so a thicker front face hides them. But yes, side mounts potentially allow for the pullout to be lower

[Jared Sankovich]

They are the same half inch thick as would be required for typical undermounts so a thicker front face hides them. But yes, side mounts potentially allow for the pullout to be lower

Sorry I meant with a standard undermount you could free hang the shelf like a drawer and it would be 1" tall with a 1/2" bottom. With those
Shelf slides (or a side mount mounted horizontal you have to have a fixed shelf or bottom of a cabinet to mount them to.

[Jim Becker]

That's very true, Jared