Source for Heavy Duty Over Extension Slides

[Chris Fairbanks]

Does anyone know a source for over extension (preferably ~150%) slides that can handle atleast 300#s? It looks like a company in France call Chamberlan sells them but they do not have a US distributor. Any other ideas? I am getting ready to start on the cabinets for my 600 gallon fish tank and want a way to be able to slide the entire hood out of the way to make cleaning it easier since it is 36" deep.

Thanks

[Stan Welborn]

No idea on the slides, but....
Holy cow! 600 gallons! :eek:

[Prashun Patel]

1. I assume you tried Rockler already. If they don't have them in stock, they might be able to s.o. them for you.

2. Is there a way to put the entire cabinet on low profile casters or wheels? Instead of having the tank shelf roll out, the entire cabinet could roll clear of whatever flanks it. Just an idea.

[Stan Welborn]

Have to be some heavy dang duty equipment to move a tank that weighs as much as my 4x4 truck.:D

[Jamie Buxton]

KV and others make 500 pound slides http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/GroupID/Cabinet%20Drawer%20Slides/CatID/Drawer%20Slides%2C%20KV%20Heavy%20Duty%20Full%20Ex tension/SubCatID/%20500%23%20Class%20Precision%20Ball%20Bearing%20S lides

But I've never seen a cabinet slide with 150% overtravel. One or two inches, but not 150%.

[Peter Stahl]

Does anyone know a source for over extension (preferably ~150%) slides that can handle atleast 300#s? It looks like a company in France call Chamberlan sells them but they do not have a US distributor. Any other ideas? I am getting ready to start on the cabinets for my 600 gallon fish tank and want a way to be able to slide the entire hood out of the way to make cleaning it easier since it is 36" deep.

Thanks

Wow! 600 gals at 8.4#/gallon is 5040 lbs. Don't think I'd want that on slides.

[Greg Pavlov]

Wow! 600 gals at 8.4#/gallon is 5040 lbs. Don't think I'd want that on slides.
... but the hood should be a heck of a lot lighter.

[Jamie Buxton]

I am getting ready to start on the cabinets for my 600 gallon fish tank and want a way to be able to slide the entire hood out of the way to make cleaning it easier since it is 36" deep.


Instead of sliding the hood out of the way, how 'bout pivoting it up like the hood on a car? Pivoting instead of sliding might make it easier to manage cables and such which are connected to the hood. You could use gas struts to help lift the weight.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Just for reference here is a picture of the tank. The overall wall it is against is ~14' while the tank is only 10' long. The plan is to build two curio cabinets, one on each side of the tank while I put shelving below the upper curio cabinets and below the tank itself.

For the hood, I am thinking is building some steel supports that come up the back of the tank and bolt to the lower stand frame which is also steel. From there I'll have some horizontal posts coming out which I could bolt these slides to. Also off of those horizontal slides I would mount some plywood which the lights, etc would bolt so so the only thing sliding out is the frame. I plan the hood being built down both sides of the tank about 12-16" and along the front 10'. I only need to build the hood that deep since the curio cabinets will only be 14-18" deep while the tank is 30" deep. From there that's why I would like the over extension slides so I could slide that whole hood out of the way and get into the tank easier. The tank is 36" deep so for those of you that own fish tanks know that pretty much anything over 24" is a royal PITA.

I am just having no luck finding these slides. I know if I can find them they are not going to be cheap but figured it would be worth it in the time savings on how much easier it would be to clean the tank. Check out http://www.chambrelan.com/en/pages/glissieres/super.php4 The 750mm ones (~30") extend out 150% so about 45" and can support either 400 lbs or 1000lbs depending on model. The problem is it does not seem like chambrelan sells to the US. Anyone go any other ideas? I have thought about the flip up and slide out of the way option but I am planing on using some crown molding at the top of the hood and figured that would possibly get in the way of any flip up solution.

Thanks!

[Jamie Buxton]

I'm not seeing 500 pounds worth of load in that hood. Maybe you're overspecifying.

If you really need that much overtravel, use two pairs of those KV 500 pound slides I linked to above. One pair fastens to the hood. The next pair fastens to the first pair. That should give you 100% overtravel. Heck, you could use three sets, and get 200% overtravel.

[Steven Wilson]

Chris, have you called them and ask if they would sell to you. The only real downside would be the shipping costs for a oneoff. I use to work in Saudi Arabia and had no problem having the world send stuff to me, all you have to do is ask.

[Chris Fairbanks]

I have not called them yet. Emailed them on friday and no response yet. I was going to give them till tomorrow to respond and then try calling them. I saw a thread on another woodworking site from 18-24 months ago saying they do not sell to the US but I have my fingers crossed.

Thanks

[Chris Fairbanks]

I was thinking about bolting a pair together but was not sure how stable that would be and what sort of additional load that would be on the slides hanging out that far. I figured I am going to have at least 40 BF of lumber (most likely maple) into the hood (10' x 3' tall) and the sides + raised panel doors. So that is about 150 lbs. So not 500# but if I bolt two of them together I have no idea how to calculate the extra load due to it hanging out so far.

Thanks