Side mount, soft close slides

[Russell Tribby]

I just finished a job that included installing 30 drawers with undermount soft close slides. A couple of the drawers aren't pulling shut like they should because they have too much weight in them. They are packed full of dishes and they stop short about 1/8". I went to make some adjustments today and their performance improved. I took a few of the dishes out and they closed perfectly. The customer wants to be able to put anything they want in the drawers so they aren't really open to taking some of the dishes out. I looked at these side mount, soft close slides - http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=151-004&search=Hardware%20Drawer%20Slides%20-%20Ball%20Bearing%20Box%20Drawer, but the load rating is about the same as the undermounts. I'm not sure they will solve the problem. Has anyone used them before? I guess the alternative to all of this, outside of moving a couple of dishes, is to use some heavy duty side mounts. Any suggestions?

[Chris Bruno]

Russel, I used these side mount soft close slides in my garage cabinet/drawers:

Soft close overtravel full extension slides (http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/GroupID/Cabinet%20Drawer%20Slides/CatID/Drawer%20Slides%2C%20Full%20Extension%20Ball%20Bea ring/SubCatID/KV8455%20Full%20Extension%20Soft%20Close%20Overtra vel)

They appear to be the same as you used. My honest assessment is that these will probably not be any better with a heavy load unless the drawer slides were cleverly installed such that the drawer was actually going in at a slight downward angle. On my cabinets, some of my drawers have a slightly too-snug fitment and the soft close feature isn't nearly strong enough to overcome the extra friction.

FWIW, the undermount Blums I have used have MUCH stronger return force than these, so if you used BLUMs I can almost guarantee that they wouldn't be any better, if they're the same as the slides I have.

-Chris

[Russell Tribby]

At the recommendation of a friend I used Grass slides. They were pretty cheap, about $14 a pair for the undermount soft close. I'm wondering if I had used the Blum's if I'd be having this problem. Is there that much of a quality difference between the two?

[Greg Funk]

Blum makes two versions of their undermount slides rated for 75 and 110lbs. It sounds like you need the heavier version.

Greg

[David DeCristoforo]

"The customer wants to be able to put anything they want in the drawers so they aren't really open to taking some of the dishes out."

Why is this not surprising? In truth, these glides are not intended to carry that much weight. The load rating is generally considered the maximum that the glide can support without failing. But kitchen drawers in general are not intended to hold things like heavy dishes and such. That's why kitchen cabinets also include shelves. There are any number of glides that will easily carry that much weight and that will operate smoothly under load. But the "soft close" feature is another story entirely. The big challenge is getting the customer to understand this. It would be interesting to actually weigh the contents of the drawer. It would also be interesting to hear what the manufacturer's (of the glides) rep has to say. Maybe if you get enough "expert opinion" you can reason with the customer. But, in my experience, customers can be a pretty stubborn lot.

YM

[Peter Quinn]

Haven't tried grass but the blums are in fact an excellent slide. At $50 per set you might want to start thinking of ways to pass that cost on to the customer if that's the solution...dicey. Perhaps a trial pair?

I've used accuride heavy duty side mounts (over travel) for a canning closet/pantry application where heavy loads were anticipated and found that the self closing/soft closing feature ceased to work unless allignment between the two slides was nearly perfect. Spent a lot of time tweaking them. As far as strength they rolled smoothly when pushed by hand and I'm confident I could have stood in the drawers and played hopskotch at full extension!

I think the blums are the most forgiving of minor allignment issues which makes their appeal even greater.

I just used blumotion for doors on a small job and highly recommend checking those out at some point, very nice feature to sell to clients.

[Karl Brogger]

At $50 per set you might want to start thinking of ways to pass that cost on to the customer if that's the solution...dicey.

Where the heck do you guys get hardware? Thats almost twice what I pay for B562H's. For a 21" they're $22.31 a set, plus the locking device, (another $1.18 a pair). Yikes!

I don't know if the Grass slides have a height adjustment on the back the way Blum does, but as a quick fix for just a couple of drawers you could tip the back of the slide down, and adjust the back of the drawer up. Let gravity give you a bit of help. This creates another problem though. The drawer may not stay open on its own, but with that much weight in the drawer it may.

[Roger Ronas]

Where the heck do you guys get hardware? Thats almost twice what I pay for B562H's. For a 21" they're $22.31 a set, plus the locking device, (another $1.18 a pair). Yikes!

I don't know if the Grass slides have a height adjustment on the back the way Blum does, but as a quick fix for just a couple of drawers you could tip the back of the slide down, and adjust the back of the drawer up. Let gravity give you a bit of help. This creates another problem though. The drawer may not stay open on its own, but with that much weight in the drawer it may.


So Karl, Where the heck do you get your hardware with those prices?

Roger

[Karl Brogger]

I don't know how far they go, or if they deal with the "public".

Hardware Distributors Ltd. www.hdlusa.com (http://www.hdlusa.com)

They're out of Sauk Rapids Minnesota. I've always assumed there was companies like this in virtually every area.

I should buy harware from them and re-sell it to you guys:D

[Karl Brogger]

OK, www.hdlusa.com (http://www.hdlusa.com) is for wholesale only. But www.woodworkershardware.com (http://www.woodworkershardware.com) is the retail side of things. They have a set listed for $28.25 a set. Thats still a butt load of money going out the door for no reason if you're paying almost $50 a set.

[Greg Funk]

I believe the heavy duty slides (568H) are substantially more expensive.

[Karl Brogger]

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[Brook Duerr]

The only undermount slides I use are Blums and I have several drawers in my house that are big enough to put a dead body in. I have kitchen pot drawers that are 47" wide, 13" tall and 24" deep. When I last checked that drawer was filled with over 75" of junk and the slides work fine. I also have a kid's puzzle box that has over 80# of wooden puzzles in it and after 5 years the drawer functions perfectly. YMMV but I have never found a problem with Blum Tandems. Pricey but worth every penny.