Blum tandem drawers

[Steven Bolton]

I have a few 18 inch Blum Tandems and some 21 inch ones.

Do I make the drawers 18 inches and 21 inches long? I don't have directions and it is a little confusing. I think Ihave the rest figured out.

Thanks

Steve Bolton

[Mark Rakestraw]

Hi Steve,

You do need to get the building specs for these slides, both side and bottom clearances are different from "standard" drawer slides. Here's a link where I think you can find the info: http://www.blum.com/pdf/BUS/4026_tdm_b/4026_tdm_b.pdf. If you don't find what you need there some of the suppliers online catalogue, like Woodworker's Hardware" have pretty good building specs.
Mark

[Steven Bolton]

I am wondering if there is anyone who uses them so often that they know the drawer length. I am inclinded to think it is 18 inches and 21 inches.

Steve booton

[Jamie Buxton]

Geez, read the manufacturer's specs. Here's links to just two pages which will tell you what you need to know---

http://wwhardware.com/media/products/apcharts/B552H.PDF
http://wwhardware.com/media/products/instructions/b562h.pdf

[Mike Spanbauer]

Rockler has links to the installation pages for each product from Blum also, makes it easy to find the specific page if you don't feel like surfing the entire manual.

mike

[David DeCristoforo]

Actually it's 15" and 18". Look at the specs in the document Jamie gave you a link to (the first one). If you are still uncertain, make a "test" drawer box to get the "hang" of setting up the Tandem glides. If you don't "get it", don't build all of your drawers because they have to be done according to the specs if you want them to work.

[Steven Bolton]

David: Are you saying that for my 18 inch blum tandem slide I built my drawer 15 inches? And for the 21 inch slides I built the drawer 18 inches deep?

Doesn't seem right.


SB

[Karl Brogger]

for Blum 562H which is (I think) the most popular the drawer box lengths will be 21" for the 21 1/2" slides, and 18" for the 18 1/2" slides. Thats the total length for the profile.

[Steven Bolton]

I think you are on to something. The instructions are obtuse in my opinion.

Steve Bolton

[jack zucosky]

If you use an 18" slide, you make your drawer 18" deep. If you are using 5/8" drawer sides the overall width of the drawer has to be 3/8" narrower than the drawer opening.

[Steven Bolton]

Got it. Thanks

Steve Bolton

[Dennis Hatchett]

Steven, I understand your confusion. I just went through the painful process of learning to install these slides and IMHO they were a genuine PITA!

This is mainly due to Blum's inattention to detail in their instructions both online and in their catalog which I have. It didn't help much.

I ended up just building a couple of prototypes and once you finally get the hang of it they really are very neat engineering achievements.

Here's what I learned. The 5/8 inch thick stock drawers have a 3/8 space for installation so you make the drawer 3/8 narrower than the opening.

You need 1/2 inch between the bottom of the drawer side and the bottom panel of the drawer to conceal the hardware. Then a 1/4 inch gap at the top of the drawer for clearance and another 19/32 for bottom clearance. Just for a little extra room I made the drawer sides 1" smaller than the vertical opening.

Your main question is regarding the depth of the drawer and I had the same question and couldn't find a clear answer. I simply built a prototype and put the slide in place and marked where the hole would go for that back pin that slides in the drawer back. I don't remember that dimension but that's how deep I made the drawer. If I remember correctly the max depth of your drawer is pretty darn close to the length of the slide itself.

What I struggled with was the final adjustment of the drawer once I had it installed. There is an obvious adjustment on the back of the slide that allows you do raise and lower the back of the drawer. But I never read about the front adjustment that is on the orange catch mechanism. That allows you to dial it in.

My advice - begin by building a couple of scrap prototypes and just butt join them to save time. Then fiddle around and figure it out.

Once you get it dialed in it is a slick piece of machinery but what a learning curve it is. Blum could have made it much easier. Not to mention the price tag. Good luck.

P.S. These are the slides Norm used this last season on his kitchen cabinet series. I believe it was week 2 or 3 that he went through the installation process but he rushed through it and the dimension questions you have weren't really covered. But Norm seemed to like the hardware. He used the hardware mounting template but that is a total waste of money IMO.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...Are you saying that for my 18 inch blum tandem slide I built my drawer 15 inches? And for the 21 inch slides I built the drawer 18 inches deep?..."

No. My bad... Brainfart! That's not what I meant to say at all. But I did mean to say that the specs in the Blum manual are pretty complete. If you make one drawer, you will see right away how they work. After that, it's easy...

[Earl Kelly]

Steve,

So far everyone has given good advice. I recommend purchasing the drilling jig from Blum for drilling the back of the drawer boxes. And be careful to use a depth stop on your drill bit or it may go thru the drawer back (unfortunately I learned this the hard way) And for the Blu Motion Tandems make sure the notch is 1 5/16" wide.

Get the install instructions and keep them handy. The install is not difficult but needs to be fairly precise.

Earl

[Steven Bolton]

Thanks to almost all of you who have been very helpful.

They could not make the instructions any more confusing in my opinion. I think of mock up is in order.

Thanks

Steve Bolton

[John Viercinski]

I ended up needing 18" deep tandem drawer slides for my 24" base cabinets since I'm using inset doors and drawers with a 3/4" thick back panel recessed 3/4" into the cabinet. I didn't meet the minimum length requirement for the 21" slides.

[Karl Brogger]

I ended up needing 18" deep tandem drawer slides for my 24" base cabinets since I'm using inset doors and drawers with a 3/4" thick back panel recessed 3/4" into the cabinet. I didn't meet the minimum length requirement for the 21" slides.

Did you have to clear a nailer or something. Even with a 3/4 back there should have been plenty of room. The slide is 21.5" long. It sits a 1/4" strong behind the drawer front. Plus your drawer front, the back of the drawer box should be still 1 1/2 from the back.