On 11 Jan 2007 08:26:03 -0800, "jo_jo" wrote:

I've posted a couple of other questions here and have received some
very good advice during the process of building some built in shelves.
The bottom section has 10 drawers that will be about 8.5" tall, about
17" deep, and about 17" wide. I am going to install them without
slides of any sort. Are there any coatings or waxes that I should use
on the inside of the casing or on the bottom of the drawers that will
make them slide easier?

Those seem a little big to be going slide-less on. It may not be a
bad idea to look into putting rollers on them, at least in the back.
The rollers can slide in a wooden track or ride on the dust panels.

The reason I'm going slideless is because I want this piece to have the
feel of an antique piece of furniture, many of which were built without
slides or glides or guides of any sort. I know they will not slide as
smoothly as today's drawers with good quality slides, but I want to
know if there are any things to watch out for when building these.
These will be flush fit drawers, so the face of the drawer will be 3/4"
stock and hopefully the sides will be 1/2" stock, if I can find any
around here (otherwise, I've considered buying a planer to plane 3/4"
down to 1/2").

Here's a thought for you, and for my buck, it's better than doing
without slides or the roller idea above- why not make wooden slides
out of maple or a similar hardwood inside the cabinet, and route a
dado in each side of the drawer to ride along them? Wax the runners
well, and it works pretty nicely- I've made a number of tables with
drawers like this, and a couple of little cabinets that used the
technique as well, and they've all turned out pretty nice- and they
still have that sort of *antique* feel to them.