LdB wrote:
I am considering ordering drawer slides from Lee Valley. They have
several choices with a significant price difference.
Having been a Lee Vally customer for many years I believe their
products are of good or better than average quality. I have no doubt
that their cheapest drawer slides will be adequate for the job I'm
doing or they wouldn't sell them.
What makes the top end slides worth the extra money?
They move heavy loads smoothly. You don't need them.
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I could drive into town and get slides at Home Depot for a lot less
but I doubt they will give me a lifetime guarantee.
You don't need one.
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Any advice would be appreciated.
Do yourself a favor and buy your slides here...
http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/gr...rawer%20Slides
Both KV and Blum are decent brands.
There are two basic types of slides...those with ball bearings and those
with acetal rollers. Both require rather close tolerances in drawer to
opening width but IME the latter are a bit more forgiving. I think their
action is smoother too. I'd suggest the Blum 230M...
http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm/Gr... ated%20Slides
Those are side mount but are "L" shaped...the bottom of the "L" goes under
the drawer side which means you don't have to worry about mounting the slide
parallel to it.
Full extension is nice but not often truly necessary. Ditto self closing.
Ditto "stay closed" (if the drawer is level it isn't going to open by
itself).
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The real keys in having drawers that operate smoothly is having the case and
drawer slides parallel and the correct amount of space for the slides. That
slide space has a 1/16" tolerance so you might want to consider making the
drawer widths undersize by 1/8 - 1/4 and shimming the slides to fit. That
works really well if you have a way - like a drum sander - to easily make
shimming strips to a needed thickness.
And if you want maximum utility from the drawers, partition them.
Preferably with moveable partitions. An easy way to do that is to set a
3/16" dado blade at 45 degrees and cut opposing "V" grooves in each drawer
side. Strips of 1/4" ply with the ends sanded to a matching "V" will then
fit nicely and be moveable.
--
dadiOH
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