On Sunday, June 4, 2017 at 12:08:14 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 6/4/2017 9:47 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
My daughter picked up this hutch at a garage sale and asked me to re-purpose
it as a kitchen island.

http://i.imgur.com/n9DMx4V.jpg

The slats from the top section have been moved to the back of the base to
give it a finished look. The base will be painted to match her kitchen
table and topped with a butcher block counter top slab.

The problem is the drawers. Right now they just slide on wooden rails with no
stops and nothing to keep them from shifting side to side when in use.

http://i.imgur.com/AqEw4Kp.jpg

The drawers are 1/4" narrower that the drawer opening, so retrofitting
side mount slides seems out of the question. There is 3/4" of space from
the bottom of the drawer box to the drawer bottom, so I think undermount
slides might work, but I've never installed an undermount slide.

http://i.imgur.com/3itutbE.jpg

Will undermount slides work in this situation? I assume that there are
different mounting methods for undermount slides, so based on the drawer
construction and rails shown in the above images, is there a specifc
type of mounting method I should be looking for or need to make? (I've
used Swingman's side mount slide frames, so I assume that there are
tricks for undermount slides also)

If it matters, the distance from the front face of the rail in the rear
of the base to the rear face of the front rail is 11.5". The inside
depth of the drawers is 13.5" so that when they are closed, they
extend over the top of the rear rail by about 1/8".

Any suggestions for upgrading these drawers would be appreciated. Thanks!


I would strongly suggest going to the manufacturer web site and down
loading the installation instructions to the particular under mount
slide you are considering. Under mount slides need for the drawer to
built to specific dimensions including the recess area under the bottom
of the drawer. Additionally under mounts tend to require a shallower
drawer for clearance when you insert and remove the drawer.

In the long run you may have to, and it might be easier to build new
drawers to spec. And if you go that route a side mount drawer slide
would be more economical and might be easier to install.

The words my daughter used were something like...

"Hey Dad, could you throw a coat of paint on this and add a top?"

I'm still working on shimming and trimming out the back to make it
presentable. Now I gotta make new drawers? Heck, I should have started
from scratch. :-)