On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 07:11:14 -0400, Steve
wrote:

I am going to be refacing my kitchen cabinets (making new cabinet doors
and drawers). I have been on-line checking out the different types of
drawer slides that are on the market. There is a considerable difference
in price compared to the ball bearing drawer slides and the epoxy coated
drawer slides.
My question is, is there that much of a performance difference in the
ball bearing slides to pay the extra money? Where would be the best
place on line to purchase my hardware?



If by "epoxy coated" you mean the slides that mount on the bottom
corners of the drawer box and run on a couple of little wheels -
there's no comparison between these and a good pair of side mount ball
bearing slides.

I always liked using the Accuride 3832 series and you can buy them in
boxes of ten for about six bucks a pair (plus the screws) for the
twenty inchers. These are 100lb rated slides and I've never had a
callback on them.

I've heard from some guys that Accuride has been losing a tremendous
amount of market share to offshore produced stuff but I don't have any
names on the brands that are taking their work away.

Good hardware is so important to a kitchen project, and represents
such a small percentage of outlay, that it's worth buying good
products.

I don't know where to buy on the net, as I always bought from a local
suppllier but I'd advise you to buy the bulk packs, rather than the
individual slides that come with the screws, directions, etc. in a
plastic bag. You can save nearly fifty percent going this way.


Regards,
Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.)
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1