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?

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").

Thanks again for the prior help,
Justin

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?

I usually just use some paste wax on both the runners and the bottom of
the drawer sides.

"jo_jo" wrote in message

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?

Paste wax.

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").

While by no means an exhaustive treatise of methods, there are a couple of
ideas on my website at the bottom of the following page:

http://www.e-woodshop.net/Projects3.htm

There are many more ways to attack the wooden slide issue than you see
there, but there is no reason why wooden drawer slides should not work as
well as modern metal slides providing you're not loading them down.

AAMOF, I recently saw an old cupboard with inset drawers that used side
mounted wooden slides, with grooves in the drawer sides, and the slides
mounted on the interior of the drawer box. After a good hundred years, these
particular drawers were working as smoothly as you could ask for.

Wished I'd taken pictures. Although I have clear idea of the concept, it was
an unusual implementation, with a few tricks, that has obviously stood the
test of time.

I wouldn't want to try to explain it until I can see it again ... but your
post may be the impetus to do that at some point this week, as I've got a
project on burner that I may want to use the idea on.

For those familiar with Houston, the piece in question is upstairs in the
old Heights Fire House, which is now called the Heights City Hall ... stay
tuned.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 1/06/07

"jo_jo" wrote in message
oups.com...
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?

One I'm finishing has UHMW in slots for the maple laminated drawer sides to
run on. Not antique, but serviceable.

I'd put something like bass or poplar on the replaceable parts, maple on the
bottom of the drawer sides and let 'er go if it's a seldom rather than
frequent use item.

"Swingman" wrote

AAMOF, I recently saw an old cupboard with inset drawers that used side
mounted wooden slides, with grooves in the drawer sides, and the slides
mounted on the interior of the drawer box. After a good hundred years,
these
particular drawers were working as smoothly as you could ask for.

Wished I'd taken pictures. Although I have clear idea of the concept, it
was
an unusual implementation, with a few tricks, that has obviously stood the
test of time.

I wouldn't want to try to explain it until I can see it again ... but your
post may be the impetus to do that at some point this week, as I've got a
project on burner that I may want to use the idea on.

In my youth, while attending school, I stayed in a rooming house that was an
old mansion that had fallen on hard times. It was still a beautiful house
with dangerous and very inadequate electrical and mechanical systems.

The master bedroom was one of the most original rooms I have ever seen. It
was huge with a wall of a hundred or so small windows on one end. It had big
box beams on the ceiling. It had a bathroom with a bathtub built for two
with the faucets on the middle of the tub and the water came into the tub on
the side and bottom of the tub.

But by far the most intriguing and unique feature of the room was its total
wall cabinet/dresser/etc that went on forever. It must of had about 40 - 50
drawers. There were at least 20 different cabinets for hanging clothes.
There were about 8 shoe storage units. And some other assorted units.

The inside of this thing looked like a huge version of what all the old
kitchens had. But they were for more substantial than any kitchen cabinets.
They were also very deep. The drawers were quite heavy and the sides
extended a foot past the backs. There was at least two runners on each side
of the drawers.

The frame they sat in also extended back to the wall. Essentially what we
had here was an all wood version of the full extension drawer. This would
not be a furniture application. But this monster wall cabinet was made of
very sturdy furniture grade components. Some of the drawers were sticking
and I waxed them and they were as good as new. Very smooth sliding. And
they were over a hundred years old.

I never forgot that place. It was far more luxurious than the modern walkin
closet. I can not imagine the time, labor and materials cost to make such a
beast today. It was about 25 - 30 feet long. And at least 7 foot tall.

That grand old house (along with three of its neighbors) has since been torn
down and a huge, high rise apartment building was been built in its place.

There is nothing wrong with going to all wood construction for drawers.
There applications out there that have not been equaled yet in terms of
luxury, style and class.

Lee Michaels
suddenly feeling very old

Two things come to mind:

1. UHMW plastic, if you don't mind that it's there.

2. Dense tropical woods, especially the oily ones like cocobolo.

In either case, paste wax or bees wax (candles) are traditional
lubricants that works just fine.

As for the slide, my dad made a desk drawer for me that never got
stuck. He had one runner in the middle of the drawer that ran in a
slot, so tha the drawer couldn't cant and jam.

"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?

Paste wax.

Oak makes good runners and drawer sides.

Three thumbtacks on each side make for a very smoothly working drawer:
Front of "runner" (dust panel frame on which drawer sides rest),
bottom of drawer side at back (to ride on runner) and top of drawer
side a back (to bear against frame above when the drawer is pulled out
more than half-way and starts to try to tip down). The slightly
rounded top of a normal steel thumb tack makes a great bearing
surface.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

Thanks guys! I think I'll make one drawer, test it with some paste
wax, and see how that feels. I bet it will work. These drawers will
be holding DVD's, which aren't particularly heavy, and won't be opened
that often.

jo_jo wrote:

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?

Most any wax will do, but beeswax or paraffin will last longer. If this is
for a customer/friend/relative give them a piece of whatever lubricant you
use and tell them to rewax the drawers once a year.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

I used this when a built some mission furniture.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...,43466&p=32182


"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
jo_jo wrote:

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?

Most any wax will do, but beeswax or paraffin will last longer. If this is
for a customer/friend/relative give them a piece of whatever lubricant you
use and tell them to rewax the drawers once a year.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

jo_jo wrote:
Thanks guys! I think I'll make one drawer, test it with some paste
wax, and see how that feels. I bet it will work. These drawers will
be holding DVD's, which aren't particularly heavy, and won't be opened
that often.


I just finished a chest of six drawers for the shop. The wood is all
construction grade pine (soft and economical) . A little Butchers wax
and they all slide nicely with no metal hardware of any kind. I didn't
bother to make center slides this time. I have used them in the past on
other projects, and they always make the drawers work a little nicer.
Center slides are easy enough to make. Just dado a groove in the
slider on the drawer bottom and fasten a 3/4 inch guide to the case
frame under the drawer.

David Starr

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.