Hi!

I have some coarse thread #8x5/8 screws I was planning to use to
fasten the drawer slides in my new melamine cabinets. After working
with the melamine for a while, I have become concerned that the
material won't support the weight. I don't think there will ever be
more than 40 - 50 lbs in the drawers but I watch the stuff crumble in
my hand and I get concerned.

Are these going to be sufficient or will a different fastener be
required?

To those who encouraged me to use the confirmat screws with the
melamine: Thanks! They made a very solid connection. The investment
in the step drill bit and the screws was well worth it.

TIA

D'ohBoy

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi!

I have some coarse thread #8x5/8 screws I was planning to use to
fasten the drawer slides in my new melamine cabinets. After working
with the melamine for a while, I have become concerned that the
material won't support the weight. I don't think there will ever be
more than 40 - 50 lbs in the drawers but I watch the stuff crumble in
my hand and I get concerned.

Are these going to be sufficient or will a different fastener be
required?

To those who encouraged me to use the confirmat screws with the
melamine: Thanks! They made a very solid connection. The investment
in the step drill bit and the screws was well worth it.

TIA

D'ohBoy

Well you have the right kind of screws, now you have to accept the fact that
you are basically building "furniture in a box" style furniture or cabinets.
They are relative cheap when you buy the kits from the store and you don't
expect them to last if you load them down or use them often. If you want
them to hold up you need to do more planning and consider adding stronger
solid wood supports in the areas that will receive the most strain.

The standard slide screws will work in melamine.

DO NOT USE a battery drill to drive screws. The
drill will over drill and spin out the holes.

Use a vix bit with drill to make the holes but
use a regular screw driver to drive screws.

Do NOT over tighten the screws, just "snug" tight.

wrote:

Hi!

I have some coarse thread #8x5/8 screws I was planning to use to
fasten the drawer slides in my new melamine cabinets. After working
with the melamine for a while, I have become concerned that the
material won't support the weight.

Pat Barber wrote:
The standard slide screws will work in melamine.

DO NOT USE a battery drill to drive screws. The
drill will over drill and spin out the holes.

Doesn't your cordless have a clutch? I use cordless all of the time
for fastening with no problems. Start off on a low torque clutch
setting and work your way up to the right setting.

To the OP: The screws you have are fine. The slides always have more
holes than you need. If you're nervous, use more screws. More screws
towards the front of the slide is preferable.

R

On Mar 13, 12:23 pm, "RicodJour" wrote:
Pat Barber wrote:
The standard slide screws will work in melamine.

DO NOT USE a battery drill to drive screws. The
drill will over drill and spin out the holes.

Doesn't your cordless have a clutch? I use cordless all of the time
for fastening with no problems. Start off on a low torque clutch
setting and work your way up to the right setting.

To the OP: The screws you have are fine. The slides always have more
holes than you need. If you're nervous, use more screws. More screws
towards the front of the slide is preferable.

R


D'Oh Boy:

My experience with melamine seems to bear out that the product does
not do well with regular screws and lots of weight.

What I have done for drawers: I glued a thin (1/4 in or 3/8 in) slat
of wood (poplar or oak) to the melamine with Roo Glue (which sticks
VERY well to melamine), and then installed the drawer slides with 5/8
McFeely's screws. The slats allowed me enough clearance to have the
drawers clear the hinges of the doors I installed (with Euro style
hinges) to "hide" the drawers. I do not have 100lbs in each drawer,
but they carry about 50 lbs each, and are opened several times daily,
and none of them has had a problem since the cabinet was built about
two years ago.

Good luck with your project.

Pierre

On Mar 13, 12:23 pm, "RicodJour" wrote:
Pat Barber wrote:
The standard slide screws will work in melamine.

DO NOT USE a battery drill to drive screws. The
drill will over drill and spin out the holes.

Doesn't your cordless have a clutch? I use cordless all of the time
for fastening with no problems. Start off on a low torque clutch
setting and work your way up to the right setting.

To the OP: The screws you have are fine. The slides always have more
holes than you need. If you're nervous, use more screws. More screws
towards the front of the slide is preferable.

R


D'Oh Boy:

My experience with melamine seems to bear out that the product does
not do well with regular screws and lots of weight.

What I have done for drawers: I glued a thin (1/4 in or 3/8 in) slat
of wood (poplar or oak) to the melamine with Roo Glue (which sticks
VERY well to melamine), and then installed the drawer slides with 5/8
McFeely's screws. The slats allowed me enough clearance to have the
drawers clear the hinges of the doors I installed (with Euro style
hinges) to "hide" the drawers. I do not have 100lbs in each drawer,
but they carry about 50 lbs each, and are opened several times daily,
and none of them has had a problem since the cabinet was built about
two years ago.

Good luck with your project.

Pierre

snip lot's o' help

Thanks to all for their input.

I am considering using threaded inserts and using #8 machine screws.
The holding power of the larger insert (T nut) will be significantly
greater than the #8 wood screw.

The idea of routing a slot in the melamine and then inserting a strip
of oak or some such is somewhat appealing too. Also bandied about the
idea of #8 machine screws with a giant washer behind it.

Don't quite known what I will do. Will post when I choose my
solution.

D'ohBoy

wrote:
snip lot's o' help

Thanks to all for their input.

I am considering using threaded inserts and using #8 machine screws.
The holding power of the larger insert (T nut) will be significantly
greater than the #8 wood screw.

The idea of routing a slot in the melamine and then inserting a strip
of oak or some such is somewhat appealing too. Also bandied about the
idea of #8 machine screws with a giant washer behind it.

Don't quite known what I will do. Will post when I choose my
solution.

I make my living overbuilding. The trick is to know when to overbuild
and how much effort to put into the overbuilding - otherwise you don't
accomplish very much.

If you're worried about it, the front six inches of a HD slide will
have at least four places to insert screws. That's 8 screws per
drawer in the front six inches. With a fully loaded drawer, based on
your 40 to 50 pound estimate, figure somewhere around 10 or 15 pounds
per screw in shear. That's no problem at all.

Your earlier comment about the melamine crumbling in your hand is of
more concern. The only time I have seen the stuff crumbly is when I
had some stored in a basement near the boiler. It had dried out and
become noticeably weaker, but I still couldn't crumble it with my
fingers.

I don't know how many drawers are affected, but if there are a number
I'd do some tests before committing. Hang a slide from one screw in
the melamine and hang a 20 pound weight from the slide with a coat
hanger or wire. If it supports that you have no worries at all.

As an alternative, the particle board is weakened by the screw
threads. If you can strengthen the particle board at the screw
threads themselves, that's the best way to approach it. If you put a
little yellow glue in the hole before inserting the screw it will bond
the particle board, errrr, particles around the screw thread and make
it more secure.

R

"RicodJour" wrote in
oups.com:

*snip*


As an alternative, the particle board is weakened by the screw
threads. If you can strengthen the particle board at the screw
threads themselves, that's the best way to approach it. If you put a
little yellow glue in the hole before inserting the screw it will bond
the particle board, errrr, particles around the screw thread and make
it more secure.

R


If you wanted to remove the screw with the glue, though, wouldn't you
have to break the glue joint? Would perhaps putting some glue on the
screw (or in the hole) and screwing it in and removing it immediately
help with the particle board particles, but still leave the boards easily
taken apart? Or is that not necessary?

Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

Sure, mine has a clutch, but melamine is the only
product that I recommend "hand screwing" over any
other method.

It's just too easy for a rookie to spin out the hole.

After many holes and several "mistakes", I now use
a rachet screw driver for those little screws.

I even use "manual" on many pocket hole applications.

I love my Makita drill but some times, it's just a bit
much for those tiny screws.

RicodJour wrote:


Doesn't your cordless have a clutch? I use cordless all of the time
for fastening with no problems. Start off on a low torque clutch
setting and work your way up to the right setting.

Puckdropper wrote:
"RicodJour" wrote in

As an alternative, the particle board is weakened by the screw
threads. If you can strengthen the particle board at the screw
threads themselves, that's the best way to approach it. If you put a
little yellow glue in the hole before inserting the screw it will bond
the particle board, errrr, particles around the screw thread and make
it more secure.


If you wanted to remove the screw with the glue, though, wouldn't you
have to break the glue joint? Would perhaps putting some glue on the
screw (or in the hole) and screwing it in and removing it immediately
help with the particle board particles, but still leave the boards easily
taken apart? Or is that not necessary?

I was assuming that the slides were permanent. Reasonable quality
slides will last as long as the useful life of a melamine cabinet.

You could spray the screw with something to act as a release agent,
but with such short screws I think I'd rather err on the side of too
strong of a hold rather than too weak.

R

wrote:
snip lot's o' help

Thanks to all for their input.

I am considering using threaded inserts and using #8 machine screws.
The holding power of the larger insert (T nut) will be significantly
greater than the #8 wood screw.

The idea of routing a slot in the melamine and then inserting a
strip of oak or some such is somewhat appealing too. Also bandied
about the idea of #8 machine screws with a giant washer behind it.

All are overkill. Waaaaayyy over.

As others have said, the screws that came with the slides are just
fine. There is no/little pulling force on them, just downward "push"
and the mel board will handle that just fine. Just drill a pilot hole
the size of the screw shank or slightly less and snug screw by hand.


--

dadiOH
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