I'm making a file cabinet and I installed the first drawer using
Accuride 4043 drawer slides. These are a type with the rails that
ride on top of other rails so the whole slide is about 3 inches wide.
After installation, I found that it seems to work fine, but the drawer
will shift from side to side by about 3/16". I'm concerned that this
will be a problem because I'm doing inset drawers and have cut the
drawer fronts 5/64" narrower than the opening. The user will be able
to shift the drawer over far enough that the drawer front hits the
frame.

Is this amount of side to side play normal? Other "light duty" sides
I have around the house don't seem to do this.

wrote:
I'm making a file cabinet and I installed the first drawer using
Accuride 4043 drawer slides.

Is this amount of side to side play normal? Other "light duty" sides
I have around the house don't seem to do this.

Not unusual, but may be excessive for your application and, IME, can be
amplified by errors in the drawer opening width.

You will want to try shimming the drawer slides, on one or both sides,
to see if you can remove some of this slop.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On Oct 9, 9:11*am, Swingman wrote:
wrote:
I'm making a file cabinet and I installed the first drawer using
Accuride 4043 drawer slides.
Is this amount of side to side play normal? *Other "light duty" sides
I have around the house don't seem to do this.

Not unusual, but may be excessive for your application and, IME, can be
amplified by errors in the drawer opening width.

Can I expect to get the side to side play down below 5/64", or is some
play unavoidable?


You will want to try shimming the drawer slides, on one or both sides,
to see if you can remove some of this slop.

How would you suggest shimming? (Washers? Piece of veneer?)

adrian wrote:
On Oct 9, 9:11 am, Swingman wrote:
wrote:
I'm making a file cabinet and I installed the first drawer using
Accuride 4043 drawer slides.
Is this amount of side to side play normal? Other "light duty" sides
I have around the house don't seem to do this.
Not unusual, but may be excessive for your application and, IME, can be
amplified by errors in the drawer opening width.

Can I expect to get the side to side play down below 5/64", or is some
play unavoidable?

Out of necessity there must be some side-to-side play. I wouldn't obsess
with it, however. Do what you can within reason, and and what makes you
feel better, and you will find that your inset drawers are going to work
just fine.

You will want to try shimming the drawer slides, on one or both sides,
to see if you can remove some of this slop.

How would you suggest shimming? (Washers? Piece of veneer?)

All of the above ... IOW, whatever will do the job. When I get in a bind
in a kitchen install, the construction site dumpster generally has
something ... packaging cardboard/plastic, pieces of shims, anything
that will get the job done ... permanently, so you won't have to come back.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On Oct 9, 11:31*am, Swingman wrote:
adrian wrote:
On Oct 9, 9:11 am, Swingman wrote:
wrote:
I'm making a file cabinet and I installed the first drawer using
Accuride 4043 drawer slides.
Is this amount of side to side play normal? *Other "light duty" sides
I have around the house don't seem to do this.
Not unusual, but may be excessive for your application and, IME, can be
amplified by errors in the drawer opening width.

Can I expect to get the side to side play down below 5/64", or is some
play unavoidable?

Out of necessity there must be some side-to-side play. I wouldn't obsess
with it, however. Do what you can within reason, and and what makes you
feel better, and you will find that your inset drawers are going to work
just fine.

You think they would work fine if I don't shim at all? I mean, the
main reason
I'm worried about it is that I don't want the drawers to slam into the
drawer
frame when the users (like my 4 year old) close the drawer.

adrian wrote:
On Oct 9, 11:31 am, Swingman wrote:
adrian wrote:
On Oct 9, 9:11 am, Swingman wrote:
wrote:
I'm making a file cabinet and I installed the first drawer using
Accuride 4043 drawer slides.
Is this amount of side to side play normal? Other "light duty" sides
I have around the house don't seem to do this.
Not unusual, but may be excessive for your application and, IME, can be
amplified by errors in the drawer opening width.
Can I expect to get the side to side play down below 5/64", or is some
play unavoidable?
Out of necessity there must be some side-to-side play. I wouldn't obsess
with it, however. Do what you can within reason, and and what makes you
feel better, and you will find that your inset drawers are going to work
just fine.

You think they would work fine if I don't shim at all? I mean, the
main reason
I'm worried about it is that I don't want the drawers to slam into the
drawer
frame when the users (like my 4 year old) close the drawer.


Try some minor shimming and see how it works. Doesn't take a second to
just loosen up a cabinet side slide and stick a piece of cardboard
behind it and tighten the screws.

It it doesn't bind the drawer, and you gain something, go with it, or
try doing it to the other side also ... tweaking drawers to go in and
out of a opening is a trial and error endeavor regardless of what slides
you use, or don't use.

Make it a source of satisfaction that you've "tweaked it to the max"!

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Swingman" wrote

When I get in a bind in a kitchen install, the construction site dumpster
generally has something ... packaging cardboard/plastic, pieces of shims,
anything that will get the job done .
--
Exactly.

While working on my porch modificaions for an elderly couple, I needed some
shims. I ventured into that tomb of a garage with at least 40 years of
accumulated junk and found something that worked.

Both my grandfathers and my father were great scroungers and recyclers. I
remember all of them telling me to go find something that works. No matter
the problem, go find something that works. That is a lesson that has stuck
with me my whole life. Not all solutions come in a mass manufactured package
at the big box store.

Lee Michaels wrote:
"Swingman" wrote
When I get in a bind in a kitchen install, the construction site dumpster
generally has something ... packaging cardboard/plastic, pieces of shims,
anything that will get the job done .
--
Exactly.

While working on my porch modificaions for an elderly couple, I needed some
shims. I ventured into that tomb of a garage with at least 40 years of
accumulated junk and found something that worked.

Both my grandfathers and my father were great scroungers and recyclers. I
remember all of them telling me to go find something that works. No matter
the problem, go find something that works. That is a lesson that has stuck
with me my whole life. Not all solutions come in a mass manufactured package
at the big box store.

I was taught the same thing, and I'll spend hours massaging something I
found in the garage to fit the need at hand before I'll make the four
mile drive to Lowe's Depot to get the exact thing I need. Of course,
I've been burned so many times by the Borg NOT having the exact thing I
need that I can hardly blame myself. :-)

--
See Nad. See Nad go. Go Nad!
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

On Oct 9, 8:14*am, adrian wrote:

How would you suggest shimming? *(Washers? *Piece of veneer?)

UHMW tape comes to mind. Could you do that?