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?
think it is definitely worth doing the drawers with full extension ball bearing slides. Every time you open one, you will appreciate the quality. The worst thing to do to a custom drawer is to put a 3/4 extension cheap slide on it.
I have replaced some (eventually to do all) in our kitchen with the K-V brand. If you buy in quantities (10) you get a pretty good deal.
There are a few types of ball bearing slides, including the epoxy coated slides. Discounting the epoxy style slides that use the 2 wheels on each side, the better slides that use ball bearings instead of wheels and or wheels with ball bearings tend to stay adjusted better.
With the epoxy wheeled slides you often get side to side slop that seems to be no better than no slide at all. In kitchens for the common drawer I use the single centered under drawer ball bearing slide. For the heavier duty applications I use the side mounted full extension slides. Both of these style slides, mating parts, fit together with close tolerances thus eliminating the typical side to side slop found on most drawers that use the roller wheel type slides.
if they are at all usable than that is amazing. $60 for 15 pair of 20" full extension 100 lb. drawer slides?? hard to imagine how they can pull that off. Unfortunately, you know what they say about things being too good to be true..... For comparison, I've used some 100 lb. 20" slides from Lee Valley that I know to be extremely good quality. For 15 pair of those it would come to $153.
Well here are a few suggestions that you may want to consider. (1) Now would be a good time to make any cabinet modifications you/SHMBO want. You will avoid having to worry about matching wood grain and finish with the old cabinets. Just do any rework so it is flush with the old and reface it along with the rest. (2) Do all the work on the carcasses before even thinking about measuring for doors and drawer fronts. (3) Pick your door and drawer hardware next. In many instances the hardware will affect the size of the doors and drawers. For example side mounted drawer slides typically require 1/2" clearance on each side of the drawer but the good full extension fully concealed drawer slides need only 3/16" on each side. (but the bottom dado must be 1/2" above the bottom of the drawer sides.) (4) If you are going to build the doors and drawer fronts yourself and if you can possibly afford it get the really good hardware. Blum Tandem full extension, fully concealed undermount slides are the best I have been able to find. They have very smooth sliding action and a closing action that is unsurpassed. They are expensive but will not add that much to the total cost of the project. If you have a lot of drawers and can't stand the expense for all drawers pick the drawers that will get heavy use and use them only in these locations. BUT as time passes you will kick yourself over and over again for not using the best slides for all your drawers. With these slides you can build good looking drawers with nice dovetails and your work will not be hidden beneath ugly side mounted hardware. Here is a link to an outfit that has some decent prices. If you order from them call your order in as they are not great about keeping there internet prices up to date.
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Creel
"Steve" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com...
|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.
Yes.
|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?
IMHO, it depends on the loading and how long you want them to last. Heavy loads and a couple of plastic wheels aren't compatible. In a bathroom cabinet I'm currently working on I'm using Blum 3/4 extension, self-closing epoxy slides. Plenty good enough for a few towels and toothbrushes. The lowest price I found was at:
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my planned kitchen remodel, I've sampled a full-extension ball bearing *self-closing* slide (KV8417) from:
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my mind, kitchen drawers should be self-closing so you might give that a thought.
When you add shipping at the GlideRite site, this becomes $80.00+ for 15 pairs of slides (at least to my zip code). Still, a really great price if they are similar to Accuride 100 lb 20" slides.
Since you live on the "wrong coast", and shipping ain't a biggy, why not give it a spin and give us a report.
I "found" them and posted it... Like I said, I do not know about the quality until I actually see them. I suspect they are NOT Accuride quality but who knows ???
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are kidding about them being imported.. ????
I plan on buying a set myself but my project is later in the year.
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)
On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:52:49 GMT, Pat Barber calmly ranted:
Are you in Oceanside, NY (been there once) or Oceanside, CA (lived near there for half my life), Pat?
I found some cheapies in the local hardwood store for $7 a pair but haven't used them yet. They're quite a bit like the Accurides in heft, finish, and feel but are only about half the price. I don't see a name on them but there's an HR stamp on the inside of the outer rail.
One never knows.
That's why I bought the cheapie pair: to compare.
I decanted some of that nastyass ammonia so maybe I'll just build that fuming tent and start cutting oaken pieces for the dictionary stand this weekend. (The oak is in the way.)
------------------------------ REAL men don't need free plans ------------------------------
On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:54:11 GMT, Pat Barber calmly ranted:
Whose, mine or theirs? ;)
I usually weigh quality with part-in-hand vs. some sillyarse 9001 factory sticker or sumpin' like that. Look and feel are at least as important as specs. Otherwise, we could use wood-on-wood.
------------------------------ REAL men don't need free plans ------------------------------
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