I recently used Accuride 3832C drawer slides in a media cabinet (20", full extension, $23/pr, Rockler).
They work well enough, except for one problem. It takes a rather excessive amount of force to overcome the friction stop in order to fully push closed the drawer. Conversely, when opening the drawer, you have to really pull in order for the drawer to release. Unnecessarily so.
There is nothing wrong with this particular set of slides. The friction stop is part of the design. It may loosen up with use. But I want to replace them.
So, any recommendations for a similar quality slide that does not have the problem as described above.
Something to consider, if you do not build to fit within the slides tolerances it will require more effort to do every thing, open, close, and slide the drawer. Basically and typically you nave a tolerance of 1/32" total for the drawer to be the perfect size for the opening.
If you are properly set up in that aspect, is the drawer slide self closing? Some times these self closers will add resistance to break free of the self closer when opening a drawer from a fully closed position.
You should not be experiencing an excessive required force as you have indicated. As an experiment remove a drawer and one complete slide assy. With the drawer setting on a work surface and the full slide assembly attached to one side of the drawer, move the slide open and closed. Do you experience the same difficulty? If so, you probably are outside the tolerances of the slide. When the slide is pushed too tightly by an oversized drawer or if it is spread apart by a drawer that is too narrow the ball bearings don't ride correctly in the track and will exhibit the need for excess force for all movement and especially when closing or opening. This is going to be true regardless of brand.
Also check to make sure that you have the drawer side of the slide properly engaged with the cabinet side of the slide. It is possible to mismatch then inserting the drawer and this will cause the situation that you describe.
If the drawer is too wide you can cut some of the drawer away, a slot if you will for the slide to mount inside. Remember it is not going to take much,
1/32" or less deep. If the drawer is too narrow you can shim either the cabinet or drawer side of the slide. If you will recall there are lots of mounting holes in the cabinet side of the slide. The holes on the elongated tabs are designed to let the slide pull out slightly from the cabinet as they allow the tabs to flex. If you drawer is too narrow you might try remounting the cabinet side of the slide using the last hole on each of those tabs.
Also consider loading the drawers with the items that you plan to store in them. A heavier drawer tends to operate more smoothly.
I have used several brands of slides and typically a difficulty to open or close drawer is an indicator that the drawer is not with in tolerances.
A properly fitted drawer should easily be closed by simply giving it a shove. You should not have to push it closed.
Thanks for the reply. The slides are installed within tolerance. A perfectly fit, actualy.
Good idea to test the action of the slide on its own, not installed. I did just that. Actually, I noticed before I even installed the slides for the first time that they had this friction stop at the end. I thought that once they were attached to a drawer and once the drawer had some stuff in it, the excesive friction would feel just about right. But No, still too much.
No, the slides are not self closing. I like the idea of self closing, but the ones I looked at looked too much like kitchen drawer hardware.
I really think that this is how the slides are designed. The friction is smooth, just excessive; nothing feels like it is catching. And as you say, with stuff in the drawers to provide a little inertia, the effect will be less.
Anyway, if you had a particular brand and model of slide that you like I will certainly look at them.
There is a plastic piece that slides over a metal tab at the back that acts as a bit of a lock to keep the drawer closed and from bouncing back. You can remove these if you want no resistance, or shave a little off the top and bottom with a chisel to reduce the friction.
Not much to add here after all that good advice. (Great post, Leon!). There are only a couple of other things I would consider.
I would check to see if the drawer box is wracked, or twisted. As you know, it doesn't take much to ruin that "one finger pull" we all like. After being beat to death by drawer slides in a kitchen I was remodeling, I found that the cabinets were the problem. Sitting on a barely uneven floor after installation, it twisted the lower drawer boxes just enough to cause the frames to be wracked a tiny bit. The drawer worked fine, but didn't glide. I like glide.
This was my solution: I loosened the screws at the middle and rear of the drawer box a bit, and took the screws out of the socket. I hung the socket in a new hole and left it snug, but moveable.
I then put the drawer in and opened and closed it several times. It began to work better. I loaded the drawer. Now it worked much better. I took the stuff out of the drawer and tightened the screws on the slides and sockets. Worked like a champ. It only took me a whole damn day to figure that one out.
The drawer/cabinet combo was off a little less than a 1/8" between the two of them combined on a 30" wide 30" deep and >> 12" tall
Ok, one last thing to consider. If you put too big of a screw near the front cabinet side, the head can interfear with the closing of the slide. You might want to double check that. Easiest way is to remove the screw and try the result.
Thanks for the reply. The slides are installed within tolerance. A perfectly fit, actualy.
Good idea to test the action of the slide on its own, not installed. I did just that. Actually, I noticed before I even installed the slides for the first time that they had this friction stop at the end. I thought that once they were attached to a drawer and once the drawer had some stuff in it, the excesive friction would feel just about right. But No, still too much.
No, the slides are not self closing. I like the idea of self closing, but the ones I looked at looked too much like kitchen drawer hardware.
Ok, you want the self closing, I was not sure you could get other than self closing these days. I know what you are talking about now. That detent keeps the drawer from reopening on its own if the cab is not on a level surface.
The self closing ones do provide resistance but much less than the plain slides. You also might want to consider the "soft close self closing slides. You can give them a pretty hard shove to close and about 2" out a small hydraulic piston dampens the force and pulls the drawer shut.
I prefer KV brand slides. 8417 series for self closing and 8450 for self closing and soft close.
Bingo! I just found these rubbery-plastic bumpers on my own minutes ago, came back to the computer to report and here was your post. Thanks,
I removed them and there is, as you say, no resistance at all. Much better. But there is no longer a positive closed position. The drawer can wander, in and out, by a 1/16" or so. And since these are flush drawers, that is not really acceptable, either. I'll see if I can shave the bumpers for a perfect fit.
I'd still be interested in knowing peoples favorite slides for future.
I'm with Leon on the KV's for side mount general purpose slides.
If you want undermount, and really want to wow the women(they will stand in a kitchen and open and close these drawers endlessly), try the Hettich Quadro IW 21 "Silent System" slides.
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(For illustration only ... you can beat these prices easily).
Caveat: they can be a PITA to install, particularly if you're not meticulous with your drawers and cabinet construction (the slides are the tail that wags the dog as far as drawer dimension/design goes) but worth the hassle because they never fail please the woman of the house, which is all that matters in the end.
as far as alternatives to Accuride, I love the undermount slides from Blum, which install easily and perform flawlessly, in my experience. As for sidemount slides, for a recent project I ordered drawer parts from Unique Drawer Boxes, and the salesman there persuaded me to try U.S. Futaba slides, which he said were better than Accuride. I used them, and they seem very good--smooth and strong. I haven't used Accuride, so I don't know how they compare... HTH, Eric
Hey, women aren't the only one who can appreciate a smooth, precision mechanism. (cue the double entendre...) In fact I'd say that you or I would probably have as much or more appreciation. Last girl I dated would put her junk in a cardboard box and never miss a thing - every car door closing was an ear popping experience. Besides, just how many times did you open & close the drawers on your last project? :)
16 x 2 x $22.= $704. Ouch, but I guess you get what you pay for...
For lightweight drawers that can conveniently be completely removed that's fine. For something that's going to be full of pots and pans or food or tools that you want to be able to get to the back of, not so much.
On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:19:19 -0500, the infamous "J. Clarke" scrawled the following:
The mechanisms I've seen for that are made of rubber, so a razor knife would be the quickest way to ease the anti-slam/stay-closed mechanism. Just pare off a bit, or, if he prefers, remove the rubber baby buggy bumper thang. No sweat.
LJ, who thirsts for a couple pair of 60" Accuride 9301s, juscuz.
(I just googled for the site and discovered that Accuride filed for bankruptcy on October 8th. Thank you, O!)
-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine
On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:17:56 -0500, the infamous Greg G. scrawled the following:
Pay for? Yeah, womenfolk are definitely a high-maintenance breed.
I've been very happy with my investment (2 whole pair!) in the zinc plated, imported Accuride clones I got from the local hardwood shop. The 22-inchers were $7 a pair, I believe, and are smooth as silk. Some day I may even install them. (Yet another put-off project. They were to go under the center of my rollaround work bench that I hardly use.)
-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine
I agree on the over-extension case. That's hard to do in wood. As far as only light duty, that depends on the definition. In our entertainment center I have large drawers full of VCR tapes that must weigh close to 50 pounds on wooden runners. OTOH, drawers full of vinyl records *are* on metal runners since thay hold around 100 pounds each.
And yes, I'm in the process of converting the records to CDs and the tapes to DVDs :-).
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