"soft-close" drawer glides

[George Beshers]

Yes I am in the design process for kitchen cabinets.

I saw this with the paragraph quoted...

Accessing your storage space can be just as crucial as having storage space in the first place. Eve Barnes notes that the latest in cabinetry technology makes getting things in and out of storage as easy as possible: Full-extension drawers, self-closing mechanisms and glide-and-bumper mechanisms ("For a soft close," she says) are all simple but noticeable advances in storage technology.

Does anyone know what they are talking about and where to obtain them, etc. ?

Any cautions, as in they work great for 6 months but a year later...?

Thanks in advance.

[cerskine]

Rockler carries a good selection of kitchen drawer slides and related hardware.

have seen Accuride ball bearing drawer slides last for years supporting drawers full of heavy tools in a a factory.

[SonomaProducts.com]

You'll need to do some googling to figure exactly what you want but once you have an idea a few pointers I can offer are:

1. Blum is a very reputable brand. If you buy their better lines they will work for a very long time.
2. Try wood workers hardware I needed a bunch of 150 LB capacity undermounted slides a while back and found these guys had unbeatable prices. They have a massive selection too.

[loutent]

Hi George,

At the very least, you need to have full extension slides in your kitchen. I have been replacing ours little by little and once you have them, you won't want anything else.

I generally use the KV 100 lb class (got them from WW Hardware referred to in a previous post). As far as problems, I don't think that you should worry as these have been around for a long time and have proven themselves. I have some in the workshop that have supported very heavy loads for years with no problems at all.

Although I've used the "self-closing" slides where the last few inches are drawn in by a spring mechanism, I have not use the ones that are more elaborate in that they self-close when only half way open or so. These look too fussy for me in that there is a lot more hardware involved.

Lou

[Joe C.]

As long as you're looking at KV, look at the CompX at the same spot on the same site. Half the price of the KV's and I can't tell the difference between the two. Oh wait, there is a difference, the less expensive CompX include the mounting screws. Just received my 30 pair today.

By the way, they weigh a (figurative) ton.

Going back to part of your original post, there are some pretty high-tech slides out there. I saw anti-slam slides at one of the big box places. No matter how hard you slam the drawer, the last couple of inches slow it down and it glides right in. Didn't ask how they did it. Gas shocks maybe? ;-)

Anyway, do your research and you'll find out more than you'd ever want to know.

Joe C.

[Unisaw A100]

Look for Salice SMOVE. There was a discussion of it here over the last week(ish).

UA100

[Scarfinger]

I have just outfitted my new kitchen with Blum Tandem slides on all the drawers. I added the "Blumotion" auto closers which just clip on to the slides, no fuss, no muss. I got all the hardware at Woodworkers Hardware (link above) as they had the best prices by far. Great service also.

Paul