Drawer Slide Repair Completed.

[-MIKE-]

The job that inspired my previous posts about drawer slides and soft-close adapters has been completed with great success and client satisfaction.

I ended up taking accurate measurements of the inside width of the cabinet boxes, calculating the space needed for the drawers/slides combined width, and fabricating custom spacers in my shop. I also had to do a bit of surgery on one cabinet because the drawer opening was about 1/8" too narrow. Fein MultiMaster to the rescue!!

Thanks to everyone for the advice and recommendations. The KV8500 slides were indeed very heavy duty and up to the task. I have some reservations about the plastic parts on them, but I'll hold off judgment until I get called back because one of them broke. :-) The jury is also still out on the soft-close adapters but they seem to function well. Time will tell.

Everything took me thrice as long as I initially thought it would-- par for the course for new ventures like this. But I picked up some skills and knowledge that will help the next repair job go a lot faster. Bottom line is the client was thrilled. Check out this review they left for me on the Thumbtack website I use for leads...

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5/5 Stars "He redid our slides for our cabinets. They were breaking constantly and we didn't know if they were fixable. When Mike came to look at them, he talked to us about everything that was wrong with them and what he could do to make them work again. He was AMAZING! If anyone were to ask for a handyman contact I would give them his information immediately. He is VERY trustworthy & works very hard. You can also tell he loves what he does and he wants to make sure every job he does he completes 110%. He is amazing!!!"

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I'll take it. :-)

[Swingman]

In that situation I have been known to set the table saw blade the same height as the drawer side drawer slide, set the fence, run the whole drawer though, shaving off 1/16" off each drawer side.

That 1/16" deep "dado" just cut is nicely hidden by the drawer slide.

Been using KV's exclusively for years and have never had a call back due to the plastic bits.

I have indeed broken some when forcing improperly installed drawers open as a last resort, but, with the non-handed design, it is usually an easy, no adjustment, replacement.

Nothing more, other than that the check went through, need be said. ;)

Good job!

[Leon]

FWIW all slides have plastic parts, at least all of the ones that I have seen.

I am just now realizing that anything I do takes 3 times as long as it seems that it should. LOL

You sure should!!! Did you explain that completing 110% is a benefit for you too? ;~) No go backs! Glad to hear you had a great out come.

[Leon]

Exactly! ;~) and just one more good reason to mount the drawer side of the slide near or at the bottom of the drawer vs. midway.

Now you lost me. Dado? I was thinking sort'a of a rabbet.

[-MIKE-]

I did that last time I changed slides in my own house!! In this case, I would've had to take the drawer back to the shop and do that. The cut is all sanded smooth, so you can hardly tell unless you look very close at it. The drawer fronts cover it, too.

Good to hear!

[OFWW]

And you should, congratulations!

[Lee Michaels]

"-MIKE-" wrote

It doesn't get better than this for a recommendation. Kudos to you Mike. You earned it.

[-MIKE-]

Plus, I got a tip! :-) Thanks.

[Lee Michaels]

"Leon" wrote

Yep, standard rule of thumb for me. figure out how long it takes to do the job. Multiply times three. That is about right. Except anything that my wife is involved with. You can tack on another 50% to those jobs.

And then there are those jobs that never seem to get done. Those are referred to as the FOREVER JOBS.

[Swingman]

Around here they're known as "if you want that done, do it yourself" jobs.

[krw]

I had a boss once tell me that for a realistic development schedule, one should double the digits and increment the units, so a job that we think should take a day, gets double to two days, then the days incremented so the estimate should be two weeks. Somehow, he never bought it when we used the process, though.

[nailshooter41]

I am glad you like them. The client with the picture of the floating drawe r was in touch with me this week and he told me that it is still in perfect alignment and working as designed, even on full extension. I was trying t o remember back a few decades when KV was about the only drawer slides read ily available in small quantities, and it seems to me even back in the 70's they had plastic parts. They were white plastic stops on the rear end of the slide and black plastic on the front. Couldn't say for sure, but I can say I would seriously doubt you will have any problems with those slides.

Good on 'ya for the good work and excellent review. Nothing sells more wor k like a happy client, and no doubt you deserved the pat on the back!

Robert

[-MIKE-]

Good to hear! I told them I'd stand by my work and the slides had a 15 year manufacture warranty.

Tanks a rot.