See It's a very simple cabinet; not a face-frame design. I just want to build a cabinet where the drawer rests on runners and is held in place side-to-side by the cabinet case itself. It seems that it should work as designed, but somehow it seems "too easy" when I compare it to other cabinets I've seen.

There are three problems, I see. First, the sliding surfaces will wear. It would probably be good to make them out of something like Ash or Ironwood. ;-) If you can somehow make one mating surface sacrificial, it might be a good idea. The drawers will only be good for about 1/2 draw. After the COG goes forward of the middle of the runners the wear on the front corner of the runner (and the mating surface of the drawer) will wear excessively. If they're pulled all the way out (without support at the front) the runners may be damaged. Of course this can be a minimal problem if these drawers are never heavily loaded. I prefer at least 3/4 draw on all drawers, if not full extension (or more), though. Without "stretchers" (side to side pieces in the middle, holding the sides parallel), the sides may bow outward causing the runners to bind or slip off track. Again, this may be a minimal problem if the drawers are never heavily loaded. Ours always seem to be, though.

Simple drawer glides - is this a bad design?

May 26, 2014 61 Replies

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woodchucker 12 years ago

One of the biggest negatives is the $$$ cost for using sketchup professionally. Much more dollars than expected.

I know, they are in business to make money. But I was shocked at the new license agreement.

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Leon 12 years ago

I actually thought it was pretty reasonable, but then again I was using AutoCAD LT until about 6 years ago. That program got ridiculous in price even it you renewed as often as they wanted. AND it is only 2D. Upgrading that program is about 7 times the expense of up grading SU Pro each year and initially about twice the expense to initially purchase.

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