Drawer Guide measurements

[Hoakie]

I'm building a stand for my bench top DP and thought I would put some drawers in the cabinet to maximize use of space. I am trying to base it off of Tom Clark's Easy Shop Cabinets so I'm going off pictures and "winging it" until his book arrives and I can get all the golden nuggets

I have never worked with door glides and I am wondering how to measure for the depth. The total depth back to front is 18"... So my question is, do I order an 18" glide or do I order one size smaller (i.e. 16") to make it work?

Thanks in advance.

John

[gsmittle]

I'm building a stand for my bench top DP and thought I would put some drawers in the cabinet to maximize use of space. I am trying to base it off of Tom Clark's Easy Shop Cabinets so I'm going off pictures and "winging it" until his book arrives and I can get all the golden nuggets

I have never worked with door glides and I am wondering how to measure for the depth. The total depth back to front is 18"... So my question is, do I order an 18" glide or do I order one size smaller (i.e. 16") to make it work?

Thanks in advance.

John

I'm in the process of making some drawers, too, and I'm wondering the same thing. Or is the measurement the front-to-back size of the drawer, rather than the opening??????

g.

[TB Roye]

I just built Tom's work bench and a Lathe Cabinet The Drawer guides I bought were 2" shorter than the depth of cabinet or 1 size smaller than the depth of the cabinet. The lathe Cabinet was 12 inches deep and the guides are 10" with drawer depth at 11 inches. Make the drawers 1in. less than the width of the opening to allow 1/2 and each side of the drawer for the guides. Grizzly has the best prices but you have to call to order as the website does't give the quanity price when you order. When you are on the website go to the catalogue pages to get the quanity price. Do search on Drawer Slides. Go to page 451 of the Catalogue.

Tom.

[cabinetman]

Most all drawer slides are sold in 2" even measurements, they are usually a tad less, but you can't depend on that. If the cabinet depth is 18", you should order 16" slides. You can make the drawer slightly longer than the slide. It may not ever happen to you, but it's possible to get a "compression" factor if your cabinet is tight with minimum gaps. IOW, it's possible to have a good fit where opening and closing a drawer could be restrained by air pressure, either too much (in closing) or not enough (in opening). I'm just throwin' in this bit of trivia just for the heck of it.

Side clearance for drawers that the slides call for 1/2", the recommendation is +1/32" for each side. The extra clearance if not needed can be shimmed back to 1/2". It could be a lifesaver. Some heavy duty slides require 3/4" +1/32", so read the data for the slide you plan to use during your planning stage.
.

[crokett]

Side clearance for drawers that the slides call for 1/2", the recommendation is +1/32" for each side. The extra clearance if not needed can be shimmed back to 1/2". It could be a lifesaver. Some heavy duty slides require 3/4" +1/32", so read the data for the slide you plan to use during your planning stage.
.

Pay attention to this man. I found this out the hard way when I built my DP stand. The drawers fit but were really tight. I ended up routing a smidge off all the drawer sides to get a better fit.

[Hoakie]

Thanks all, it looks like it 16" then, and thanks for the installation tips.

[Long Shadow]

Drawer Slides/Glides

Just for the heck of it check out this link:

http://www.slidedummy.info/

[ironhat]

Thanks for the link, Long Shadow, and welcome to the group. Kick off the soes and stay a while. Good folks, good conversation and rational heads here. No always sane but rational. LOL.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Most all drawer slides are sold in 2" even measurements, they are usually a tad less, but you can't depend on that. If the cabinet depth is 18", you should order 16" slides. You can make the drawer slightly longer than the slide. It may not ever happen to you, but it's possible to get a "compression" factor if your cabinet is tight with minimum gaps. IOW, it's possible to have a good fit where opening and closing a drawer could be restrained by air pressure, either too much (in closing) or not enough (in opening). I'm just throwin' in this bit of trivia just for the heck of it.

Side clearance for drawers that the slides call for 1/2", the recommendation is +1/32" for each side. The extra clearance if not needed can be shimmed back to 1/2". It could be a lifesaver. Some heavy duty slides require 3/4" +1/32", so read the data for the slide you plan to use during your planning stage.
.

Very good and accurate info. Remeber to calculate any false fronts, lip depths, etc when considering depth. You will find slides stated in inches and mm so be sure to be aware of what you are looking at.

The extra clearance is a HUGE issue if you are using ball bearing slides. Tolerances are much less forgiving in ball bearing slides. As noted you can always shim to fit, but it is hard to start talking width off! LOL!