drawer slides question

[Anna]

Just for the sake of clarification: There are no substantive differences between pull-out shelves and drawers, right? Can I just use any drawer slide hardware for pull-out shelves?

Thanks.

[LarryG]

As long as there's sufficient edge thickness to mount the slide properly, yes, any drawer slide hardware will work for pull-out shelves.

[Anna]

Larry, what do you mean by "sufficient edge thickness?" I was thinking of making the pull-out slides as just a shallow drawer (3/4" sides, 1/4" bottom). Am I going at it incorrectly?

[LarryG]

I meant that most slides are wider than the 3/4" thickness that is typically used for a shelf.

If you're building a shallow box, it's really a drawer that just doesn't happen to be full height. And that's probably the most common way sliding "shelves" are done, because you generally want at least a small lip around the four sides, to keep stuff corralled.

[Anna]

Got it. Thanks.

[cabinetman]

Anna

If you use the undermount slides like these, where the drawer is cradled in the drawer member, there are screw mounting holes underneath and on the side, and a 3/4" shelf edge will be above the top edge of the slide.

If you choose a full extension side mount, the drawer member is usually 1" high. You could center the slide, or mount the slide as you wish on the edge. I would recommend on either selection to drill a straight pilot hole for the screws, especially for the edge of wood or plywood.

[Anna]

CM, I'm just on my way out to Home Depot to get some undermount slides. I'm now wondering: For slide-outs, should I be using 3/4" thick bottoms instead of the usual 1/4" for drawers? I'm now trying to figure out what to do with the usual rabbet/dado system for building drawers. With drawers, I normally cut a groove to sit the 1/4" bottom. If I use 3/4" bottoms, instead, does the bottom span the entire space (from slide to slide)?

[jziegler]

I came up with a solution to attach slides to a tray that is a 3/4 shelf with only 1/4" thick sides. I'll take some pics and post them to show how I made some trays. I have a 3/4" thick plywood bottom, and 1/4" thick sides, using full extension slides. If I screwed into the bottom, the shelves couldn't be at the bottom of the cabinet. I used some flat corner brackets and made it work. One tray is holding a stnad mixer, a bread machine, and a couple of other things and it works great.

Jim

[Anna]

I came up with a solution to attach slides to a tray that is a 3/4 shelf with only 1/4" thick sides. I'll take some pics and post them to show how I made some trays. I have a 3/4" thick plywood bottom, and 1/4" thick sides, using full extension slides. If I screwed into the bottom, the shelves couldn't be at the bottom of the cabinet. I used some flat corner brackets and made it work. One tray is holding a stnad mixer, a bread machine, and a couple of other things and it works great.

Jim

Jim,

That'll be great. I have 1/2" ply so I can also use that for the sides instead. I'm doing a dry-run for my kitchen storage. Right now, I'm just building tool trays for my shop. If these trays can handle a stand mixer and a bread machine at the same time, then I'll have no worries whatsoever. (Is a stand mixer heavier than an 8" grinder?)

[cabinetman]

CM, I'm just on my way out to Home Depot to get some undermount slides. I'm now wondering: For slide-outs, should I be using 3/4" thick bottoms instead of the usual 1/4" for drawers? I'm now trying to figure out what to do with the usual rabbet/dado system for building drawers. With drawers, I normally cut a groove to sit the 1/4" bottom. If I use 3/4" bottoms, instead, does the bottom span the entire space (from slide to slide)?

If you want drawer sides of some sort, you could use a 1/4" bottom and make your groove 1/4" from the bottom of the sides and front, and do the drawer like your ordinary drawer. You would then screw the slide from the bottom and/or side. Or, if you use 3/4", you could just use the 3/4" and make it a tray with no sides. Or, use the 3/4" and rabbet it to set the sides into, and use the undermount and screw it on from underneath. You could also use longer screws and go through the sides and into the 3/4", if you add sides.

[JimD]

I used 3/4 melamine particle board with 1/4 inch thick oak edging that is about 1 1/2 inches tall. The edging serves two purposes. First, it hides the edge of the melamine. Second, the extra height helps to keep things from falling off. I screwed the drawer slides through the edging into the melamine.

Jim

[Anna]

I used 3/4 melamine particle board with 1/4 inch thick oak edging that is about 1 1/2 inches tall. The edging serves two purposes. First, it hides the edge of the melamine. Second, the extra height helps to keep things from falling off. I screwed the drawer slides through the edging into the melamine.

Jim

I finished the first two sliding shelves last night after I finally figured out that I need a template for drilling the holes. I used 1/4" particle board for the bottom, and 1/2" oak ply for the sides with grooves to accommodate the particle board.

I found that

a. 1/2" ply splits when I used #6 screws to secure the sliders from the bottom.
b. a groove that is a quarter-inch above the bottom is too low. The screws going through the slider's side ends up going into the particle board also.

For my "real" sliding shelves, i.e. kitchen stuff, I'll probably use 3/4" plywood bottoms and either solid wood sides or 1/2" baltic birch. Right now, I'm just happy that my shelves work, and that they even came out square! Hurrah for small miracles!

Thanks for the tips, guys.