48" drawer slide alternatives

[I saw that!]

.....

[Condoman44]

How about making you own slides out of hardwood and use the slippery tape on the top and bottom of the drawer part to reduce friction. I used the stuff when I needed my pellet stove insert to slide out for cleaning and it worked good.

[gsmittle]

Just spitballing here: what if you used the smaller version of the bearings you pictured on the bottom of the shelf so the drawer sides ride on the bearings, you could make the sides full-length, but the back of the drawer less than 48" so that the extra length of the sides prevents the drawer from tipping. You get less than a full-length drawer, but it might be the easiest answer to the tipping problem.

Typically, when we build revolves on a set, we put the casters on the stage floor rather than the revolve. This prevents scoring the floor, etc. Still not an ideal solution…

What about something akin to a mechanic's toolbox drawer slide?

g.

P.S. I don't recognize your handle; welcome!

[LCHIEN]

just a thought, 48" drawers are going to be a ***** - the slides have to be quite strong, the bench is going to want to be tippy and you have to pull it out so far that the drawers get in the way and there are clearance issues etc. I think it'll be hard to live with.
How about putting parts cabinets on wheels and side handles so you can roll them under the bench and behind the current drawers in place of the shelf you have there. This would of course be used for less frequently used parts.

Are you going to use this bench for more electronics or be converting it to wood working use?

[eezlock]

48" drawer slides

I agree with another poster who said in his input about making your own drawer slides....but I have a
slightly different idea. Why not give thought to using some straight sections of overhead door track
(like your garage door has)and the heavy duty rollers these things carry a lot of weight and can be
bought from a garage door installer or maybe from a home center. The drawers you are thinking about
building are going to be rather heavy, bulky, and when loaded and are going to be somewhat hard to
handle. Just my input here but another alternative idea anyway.....eezlock

[capncarl]

I have a sumular situation with a 36" deep workbench that has shelves with sliding front doors. I want to make it have 9 to 12 drawers and after weighing the cost of the expensive long slides I settled on some really heavy duty 24 inch slides for about $5 per drawer and will just have 12" of drawer still inside the cabinet. It was just too much money for that extra open drawer.
capncarl

[capncarl]

In my previous job we had a number of pieces of equipment that were on drawer slides. Most of the heavy duty drawer slides were constructed in our machine shop and are out of the relm of what most people could build in their home shop. The full extension drawer slides that I have seen are all telescoping types, adding more complexity to the build. I have my own milling machine, sheet metal breaks, mig and tig etc. and I backed away from building my own drawer slides. It was just too much money and time away from projects that I really wanted to do.
capncarl

[Condoman44]

Sorry for not answering, out of town a few days.

Yes, I thought of using the slippery tape as the bearing. On rethinking that it would be two difficult to move with lots of weight.

My second thought is to redesign the bench so that the heaviest items can be put in boxes with open sides. These would glide out using fixed large wheel casters or tires. This way the tipping issue is gone, the friction issue is almost gone and you can load these boxes with whatever you want.

A handle on the box end with some type or label holder would identify contents. The rolling box could be sub-divided for custom items and an open tray at the top for small items. This would give you the maximum depth you can use with ease of use.

Just a thought.