Cabinet design help needed

[atgcpaul]

I need help.

Wife wanted me to incorporate hanging wire baskets into a kitchen cabinet. So I bought 4 wire baskets at IKEA. I made 4 open bottomed plywood frames that the baskets sit in. The ply is 1/2" thick and the basket lip is just a little less than that. Perfect fit. I laid a new kitchen floor and leave a spot for the new cabinet and I made the cabinet carcass and installed it. Then I realized I've gotten myself into trouble because I didn't account for the face frame.

So below is what I'm aiming for. 4 drawers with false fronts over 2 doors. The opening in the cabinet is 32" wide. Each of those plywood basket frames is 15 1/8" wide. They can't be any narrower or the basket won't fit.

I originally planned on putting the basket frame on epoxy drawer slides but each drawer will require 1" of clearance and there will have to be a divider in the middle of the cabinet to provide support. I would need a 32 3/4" wide cabinet even if I didn't use face frames. I really don't want to remake the cabinet not only for the cost of materials, but there's a return duct in the bottom left corner of the cabinet I needed to box out so construction wasn't simple either.

I'm now thinking about having the basket frame slide on another piece of wood attached to the cabinet side and the divider. I have some adhesive UHMW tape I can stick down to make it smooth. In this way I'd lose no space on the sides and actually have 1 1/4" clearance. The downside is there's no mechanical attachment to the cabinet so the drawer won't stay centered and the drawer fronts may not line up. You could accidentally pull the drawer out, too.

I also have some 22" long ball bearing slides that are 1/2" thick. I am also thinking I could get a thin piece of metal--maybe 1/8" thick that would be fastened to the inside of the drawer basket frame and extend down so I could attach it to the slide. Then I'd attach the slide to the cabinet--with spacers to get past the FF. I hope that makes sense.

Of course, the other solution is just convince the wife that we should just use regular drawers instead of these baskets but she wants baskets and it's her opinion that it's not her problem on how I get it to work.

Any and all thoughts appreciated.

Paul

[Bill in Buena Park]

A little hard to follow the dimensions in play, however, if you have a 32in opening but lose 3/4in to the center divider, that leaves 31 1/4 inches to work with. You say your basket frames are 15 1/8 in wide x 2 = 30 1/4 inches. That leaves 1 inch total for 4 slides/rails across, supporting the two-drawer width.

One idea - I may be oversimplifying - but how about UHMW slide rails on which your basket frames could hang? I believe you can get various lengths/thickness from Woodcraft and such. Maybe 1in tall, with a profile that is 1/2in wide for the bottom half (could vary based on how much room under the frame you have to work with), and a 1/4in rabbet routed out for the upper half, run the depth of your cabinet. May need to adjust depth of rabbet so the fit isn't too tight.

If your 32" opening is based on the FF opening, you'd have to use spacers on the cabinet sides to get flush with the FF before mounting the slide rails.

[atgcpaul]

Yes, it's a good thing I don't write technical manuals.

The opening is 32" without the face frame.

Wife is still adamant she wants the baskets and not solid drawers. I may just build and install the drawers and ask for forgiveness later.

One thing that comes to mind is if I do find a solution for the baskets, the false fronts may be wider that the doors unless I make really skinny face frames.

[JimD]

You can get undermount drawer slides that require as little as 1/8 clearance (I looked at Woodworker Hardware). With 1/4 side clearance it will fit if you delete the face frame. If the cabinet carcase is 3/4 plywood you don't need a face frame. I built a whole kitchen of cabinets that way.

Convincing the wife wouldn't be an option for me. I'd hear about it forever.

I've also built an island for the last house where the drawers slid on frames - like an old fashioned dresser. It worked fine. I used screws in the frames that contacted the back of the drawers to prevent them from being pulled all the way out. There is a bit more friction, of course, than good slides but I didn't get complaints. The main advantage is you loose a whole lot less space. Drawer slides waste a lot. So do face frames. If you have the space to waste and you like the looks and/or function, fine. But if space is tight, wood on wood worked for hundreds of years and still will. You could add slip strips or just wax the drawer bottom and frame.