Push to open drawer slides.

[stringybark]

Probably a stupid question, but how on earth do you fix side mounting drawer slides?

I've been conned into making a four drawer cabinet for a friend, but, they don't want any handles - hence the push to open slides.

These:
http://www.allproducts.com/metal/gslide/ball_bearing_slide_with_push_open_device.html - are the ones chosen, which is a three piece slider,but short of taking them apart and having ball bearings fly everywhere, there does not seem to be any access to screw them to the side panels/drawer apart from one hole on the main carriage.

I have no problem with the quality of the slides, and a very nice action.

The manufacturers site - GSlide Corpn - is of no help.

[TomH]

You will need to separate out the two parts of each slide - i.e. the bit which attaches to the cabinet and the bit which attaches to the draw. There should be a clip which allows this (well, there is on Hafele/Hettich slides). I can see from the photo there are obviously holes in the slide, so the screws to the draw will need to pass through here. I am assuming if you take the two bits apart there are also holes in the part to allow screws to pass through into the cabinet.

This is how I did it for my recent coffee table drawers. I allowed approximately 1-1.5mm of clearance on all sides between the drawer and the cabinet.

Get the alignment/positioning as close as you can, and the mark out the positioning of the slides on the cabinet. It is important at this stage to make sure the depth for the cabinet mounted side is correct, otherwise your drawer slide may be fully closed but your drawer will still be proud of the front of the cabinet. Drill and screw one or two holes max in the cabinet side. Extend the drawer slide out, attach the other half of the slide then insert the drawer. Open it just enough so that the first hole on the bit that will attach to the drawer is visible, mark it, drill and screw. Then open the drawer all the way out , get it level and mark the back hole.

Hope this is clear. It should be evident how you can do this once you separate the two bits of the slide.

[joe greiner]

The push-open latching feature shouldn't invalidate the construction of full-suspension slides (three parts). There should be a clip entrapping the middle part to the drawer part, which must be released for disassembly and assembly without sending balls everywhere. The kit may, or may not, include templates for marking the drawer and the cabinet for installation of each of the separated parts on their components. If not, use the (still assembled) slider with reference to a common baseline to make such templates. The part attached to the cabinet may (or should) have slotted holes for fine-tuning the horizontal location; not shown in the detail picture.

Joe

[stringybark]

Thanks for your help fellas - I have now resolved this problem.
Joe was on the right track - there was a plastic doo-dah inside the middle slide which then allowed access to the remaining slide. They had to be taken apart to fit screws to the cabinet and drawer - although only one hole at each end. I modified these to a slot and added another slot at 90 degrees to allow for adjustment. No instructions or template provided.

Very time consuming fiddly job made worse by having to leave a suitable gap behind the false front to accommodate the "push to open" action.

Thanks again for your help.