Thread: Underside horizontal drawer slides

I use these from Hettich Australia. Unfortunately, their website isn't the most friendly. They have a number of distributors that you can buy through.

I have used the full extension ballbearing slides on the underside of drawers, read about it as a tip in Fine Woodworking Magasine.

I get mine from Lincoln Sentry. I cant seem to find them on their website, but they were a good price from them last time I bought them.
Lincoln Sentry Group

Hi Jill, If the slides were like the ones you showed they were the normal side mount. The ones made specifically for under drawer mount are called concealed drawer slides and are available from Hafele (http://www.hafele.com/us/external/ca...wer_slides.pdf.
You could probably also source them at Lincoln Sentry or Nova.

Can't help you on price as I haven't used them for about 10 years. They were pricey even then.

Regards

Harold

Hi Jill,

Blum make a concealed runner rated to 30kg or 50kg, for wooden drawers. It is called the Tandem & I think it is around $40 for a pair of runners and a few bucks for the locks to attach the drawer. They come with a soft close, or you can get them with a tip on feature. (Cheaper runner, but a few extra bits & pieces require so works out to a similar price I think).
They also can be motorised, but be prepared to re-morgage the house.
TANDEM - Drawers, high fronted pull-outs made from wood

The Lincoln Sentry Group sell them.
Lincoln

Regards,

Ryan.
P.S. That is in Melbourne, call Blum to find out the nearest supplier to yourself.

Good Morning Jill

We have just started totally replacing our kitchen and have ordered Blum Tandembox runners, on the basis of a trial.

Last year, I built three drawer units, each with 6 drawers (18 drawers in total) from melamine and deliberately used as many different drawer runners as possible. From that experiment I formed the following opinion:

* Blum are marginally better than Hettich. Hettich are marginally less smooth and the soft close hesitates a little.

* Both Blum and Hettich are better quality than Haffaele who, in turn, are better the big-chain brands.

* The Blum Tandem has the mechanism below the drawer box (you have to make the drawers including the drawer sides), and I think they operate marginally smoother than the Blum Tandembox.

* The Blum Tandembox have metal drawer sides and the runner mechanism is inside those sides. It is invisible when the drawers are pulled out.

* With Tandembox you lose 12mm on each side of the drawer to take the runner mechanism. (Volume lost = 2 x 12 x height of drawer). With Tandem you lose 12mm underneath the drawer for the runner mechanism (Volume lost = 12 x width of drawer). With storage space very limited we went with Tandembox because the runner mechanism takes up less space. Each drawer is 12mm deeper - not much, but it all adds up.

Blum is available in all states from Wilson & Bradley and from Lincoln Sentry. Get quotes; significant volume discounts may be available.

In my trial or "shed drawer" cabinets I used a 18mm melamine for the sides of the cabinet carcases and 16mm for the tops, bottoms and backs. In the kitchen cabinets, I will standardise on 18mm for all carcase components. It is much more forgiving to constructor error such as crooked screw holes. We learn by making mistakes!

The drawer components are designed for 16mm sheet material only.

It is really worth going along to a show-room and fiddling - much more informative than a catalog - and you cannot sense the smoothness of operation from a picture.

Hope this helps.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Hettich would sell direct when I called them about 6 months ago, so worth a call.

Hettich Blätterkatalog®

I find the overseas one easier to use, but that's me. That link is a random page within the catalogue.

If you use side mount full extension underneath the load capacity goes down, but I forget how much by. All the quailty manufacturers make a product, it's worth looking around to find what suits you.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by JillB

Where is the best place to get them at a good price?

Hi Jill
From time to time I buy full extension drawer slides from a Cabinet Makers Supplies place here on the Sunshine Coast, $12 to $14/pair against around $32 from Bunnings (and they are happy to do a cash sale).
Suggest you "let your fingers do the walking" and phone any such suppliers in Townsville for the good prices.

depends on length, I was quoted about $14 each delivered for 22" from hettich, but that was for 10 pairs....elraco.com.au have the hafele's...

Originally Posted by damian

I find the overseas one easier to use, but that's me.

Me, too. Hettich Australia catalog is harder to use and does not include all products available in Oz, imho.

If you use side mount full extension underneath the load capacity goes down, but I forget how much by. All the quailty manufacturers make a product, it's worth looking around to find what suits you.

Are you sure about this, Damian? Blum, Hettich, etc make a range of runners that are variously rated at 30 kgs, 50 kgs, 65 kgs, 100 kgs or whatever, at full extension. Just pay more for more strength and ruggedness.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Originally Posted by damian

depends on length, I was quoted about $14 each delivered for 22" from hettich, but that was for 10 pairs....elraco.com.au have the hafele's...

I paid $15 for the Hettich 600 mm, but this is without any soft-close. Quality is superb; extremely good value for money, and much higher quality than more expensive products from big-chains.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Jill, if you are in T'ville, there's a furniture maker on the road from East Ward to the airport, left hand side, in a nissan hut. Don't know his name, but he would probably be able to tell you the best place to buy. As Graeme says, it's best to have a look to see what suits you.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Are you sure about this, Damian? Blum, Hettich, etc make a range of runners that are variously rated at 30 kgs, 50 kgs, 65 kgs, 100 kgs or whatever, at full extension. Just pay more for more strength and ruggedness.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Am I sure about what ? If your asking about the weight reduction yes I believe that is the case. To clarify:

If you buy a runner that is listed as under mount it's capacity in that position is quoted.

If you buy a side mount runner and turn it 90 degrees and mount it to the underside of the drawer it's capacity goes down, so a 40 kg runner might only bear 30 kg or something.

This is not surprising. Most of these are about 1/2 inch thick and an 1 3/4" high. If you put it in bending across a 1/2" axis you'd expect it to be less strong and stiff than a 1 3/4" axis.

As you said if it's a problem buy a stronger runner. It is possible the manufacturers list some advice regarding the reduction in strength somewhere in the catalogue. Since I am not intending to undermount I didn't pay that much attention.

It migth be worthwhile listing prices people have paid/been quoted for given products, including the source. There might be an outstanding source we can all benifite from.

2c

Originally Posted by damian

Am I sure about what ? If your asking about the weight reduction yes I believe that is the case. To clarify:

If you buy a runner that is listed as under mount it's capacity in that position is quoted.

If you buy a side mount runner and turn it 90 degrees and mount it to the underside of the drawer it's capacity goes down, so a 40 kg runner might only bear 30 kg or something.

This is not surprising. Most of these are about 1/2 inch thick and an 1 3/4" high. If you put it in bending across a 1/2" axis you'd expect it to be less strong and stiff than a 1 3/4" axis.

As you said if it's a problem buy a stronger runner. It is possible the manufacturers list some advice regarding the reduction in strength somewhere in the catalogue. Since I am not intending to undermount I didn't pay that much attention.

It migth be worthwhile listing prices people have paid/been quoted for given products, including the source. There might be an outstanding source we can all benifite from.

2c

Sorry, Damian, but the above is simply not correct.

Side mount and under mount runners are separate products and are not interchangeable. They are rated by their manufacturers at full extension, and this rating does not reduce if the drawer is fully pulled out.

You cannot rotate a side mount runner 90* and use it as an undermount. Besides the dimensional variance you mention, all the ball bearings will be in the wrong place and the runner simply will not work.

Fair Winds

Graeme

Good question Jill, and good answers all. Will have to go down this path one day, (build a kitchen) so this thread will be useful.

Cheers
Pops