Thread: Whats the secret to ball bearing drawer slides? How to fix?

As others have said, there could be many different causes. However, if accumulated gunk is the cause, rather than WD40, use a spray of electrical contact cleaner. and possibly a toothbrush to clean them.
Don't know what brand you have, but I've used Hafele for years with no problems.

Originally Posted by barrysumpter

Try $35 each. Not a pair.

Still cheap.

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

Out of curiosity, as I'm about to start making some cabinetry, but haven't yet found a good source, where are folks sourcing their Blum kit from?

Lincoln Sentry
Wilson & Bradley
believe it or not- bunnings.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Still cheap.

Ha! Only when you're spending other peoples money.
And getting a trade discount.

No build up in the runners.

Plywood is still wood.
So swelling.
Doesn't take much for 18mm to swell past the +/- 2mm tolerance

Now wondering if the melamine swells as well.

One face was catching a frame. 3mm tolerance on all sides.
Another drawer was scraping the bottom. Same 3mm tolerance.

One slide wouldn't push release.
Tried the part of that slide that mounted on the drawer on another slide that mounts to the frame.
Still wouldn't release.
Tried the part of that slide that mounted from the one that works on both sides. Worked fine.
Looked at both slides that mount on the drawer for a good few mins. Comparing micron by micron.
Couldn't work it out why that one worked on both frame slides and the other didn't work on either.
Removed both slides from the bed and one still wouldn't releaseon either. The other did on both.

Originally Posted by barrysumpter

Ha! Only when you're spending other peoples money.

When I'm spending my own money I also only buy quality and when building for others I recommend they do the same.

Expensive is cheap in the long run; you buy it once, you install it once and you walk away.

I'm not trying to have a go at you, I'm just trying to impress how much hassle can be saved by forking out for premium products from the outset.

Ridiculously priced premium products were not in the budget.
I'm not convinced as I feel the major issue was expansion of ply and melamine.
With one slide malfunctioning as probably forcing from the same issue.

Could the ply be too soft to maintain the position of the mounting screws?

Personally I think the design was completely underdone from the outset. 18mm Ply and Melamine are not structural materials, gravity is 24/365. Also, at the price you paid, the slides you selected were cheap and probably insufficiently load bearing for their purpose.

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

Out of curiosity, as I'm about to start making some cabinetry, but haven't yet found a good source, where are folks sourcing their Blum kit from?

Wilson & Bradley are good to deal with.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

When I'm spending my own money I also only buy quality and when building for others I recommend they do the same.

Expensive is cheap in the long run; you buy it once, you install it once and you walk away.

I'm not trying to have a go at you, I'm just trying to impress how much hassle can be saved by forking out for premium products from the outset.

Originally Posted by barrysumpter

Ridiculously priced premium products were not in the budget.
I'm not convinced as I feel the major issue was expansion of ply and melamine.
With one slide malfunctioning as probably forcing from the same issue.

Sorry, Barry, but Elan is talking a lot of sense - hard earned commercial logic.

My kitchen is now 8 years old made largely from 18mm HMR melamine; all 28 drawers still work perfectly and there is no question as to the adequacy or suitability of melamine.

If you cost in the time that you have spent and are yet to expend in remedying the problems at, say, a nominal $20 per hour, then your drawer slides are rather expensive.

Like Elan, I cannot afford to buy sub-optimal products.

I did my kitchen with bottom-mount soft close push to open drawer slides (Blum). For 2 years now they have lived through multiple, multiple daily abuse ... the cutlery drawers get operated by hand, the bottom drawers get kicked, kneed, pushed by hand, nudged by hip ... none of them have missed a beat. But they are mounted between 18mm birch ply cabinet sides and interior walls. They cost a shitload of money for the whole kitchen, but I cannot complain; got what I paid for. I don't think that your complainant's toeing the drawers would cause problems per se.

I am making a wardrobe just now. Kingslides, pull to open, just plain ones - that is, bottom mount. 16mm formica coated MDF drawers sitting between 12mm ply cabinet walls. First "bugger" thing that happened, the 12mm ply had buckled a bit near the bottom of the wardrobe. Bottom drawers didn't want to go in, binding severerly and then jamming .... the eventual solution was to take the router out and cut a rebate into one drawer side as high as the drawer slide and remount, in effect making the drawer 2mm slimmer where the slide attaches. Worked a treat. Can't really be seen, either. (and I have decided never to use 12mm meranti ply for another cabinet again, unless it's for a frame and panel door! Unfortunately it was the only hardwood ply I could get at the time and I was under the erroneous impression it might be 16mm. Doh!)

My first guess would be that in your situation the ply under the bed may have buckled/warped/swelled, or the mdf may have taken moisture on board and swelled. I can't remember how many litres of moisture a person sweats out overnight, but it's astonishing. Under a bed can be a moist environment if it's not properly vented, so if that base was built to very tight tolerances .... that could be your problem right there.

I seem to think that Kingslides have some kind of silicon or synthetic lubricant in them - it's clear, slightly sticky, and in generous amounts. I do NOT think that would mix happily with CRC or WD40.

Thanks PWH.

Thats my plan.
Waiting for 9am to get started.
Running it thru the table saw is a cheap practical super fast solution.

Gotta figure a way to remove the face.
Screws out. But the cheap double sided tape seems to be the only thing this project has thats still working well.


Looking thru the receipts trying to see if they shows HMR or MR or nothing.
Probably nothing to keep the price down for a cheap project just to keep me busy.

No highfalutin MDF here.
Cheap ply, cheap melamine, cheap slides, cheap labour, cheap apartment block.
Cheap, cheap, cheap.

The only thing good is the cheap (as in no cost inexpensive) professional advice I'm getting here.

Thanks to all.

Ha! Just had a catchup breakie with the client.

She's found SMS messages discussing all the options.

Which confirmed our agreeing to me fixing any future maintenance issues later
over purchasing something she couldn't afford at the time.

Gotta remember not turning my favorite hobby into a failed business.

Ok back to it.