Replies

1. 
   jpat | Feb 14, 2010 12:46pm | #1

   Randy,

   The slide you want to use has a metal bracket that mounts to the face frame, or in your case just behind it. I think if you played with it you could set that metal bracket behind the face frame rather then flush with the opening. Setting it behind the face frame could cut that 3/16'' in half. Experiment with it and I bet it will work.

   Good luck,

   John

1. 
   rshelly | Feb 14, 2010 02:00pm | #3

   Dusty and John,

   Thanks for the help. Do you think I could simply recess the L bracket into the side of the frame, making it flush to the frame and then achieve a tighter fit?

   Thanks,

   Randy.

1. 
   jpat | Feb 14, 2010 03:05pm | #4

   Randy,

   I absolutely think you can do just that, but get yourself the hardware first so that you have it to see exactly how tight you can make the clearance gap. Make a mock up of the cabinet and the drawer and practice on it.

   Good luck

   John

1. 
   charles | Feb 14, 2010 10:04pm | #5

   Randy,

   What about setting the sides deeper into the front for the required side clearance. Like a rabbeted half blind dovetail, you wouldn't need much depending on side thickness.

   And I would agree, get the slides in hand if you have not used them before. Not a bad slide just a little different concept than most slides.

   Charles

2. 
   ring | Feb 15, 2010 01:05am | #6

   Randy,

   You can theoretically recess the slides somewhat behind the face frame to lessen that gap. However, you are creating a situation where the perfect fit of the drawer front is going to be dependent on the mounting of the slides, and this is going to be excruciatingly difficult to adjust. The idea of making a "rabbet" type drawer front, then trimming to fit the opening would appeal to me much more. My shop uses Blum Tandems every day, and we've come to the conclusion that, commercially at least, it's only with false fronts. If you've got the inclination to tweak them until they're just right you can do what you're asking about, but they're clearly not intended for that. Great slides anyway.

1. 
   oldusty | Feb 15, 2010 09:52am | #10

   Hi David ,

   I have been using the tandem more and more and hands down it is a great product .I'm finishing up a piece that has flush inset drawers and like you I used false fronts .I learned a lot about the slides and how the front adustment works and the rear as well.

   I had several drawers that when shut had an uneven reveal so not unlike most standard slides I used a thin shim on one side to make them more perfect .A very forgiving piece of hardware .

   Shalom , dusty

1. 
   ring | Feb 15, 2010 10:05am | #11

   Hi Dusty,

   There are several ways I've found to attach the false fronts. The simplest (but effective) is to hold it in place while a helper pushes the drawer out from the rear, the shoot a couple of 23 gauge pins from the inside of the drawer to hold the front temporarily. Close the drawer to check the fit. The nice thing about the pins is that with some hand pressure you can budge them in any direction to adjust the fit, then send some real screws from the inside to fix the false front. If you've got a large quantity or a complex set-up, then Blum makes an useful eccentric mount that gets set into the rear of the false front, and allows 2-3 mm in any direction before you send the final screws through.

   My very best regards,

2. 
   oldusty | Feb 15, 2010 10:30am | #12

   David ,

   Will the drawer side thickness need to increase the amount you move closer to the slide to minimize the gap the OP was asking about so the slides still index under the box ?

   regards from Paradise , dusty

3. 
   ring | Feb 15, 2010 10:41am | #13

   As you know, the distance from the inside surface of the drawer sides to the carcase wall (where the L-shaped bracket gets attached) is a fixed measurement...I usually use 21 mm each side as my calculation. There's a limit on the thickness of the drawer sides, up to the point where they will start to bind inside the mechanism. I don't recall what the limit is exactly, but I usually make drawer sides either 12 or 15 mm thick.

2. 
   oldusty | Feb 14, 2010 12:46pm | #2

   Randy ,
   I'm guessing
   Randy ,

   I'm guessing you don't have a pair in your hands ?

   The slides have an L shaped mounting , where they rest on the deck below and touch flush to the insides.The metal is close to an 1/8" thick by memory .

   Why not run your face wide and roll the dt detail into its side member , while the face still stays square .

   So you would need to push the slides back that distance you roll .I learned to do this with the edge of a belt sander , a round file could do the same .

   The thickness of the drawer sides is critical because this inside dimension is what seats or indexes the actual moving parts .

   hope this helps, dusty

   
3. 
   gofigure57 | Feb 15, 2010 06:59am | #7

   Is this what you are trying to do?

   
1. 
   rshelly | Feb 15, 2010 07:54am | #9

   Yes! Although my dovetails are half blind. It appears from the first picture that you've set the slide "behind" the face frame. How big is the gap between the drawer and frame?

   Did you experience the difficulty that David describes in his post? Seems like he is making a good point.

   Thank you!

1. 
   gofigure57 | Feb 15, 2010 01:51pm | #14

   3/32 to 1/8. As for the difficulty factor it has been along time since I did those , as I remember I had made the drawers 3/4" thick which was a big mistake... I found out after I purchased the slides 5/8" max on the sides. I had to rework the inside bottom of the draw sides to reduce that area down to 5/8 so the slide would not bind. This was when the tandems first came out. I used the cock bead apllied to the face frame to create the space for the slide frame to sit behind, seeing as how my boxes and draws were built prior to purchasing slides this was the solution I arrived at. Like anything else once you figure it out it is not so bad. I use the tandems with Blue motion quite a bit now . I remember one more mistake I made in my favor as it turns out, I made the drawers one inch smaller than the openings like I would for side mounts, that is where I came up with extra space to use the cock bead.

   Tom

4. 
   gofigure57 | Feb 15, 2010 06:59am | #8

   Is this what you are trying to do?

5. 
   frankf | Mar 06, 2010 03:59pm | #15

   I have just finished a dresser with the same requirements.... I went to a lot of trouble to minimize the reveal gap.

   The slides are really placed with the critical dimension being the inside of the drawer box to the outside of the drawer "hole".  In my case, this created a gap of 3/16 of an inch, minimum.    I have the equivalent of slab sides, so my interior cabinet width made me alter the drawer biox to make the gap less.  By making the sides of the box THICKER than the specs, you reduce the open space.  Example... Calculate the dimnsions using Blum's info for a 1/2 inch thick drawer thickness.  Then make the box walls to be 9/16 thick.  You now have reduced the gap by 1/16 of an inch to 1/8 of an inch.  I then did thru dovetails for the drawer box sides, and put on a 1/4 inch thick false front, which had a 1/8 inch front overlapping lip on the sides to just barely fit my "holes".  I then glued the false front to the box, and finished by gapping all around to 1/16 of an inch using a chuting board and plane.  You can align the drawer front to the box using the BLUM alignment gadgets, or you can create your own using dowel centers to mark the correct placement for alignment.

   By burying the metal slide into the walls of the "hole" you can do the same thing, and it may be easier.  The minimum gap you can get down to is about 1/16 of an inch.... which is not too bad a reveal for a large casework piece.

   Good luck..... it is a challenge that good layout, and patience can reduce.....

   Frank

6. 
   mekalb22 | Feb 26, 2013 11:01pm | #16

   These might help.

   Came across your thread in a search, and also came across these and thought they might solve the problem.

    http://www.wwhardware.com/blum-tandem-inset-brackets-for-face-frame-applications-b295-7130/

   Blake, Louisiana.