Replies

1. 
   dondownunder | Jan 11, 2006 12:11pm | #1

   Mike

   I've used them at a metre (40") in a chest & 900 (36") in kitchen cabinets- it's the weght that counts - they don't tend to rack even in fairly wide drawers.

   Don

1. 
   mudman | Jan 12, 2006 06:55pm | #3

   Racking is my concern. The weight is not much compaired to a deep kitchen drawer full of pots, but the cabinet will be used by a child! Maybe I should stick with side mount ball bearing slides. But the piece will be pretty nice and I hate to have that hardware showing.

   Mike

1. 
   dondownunder | Jan 12, 2006 11:20pm | #4

   Mike,

   Go with the tandems, as I said racking won't be a problem (unless an act of God intervenes). And they do look neater than side mounts.

   Don

2. 
   ring | Jan 11, 2006 06:57pm | #2

   Absolutely no problem at the width you are talking about.

   DR

3. 
   wop | Jan 12, 2006 11:48pm | #5

        I've done that size or larger a number of time with Blum. No problems ever.

       Just as a note ,I've also used Salice and a number of other brands of drawer hardware.... now I only use Blum.

                                                                     Philip

1. 
   mudman | Jan 13, 2006 06:23pm | #6

   THanks,

   I am always considering other brands. Especially when Blum is unavailible. But I already have the Blum jigs, and do not wish to buy more.

   Mike

1. 
   dondownunder | Jan 14, 2006 02:55am | #8

   From my experience Blum, Hafele, Hettich & Grass all use the same hole pattern for their drawer slides, however this is not the case with hinge bosses which vary.

1. 
   mudman | Jan 19, 2006 06:35am | #10

   Unfortunately concealed under mount slides are not so standardised.

   Mike

2. 
   2x4 | Jan 17, 2006 06:10am | #9

   What jigs are available for the tandem slides? I have the jig for drilling the  holes in the back of the drawer. TIA

   Brian

1. 
   mudman | Jan 19, 2006 06:40am | #11

   THere is one that I know of. Blum makes it; costs about $40. Used one way it acts as a guide to drill the hole in the back for the "hook". When oriented differently it guides for the angled holes for the clip mounts in the front. It works for 1/2" and 3/4" sides. Blum also sales a "tool kit", I think they all it, that includes the drill bits, extensions, driver bit, stop collar and other bits that you may or may not have already. This all makes instalation easier than with sidemount slides.

   Mike

1. 
   2x4 | Jan 22, 2006 01:35am | #15

   I have the one you are talking about but was not aware of the tool kit as I bought a metric drill bit for the hole in the back. One thing I am slowly learning is that the people that sell these products really know nothing about them. When I asked about the jig for the holes he looked at me like I had two heads.

   thanks for taking the time to answer, to the both of you.

   Brian

2. 
   mudman | Jan 22, 2006 09:59pm | #16

   If you are purchasing from a wholesale type place that caters to the pros, then you have to expect them to not know. They only sell the stuff. At Rocklers or wood craft unless they have used it they aren't likely to know either. Tandem slides are somewhat new and expensive, not many of those guys have used them either. But that is what is great about this site. Also on Blum's site they have a very detailed PDF file that covers the whole tandem program.

   Mike

3. 
   2x4 | Jan 23, 2006 12:49am | #19

   You are correct about this site. I guess being from the old school I expect people that sell a product should know a little bit about it  but your scenario is certainly true in most things in  industry. Being from north of the border makes things even harder as Blum in Canada use a different numbering system for their undermounts. We have 562... where as the US site shows 560... and to make things worse the Canadian site is in Metric which is not much help to those of us in small shops. Thats enough of a rant today. Thanks again

   Brian 

4. 
   mudman | Jan 23, 2006 06:19pm | #20

   I hear you. I am still trying to figure out the math on installing the damn things. The cabinet mounting holes' location relative the the drawer box bottom/ false drawer front, accounting for the bottom clearance needed for an inset framless application. Does that make any sence? I have a freaking headache from staring at the damn schematics. I have now resorted to a full size scale drawing.

   Are you "Brian in Mexico"?

   Mike

5. 
   2x4 | Jan 24, 2006 07:28am | #21

   I wish I was in Mexico but it has been a pretty mild winter here in Ontario. Driving home tonight I passed a porsche convertible with the top down. It was minus 2 celius. He did have a parka on with the hood up. I live in woodstock about half way between Toronto and Detroit. I have a sample drawer I made up and use that for my dimensions but that only is for 22 inch slides.  Good luck

   Brian

6. 
   mudman | Jan 25, 2006 05:55pm | #22

   There is a guy on this site who is a kanook transplanted into Baja Mexico. What a change. Guess what the tempeture has been here in Texas?.............................

    

   70 to 80 degrees!! That is warm even by our standards. I lost my jacket last month and havent bothered to buy a new one.

   Mike

7. 
   2x4 | Jan 25, 2006 10:03pm | #23

   We got snow last night but usually would have a couple of feet by now instead of the one inch that  is out there today. This time last year we were visiting friends that wintered in Texas down by the Mexican border , south of San Antonio, and it was in the 70's, kind of nice. Take care and have a good one

   Brian

2. 
   ring | Jan 19, 2006 02:39pm | #12

   Brian,

   If you make your drawers 3/8" shorter than the designated length, and allow the bootom to project that much out the back, there is no need to make that silly hole at all.

   DR

1. 
   mudman | Jan 20, 2006 06:40pm | #13

   without the hook the slides tend to want to operate independantly. This is not so noticible on narrow drawers but on drawers over 20" it is very bad. Without engaging the rear hooks the ONLY attatchment is where the clips grab the front of the slides. This conection ends up becoming a pivot point and the back of the drawer will swing around. When the hooks are engaged the drawer is locked in place. Also the adjustment features don't work correctly without the hooks engaged.

   Mike

2. 
   ring | Jan 21, 2006 09:29am | #14

   I guess I didn't explain well enough.  I'm not proposing to ignore the hooks in the back.  I'm just saying that there's an alternative way to engage them.  If the back wall of the drawer is set some 3/8" shorter than the full depth, and you let the bottom extend past it by that much, then the hooks will engage the bottom of the drawer simply and without any recess necessary in the drawer back.  Basically I'm moving the drawer back away from the hooks while leaving the bottom piece as before.  I totally agree with everything you say about the necessity of engaging them, but it is quite enough to just grab the bottom of the drawer, and in a production shop we need to use every time-saving trick we can find. 

   DR

3. 
   mudman | Jan 22, 2006 10:01pm | #17

   Now I see. So the hooks are just hanging over the drawer bottom?

   Mike

4. 
   ring | Jan 22, 2006 11:39pm | #18

   Yes, just over the bottom.  It gives perfectly acceptable results without the need for making a hole in the rear wall of the drawer.

   DR

4. 
   dchyatt | Jan 14, 2006 02:54am | #7

   If you are concerned about racking then place one drawer handle in the center of the drawer face. If you use two drawer handles on each face the user will often pull on just one handle and that may cause the drawer to rack. Otherwise the Blum Tandems will be fine.