I’m in the planning stages for some cabinets. It’s my first attempt at something this large and I’m basing my plans on an article by Scott Gibson in FWW No. 185 (August 2006), pages 38-45. In my case, the intended use will be in a work room so this makes a great test of my ability and a chance to learn. If I can prove to my wife (and to myself, frankly) that I can do a good job, then perhaps I can tackle new kitchen cabinets next. In my design, one (or two) of the sections of the cabinet has 5 drawers all the way down. Another (or two) of the sections has a single drawer and a door under that but I’d like the shelves to be shallow trays that slide out so they act as drawers in any case.
I feel a bit daft for asking but there seems to be one piece of information left out of that article. If the sides and dividers of the cabinets are made of 3/4″ plywood and the face frames stiles are 2″ wide, the drawer slides need to be spaced at least 5/8″ from the sides/dividers in order to be able to open past the frame. I can think of four possible ways of doing this.
A) Don’t use a face frame. But of course, that makes the design completely different and I WANT a face frame.
B) Make the sides and dividers of two pieces of 1″ plywood, but that just seems like a huge amount of wood. Anyway, that clearly isn’t what Mr. Gibson did in his article.
C) Attach horizontal strips of wood where the drawer slides will go to hold them out the proper distance. I suppose pieces of the same 3/4″ plywood would work well enough and give the slides an extra 1/8″ clearance past the frame.
D) Attach vertical strips of wood, centered where the screws for the drawer slides need to be.
As a novice, I won’t be surprised if I’ve missed an obvious option E or even F. Options C and D seem pretty interchangeable, although I lean towards option D. So, my question is, what’s the “standard” way of dealing with this?
— Henry
Replies
space, the final frontier
I'd use horizontal spacers for better distribution of the weight transfer. The spacer needs to be thick enough for the drawer slide to clear the face frame, and the drawer width needs to accommodate the thickness of the drawer slides on both sides. The resulting gap at the face can be filled with the false front on the drawer, or, over-sized drawer fronts, carefully trimmed to fit. The latter, however, complicates the drawer joinery.
Alternatively, you can use that new anti-gravity drawer-liner paper. But, it's a little tricky to glue into the drawers. ;-)
Thanks
Thank to both Ralph and Eef. That's sort of what I figured but it's nice to have it approved by others. I know an article cannot include all the little details like this and still fit in as few pages. Still, this seems like a pretty important piece of information. The slides I have are from Knape and Vogt and require a 1/2" space between the drawer and the slide mounting surface. Anyway, thanks again.
Remember, too, that there are other design alternatives, some of which can simplify drawer installation. Assuming that the cabinets are modular in construction (i.e. separate units joined during installation), you might design the face frames such that the vertical members are flush to the inside of the drawer-containing unit and cover the edges of two cabinet modules. Details and dimensions depend on what will look right in the completed installation, and the slide hardware requirements. But, any face-frame overlap may be less of an issue for modules that have only doors and shelves.
good morning henry,
choice C and what ralph said are the correct answers. i have done this many times with nothing but good results. remember to allow 1/2" on each side of the pull-out for thickness of the drawer slides i.e. opening minus 1" equals width of drawer or pull-out shelf.
good luck,
eef
A somewhat different take
Henry,
My shop does kitchen cabinets as a business, and we currently have 10 people turning them out endlessly. Over the years we've come to a system that while it may at first seem wasteful of materials it has other great advantages that clearly outweigh that waste. We make the cabinet of plywood but glue the faceframes facing outwards. If the cabinets butt a wall it makes it easy to scribe. If the side of the unit is visible it gets an additional outer wall, glued behind the face frame, made of whatever you want - solid wood frame and panel, or veneer ply, etc. There is only a spacer glued at the rear between the 2 walls. This double wall construction (on visible sides) allows you any kind of exterior treatment, while giving you a clean flush interior for drawer slides, hinges etc. It also allows you to freely use screws in the plywood construction because it all gets covered anyway.
Over the years I've had a hard time convincing others about this, but for me there's no question that the common practice of putting faceframes facing inward is a false economy.
You can also use face frame brackets. If you're using the 8400 series, K&V makes mounting brackets for them.
Henry, just go into a place that sells kitchen cabinets and pull out a drawer. You will see that the slides connect to the faceframe at the front and are held in the back by a bracket. The side mounted slides do not have to be attached to the sides of the cabinet, only at the front and back. I've never seen a slide that will operate correctly with only 1/2" space at the sides, you need 17/32"-9/16". Go to the manufacturers website, click on the third picture from the right. Don't make the mistake of only allowing 1/2", that's the size of the slide, not the space required.
http://www.knapeandvogt.com/1260_-_3_~~_4_Extension_Roller_Slide.html?page=details.57#details
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