I’m working on a complete remodel of a small bathroom; trying to maximize all available space. I plan on building a new vanity and separate “linen” cabinet (more of a towel storage built-in).
My initial layout gives me a potential drawer space of roughly 27″ high by 42 ” wide. I plan on using Blum undermount slides. These slides have carried drawers up to 28 ” wide for me before with no problem, but does anyone have an opinion on whether I can expect the slides AND 8″ deep drawers (1/2″ ply) roughly 41″ x 15 ” to be stable? I’m reluctant to divide the space and install two columns of drawers. Thanks, as always
Replies
I built a 14'+ long low cabinet last year with four drawers, each 15" deep by 41" wide and heights of 12". Biggest I had ever made - at the request of the customer. They ended up working fine and I have no long term concerns about stability. Opted for Baltic Birch for that stability - What was challenging was making sure each side was as flat as possible and squaring up such huge drawers - being off 90 degrees by a tiny bit would result in them being WAY off at the front edges. I glued up in steps. First glue a side to a back or front at the corners. Then glue a bottom one of those pairs and make sure the fronts/backs are completely flat. Then glue the final pair in place. Hopefully that makes sense!!
Thanks RAL3Wood. Interesting that the drawer size I was asking about is virtually the same as you had built. It took a couple of readings, but I do understand your suggestion about how best to glue up the drawer. I recently had a hell of a time aligning the inset drawers on a cherry high boy with 28" wide drawers. All due to the drawers being "just a bit" out of square. VERY mindful of that now. Appreciate the help !
Several years ago I built a chest of drawers with drawers about that wide but a little more front to back. Regarding the use of the Blum undermounts, width is not the issue. As long as the weight of the drawer and contents are within the capacity of the slides, you should be OK.
However, as the width of a drawer increases relative to the front to back distance the more racking of the drawer in the cabinet is likely. I solved this problem by building a center guide under each drawer. With a set of metal slides, the problem might not be as great (I used wood on wood slides). I suggest that you build a mock-up out of scrap and test it.
That is not an uncommon width. If the bottom is 1/4 inch and say it is up 1/2 inch off the bottom, you might want to glue in a support strip under the bottom to add extra support for the weight of the contents.
Use the cross stabilizer anti racking accessory kit for wide drawers. Really works well.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled