Replies

1. 
   sapwood | Jan 29, 2006 01:04am | #1

   Well, I usually do essentially the same thing as you, only I don't consider this inelegant. I rather like the solution. I use 1" wide metal, aluminum, with flat head screws. I have also set this metal strip into a shallow rabbet that just deep enough. This latter detail lends a bit of refinement although at a cost.

2. 
   Stuart | Jan 29, 2006 01:29am | #2

   Rockler sells these things:

   View Image

   They slip over the top edge of the drawer side, and the hook on the folding file fits over them.  The trouble is they're made of plastic.  They look pretty good when new, but they aren't very durable.  I used them on a desk I built for my office, and within a year or so the part that sticks up broke off in little pieces.  I wonder if anyone sells something similar in metal.

1. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Jan 29, 2006 08:22am | #4

   Yeah, that plastic h-channel is pretty cheesy.   Aluminum h-channel is available.  For instance, here is one which would work at the top of 1/2" drawer sides ---

   http://www.brunnerent.com/Tools/Portfolio/frontend/item.asp?type=9&size=0&lngDisplay=0&jPageNumber=11&strMetaTag=

3. 
   nikkiwood | Jan 29, 2006 06:17am | #3

   You can also go to any office supply store and get a rack for pendaflex file folders. They're made to simply stand in a regular metal file drawer, and can easily be trimmed to fit the length of your draw.

   Inelegant? I don't know, but I have used them in a lot of pretty elegant home offices. The virtue is, if the client wants to use the drawers for files, they can -- and if they don't, simply take the rack out.

   ********************************************************
   "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

   John Wooden 1910-

4. 
   Jfrostjr | Jan 29, 2006 05:01pm | #5

   I have used 1/2" aluminum angle, mounted on top of the drawer sides with the vertical legs facing in. Works very well.

   Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

   Jerry

5. 
   notDusty | Jan 30, 2006 06:10pm | #6

     Hi Don ,

                     There are so many ways of doing the same thing , lucky for us , here is one more way . The potential problem I see with the file rail mounted on top of the drawer sides is the clearance on top to the next rail or obstruction may not allow the index tabs to actually clear freely to be able to close the drawer . You would have to have some space above the drawer box to accommodate the tabs .

                I usually use 1/2" flat stock from the local steel yard . I cut a saw kerf deep enough to keep the index tabs below anything that they could run into .

             Also I make the drawer box I.D. about 13 - 1/4" wide so the files are fully contained within the drawer box .

            When retro fitting for hanging files there are some hanger clips with a slot for the rail that fit over the drawer box edge and drop down about 1/2" or so , they should be available from most cabinet hardware suppliers .

                                 good          luck         dusty

   
   

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   Edited 1/30/2006 1:24 pm ET by notDusty