What's Your Favorite Drawer Glides?

[Ken Krawford]

I'm making a couple of bathroom vanities and a total of 16 drawers. I've used Hettich and CS Hardware's "private label" slides before. I want full extension side mount slides.
Do you think Blum is worth the premium they charge?
Is there a brand that is a bit more forgiving if the opening or drawer box is slightly out of square?
Thanks for any feedback.

[peter gagliardi]

Blum is all we use, and have used for about 15-20 years. It is all we will use for an under mount slide. We have perhaps 1000 drawers installed out in the field -ZERO callbacks!!!! That peace of mind is worth the extra few pennies.
peter

[Jeff Duncan]

Same as Peter, rarely use anything but Blum Tandems. I personally don't like the look of side mount slides and very, very, rarely use them on anything that's going to a client. There's always that odd specialty job that requires extra heavy capacity or a super deep drawer where the side mounts come in, otherwise it's under mounts.

good luck,
JeffD

[Nick Lazz]

Blum here too...though I have used Grass with good results as well, they are just not as popular here in the US.
Both high quality and all I use.

If you are looking for side mount slides the KV (Knape and Voght) are a good quality ball bearing slide and made in the USA.
You will always have a little difficulty if your drawers are out of square... a little you can get by with but no slide is going to fix that...slightly smaller is better than slightly larger in regards to binding with drawer slides. You should be able to modify your drawer once you locate where the slides are hanging up.

Good luck!

Nick

[Bill White]

Blum. Need anymore advice?
They work, and don't create any call-backs.
Bill

[Brett Bobo]

As others have said, Blum is my preference as well. How much of a premium are you finding compared to a comparable slide such as Hettich? For example, I purchased 21" 563H's from CSH a few months ago and the drawer slides alone were only $19.25/pair. Even comparing say a $10 slide to the Blum's, the overall cost differential is minimal compared to the total cost of the vanity, ~$80 in your case as an example.

[Alan Lightstone]

Interesting. No one is a proponent of the Accurides? I've used them on all my shop furniture and haven't had issues. Haven't used them on fine furniture, though.

[Ole Anderson]

I have Accurides on my shop drawers and they are not nearly as smooth as the Blums. I just picked up 11 pair of 21 inch Blumotion tandems from my local plywood dealer for my personal kitchen project and they cost me $19.95 per pair plus $3.20 per pair for the orange adjusters and I am getting a quantity discount, but not contractor pricing. Looking in the Rockler catalog, they want $40 for the same thing.

[Robert Chapman]

Another Blum fan. They are easily installed and have all kinds of features - self closing, soft close, full extension and amazing engineering. In my experience they have not worn out.

[Tom Clark FL]

Well, shucks, I guess I should keep my mouth shut.

I purchase all 22" side/bottom mount slides, as long as they are self-closing and on sale. I usually pay a max of $3 per slide set. With over 100 drawers in my shop, and at least 50 more in the home and home office, they work great. Have only a few full extension, and they are not nearly as smooth as the side mounts 3/4 extension. I only use full extension in thin drawers of 4" or less. Many of these drawers are 25+ years old, and all work as new…

[Ken Krawford]

Thanks for all the feedback and great advice. I think I'll give the Blums a try based on all the glowing reviews. I think it's a bit strange that the locking mechanisms are purchased separately but are necessary for the slides to operate.
One more question, if I may - Is the drilling template needed to install these slides. At $60, it increased my cost per slide to almost $4.
Any other words of wisdom before I start making the drawer boxes?

[peter gagliardi]

Ken, in response to your question about needing the template, nope! For just a few, get the hardware and use it to help locate the holes. If on the other hand you are running production, every little bit helps, because it is averaged over hundreds and thousands.
peter

[johnny means]

I don't know if it's still the case, but years ago I discovered that Ikea was the cheapest place to buy Blum hardware. They even beat my wholesale vendors. I really like the Metaboxes. Sure they take all the fun out of drawer building, but the available options are great for the modern kitchen/workspace.

[Jeff Duncan]

I agree with Peter, if this is it and your done with drawer slides than just layout the holes and drill individually. I will say the jig is handy though and if I had as little as say a kitchens worth of drawers to do I'd say it's worth it. Just make sure if you do buy a jig it's for the NEW drawer slides. They have a different drilling pattern than the recently discontinued slides and you don't want to get stuck with a useless guide. I have to go buy the new one myself soon for my next kitchen

good luck,
JeffD

[Bill Neely]

I don't know if it's still the case, but years ago I discovered that Ikea was the cheapest place to buy Blum hardware. They even beat my wholesale vendors. I really like the Metaboxes. Sure they take all the fun out of drawer building, but the available options are great for the modern kitchen/workspace.

A kindred soul. My last couple of cabinets I built using Metabox - love them. My next project is a pantry with bamboo fronts and Metabox. I wasn't even going to mention them because it sounds so mundane but they sure do fit the modern kitchen/bath. It almost feels like sinning to use them they are so easy.

I found the drilling jig on Ebay for ~10.