Ball bearing soft close drawer slides

[Kent E. Matthew]

I have a dresser project that is just giving me fits from start to finish. My latest problem is getting the soft close slides to work properly. At first they were binding. Now I've got it closer but when the soft close engages they won't seat all the way. I've spent two days with this and still not done to my satisfaction. I'm on the first drawer and have seven more to go. What is the bloody trick with these things?

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Side mount or bottom mount?
Fit is a little more important with side mount, but it's important either way.

[Jerry Miner]

For side mounts, fit is critical! Typical dimension is 1" smaller than opening size. Your drawer can be 1/32" undersized, but can not be over-sized at all. Out-of-square in either drawer or carcase is also problematic.

Often, the fix is to take some material off the side of the drawer (either the whole side, or just the hardware mounting location ---a shallow rabbet or dado)

[Glenn de Souza]

For side mounts, fit is critical! Typical dimension is 1" smaller than opening size. Your drawer can be 1/32" undersized, but can not be over-sized at all. Out-of-square in either drawer or carcase is also problematic.

Often, the fix is to take some material off the side of the drawer (either the whole side, or just the hardware mounting location ---a shallow rabbet or dado)

+1 on Jerry's advice. Most often fit problems like you describe are due to the drawer being oversize and/or a squareness issue. If your drawer side can be planed, try that.

Some pragmatic craftsmen don't shoot for perfection but purposely build the drawer slightly (1/16" or 1/32") undersized when using side mount slides because you can always shim the slide, even unevenly to deal with squareness problems.

Also, check to make sure the slides are set back from the front precisely. Not sure if your drawers are overlay or inset, but either way, the set back of the slide is important. When the drawer stops short of where you want it, can you then manually push it fully home or does it refuse to go any further?

[guy knight]

are you using acuride slides i had 60% failure on 50 drawers last time i used them installed kv and never had a single problem acuride has changed there slide since then but i will never chance them again

[Kent E. Matthew]

This is my first attempt at this kind of a project. My first attempt at dovetail drawers. I'm sure there are inaccuracies with the carcass. I have an 1/8 inch difference between the front and the back of the drawer. I mounted the slides to the drawer and just set it inside. If I measure from that I should be a lot closer. I'm using Liberty 18inch soft close ball bearing slides.

[Sean Tracey]

The drawer slides I am using call for the cabinet where the case slides are mounted to be 25 to 27 mm larger than the drawer.

This means you only have a tolerance of 2 mm which is 0.078". You have 0.125" which could be causing the problem.

Even if you had no difference between the front and back of the drawer or cabinet sides, you must be within the 25 to 27 mm size difference or you will be trying to pull the slides apart or compress them together.

The slides you have should have come with an instruction sheet giving you the appropriate dimensions.

Also, I bought some of the cheaper slides one time and one of them had some burrs from the stamping operation that made the slides that should have been removed. Removing the burrs made that slide work. That was my first drawer slide project and I purposely made the drawer smaller than the instruction sheet called for and used washers to space to the correct finial size. Now I just shoot for making the drawer as close to 27 mm smaller than the mounting surface as possible. If I come a little undersized, I can always shim, but mostly don't have to.

Also, if the surfaces either portion of the slides are mounted to are bowed, the slide can bind.

Step one is to take the drawer slides off the drawer and try to operate them without the drawer installed. If you have burrs or binding due to a bowed cabinet, they won't work or will be stiff.

[Jerry Miner]

I have an 1/8 inch difference between the front and the back of the drawer.

1/8" is a lot. You'll need 1/2" clearance on each side from the widest part of the drawer box--at the narrowest part of the carcase. You can shim the hardware to get it mounted straight and square, but you will need to have that full 1/2" for the slides to work right.

The two parts of the drawer slide (drawer half and carcase half) will need to be mounted parallel, so shimming at both drawer box and carcase may be in order, always keeping that 1/2" clearance.

[Sam Murdoch]

All the advice about correct dimensions and square sizing ++ good info.

A trick for shimming the slides in the case of too small drawer boxes (way easier to solve than making the drawers smaller) is to use small diameter washers. Tricky sometime to get these thin washers set (sometimes you need 2 or 3 - how do I know ) but the idea is to have the washer(s) behind the drawer slide and the screw holds them all together. I have used a formica chip sample to slip behind the slide and under the washer until I can get the screw registered to hold the washer(s). Usually works very well. Of course adjust the length of the screws accordingly and use the smallest dia. washer that will fit the #5 or #6 screw. They won't show.

[guy knight]

easiest way to adjust the slides is cut a stick that is 1/32-1/16" larger then the drawer then take a flat bar and bend the slides out to meet the size you should screw the slides on by using the hole on the end of the tabs that way they can flex out to meet your needs