undermount drawer slides recomendations and question?

[reck123]

greetings from a brit in Berlin.

My question is as follows.

I am building a set of oak side tables each. A basic mitred cabinet with a drawer and some legs.

I wanted to give undermount soft close drawer slides a go and went ahead and purchased some of amazon from a brand called sotech which were about 10 euros cheaper then the blum slides.

I went ahead and made a mock drawer so I could get my head around the installation of this style slide.

the slides themselves appear good quality and well built and the soft close is really a nice touch but there is a fair bit of resistance when you first open the drawer so much so that it would cause the nightstand to tip slightly during the first few cm of opening.

This mechanism wouldn’t be so much of a problem if the drawers were installed in something more heavier/substantial such as a desk or bigger cabinet.

This can be counteracting by putting your thumb on the face of the cabinet and using your finger in the pull but this perhaps is not the most intuative way of opening.

My question is do all these style slides have a bit of resistance when first opening the drawer. Im tempted to swap them out if I can get some reassurance that other brands have not only a soft close but a soft open when it come to these undermount slides.

any Recommendations would be great/ Blum comes to mind first as I head a lot of praise. although seem a little pricey.

 

[Mrs C]

Have used Dynapro without any problems, although I seem to remember spending forever fiddling with the adjustments to get them just right.

 

[woodbloke66]

Personal thing here and each to his own, but I've never, ever used any hardware like this when making drawers. If you make them correctly and fit them properly, they'll close with a smooth push using just one finger on a corner. I used to work for a firm that fitted these things as routine and I always felt that fitting 'clunky' hardware spoilt the job. Just an opinion - Rob

 

[reck123]

thanks woodbloke,

I guess I liked the idea of not having anything visible on the drawer sides including a dado for a wooden drawer runner and thought the soft close would exude an air of fancy.

on the fence with this one at the moment as to wether another brand might suffice in my little oak nightstands or the spring loaded mechanism in all these slides causes enough resistance to tilt the side table.

im tempted to give wooden drawer runners a go like you suggested. although I don't have any experience with a handplane nor own one incase I run in to problems. do you think this is a problem?

 

[woodbloke66]

thanks woodbloke,

im tempted to give wooden drawer runners a go like you suggested. although I don't have any experience with a handplane nor own one incase I run in to problems. do you think this is a problem?

As I mentioned, just my 2 euros worth, but if your hand tool skills are limited and you don't know how to use a plane, then best to stick to your 'comfort zone' and build the furniture in the way that's familiar to you. That said, if you do at any time want to venture into the murky world of fine furniture and precision woodwork, this forum is a great place to expand your knowledge and experience - Rob

 

[harryc]

Each to there own but you can’t beat slow close drawer slides.

 

[woodbloke66]

Each to there own but you can’t beat slow close drawer slides.

As you say, each to their own but you can; just make and fit the drawers properly without all the clunky hardware :lol: - Rob

 

[harryc]

Each to there own but you can’t beat slow close drawer slides.

As you say, each to their own but you can; just make and fit the drawers properly without all the clunky hardware :lol: - Rob

Nothing clunky about Blum drawer slides mate.

 

[RAF]

Mathias Wandel had the same sort of problem in one of his videos. He removed the bit of plastic in the drawer slide that seems to cause this on one of the slides. That solved it for him; he said he kept the other one in place.