Popular Woodworking 2006-06 № 155, страница 49

■ Under-mount Slides

There are also specialty under-mount slides that mount below the drawer bottom (usually a single slide mounted in the center of the drawer) allowing full-width drawers with no visible hardware. These are frequently more expensive and involve more complicated mounting procedures, including changes to the way the cabinet itself is constructed. You should be aware of them, but we're going to look at the more common under-mount enamel-coated slides that mount at the bottom of the drawer sides.

These lighter-duty slides offer good support by wrapping around the bottom

of the drawer side (using the drawer itself as support) rather than relying on screws fastened into the sides alone.

I mentioned that these slides are enamel coated. These allow the slides to be made in a variety of colors, including white, almond, brown and black, rather than just bare metal. Many people find this appearance more appealing. Beyond the look, the enamel coating also serves to deaden the noise created by the slides as the drawer is opened or closed.

Because these under-mount slides mount to the bottom of the drawer side as well as to the side, there is no height adjustment on the drawer members

of the slides. This makes it even more critical to get the spacing of the cabinet member accurate.

Speaking of spacing, these slides also require a

l/₂„

gap on either side of the drawer box to allow room for the slides. In addition, the manner in which the drawer and cabinet members interlock requires you to lift up the drawer to remove or install it in the carcase. This means that the drawer sides have to be shorter than the opening by as much as 1^/^/2" to allow for that clearance. Because you have to allow this extra space, that means slightly less storage space in each drawer when using these slides.

A spacing template makes getting the drawer slides mounted to the cabinet easier and helps ensure that you won't need to do as much adusting to fit the drawers.

Spacing tab

Even with careful measuring, sometimes your drawer ends up more narrow than planned. Some slides offer an adjustable (bendable) tab to space the slide (and drawer box) farther away from the cabinet's side for a tighter fit.

Face frame cabinets have recessed sides on the inside requiring spacers behind the slides to bring them flush to the inside edge of the face frame member.

Even if the slide isn't equipped with adjusting tabs, slight adjustments in width are possible. Pieces of veneer tape can be used as shims for a tighter fit. Leave the shims oversize while fitting, then trim to size to hide behind the slide.

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