Woodworker's Journal Summer-2008, страница 25
Installation Basics Most of the furniture we build will still be in daily service when our grandchildren retire. Viewed in that light, the cost of upgrading from standard to heavy-duty drawer slides isn't such a big deal. But the benefits sure are. A slide rated for 300 to 500 pounds will operate beautifully for a drawer full of heavy books or documents, but it also will endure many more decades of use than a slide rated for light use (say, 50 pounds). Installing them is a snap. Begin by building your drawers so they're exactly 1" narrower than the opening. (Check the specifications that come with your drawer slides: there are a few versions that use metric measurements.) This allows 1/2" on either side of the drawer, which is exactly the right clearance for the slide to operate properly. More than 1/2" means the slide operation will be sloppy: it may even derail. With less than 1/2", the slide will quickly bind. Most slides are screwed in place along the bottom edge of the drawer side. To locate the matching receivers inside the cabinet, use a paper template (usually included with the slides) or an aftermarket plastic template (available for most brands of slides), as shown in the photo sequence at right. In either case, follow the individual manufacturer's instructions. 0 Build the drawers 1" narrower than the opening, allowing 1/2" on either side of the drawer box. Some imported metric slides may require slightly different allowances, so check the specific instructions first. If there's more than one drawer in an opening, space them so the bottom drawer has enough clearance to slide properly, then divide the remaining area equally among the drawers. The slide receivers must be mounted truly perpendicular to their openings. Lining up the screw holes is best done with a template (inset), or by aligning the slide with pencil marks drawn along a square. If the slides aren't absolutely parallel, your drawer will never glide properly. With the receivers installed in the cabinet, use the slides as templates to locate screw holes in the wooden drawer sides. Screw the slides to the drawers and slip the drawers into the cabinet. That's all there is to it! l . c o m summer 2008 25 |
