Whether the drawer slides is selected correctly will greatly affect our quality of life.
Whether a cabinet is useful depends on your drawer slides.
Before selecting the right drawer slides, you need to think about the following questions. Only when you have a clear purpose can you select the required drawer slides:
- The main purpose of the cabinet;
- Installation method of drawer;
- Expansion requirements of drawer and the size of your cabinet;
- The drawer load demand;
- What feature do you need for drawer sldies
First of all, we need to understand the composition of the drawer slides to understand its working principle and whether it is suitable for your cabinet.
WHAT MAKES UP A DRAWER SLIDES
Drawer slides have two mating pieces. The drawer profile attaches to the drawer and slides into or rests on the cabinet profile, which attaches to the cabinet. Ball bearings or nylon rollers allow the parts to move smoothly past each other.
A more complex slide structure will include three members, with an intermediate member located between the cabinet and drawer members. Only the drawer and intermediate members move; while the cabinet member remains fixed to its location within the cabinet structure.
Generally speaking, 3 fold drawer slides can be full extension or over travel. VADANIA drawer slides are all 3-fold full extension designed.
Slides with ball bearings, top, typically carry heavier loads. Sophisticated construction and heavy-duty materials make them more expensive than roller slides, bottom.
Secondly, whether you want the slide rail to be seen will determine your slide rail installation choice.
One of the first considerations when choosing a slide is whether you want it visible when the drawer opens. Some visible slides come in various colors (white, ivory, brown, or black) to help them blend better with light or dark drawer boxes.
There are five different mounting options; and typically, the type of option chosen is determined by factors like, the amount of space inside the cabinet, slide visibility, and cost.
- Bottom-mounted slides are typically guided by rollers rather than by ball bearings. The mount has an angled flange that holds the drawer box and indexes the slide for quick, easy installation. These are most often used on frameless cabinets, but can be adapted to face-frame cabinets as well.
- Side-mounted slides are attached horizontally to the cabinet body and to the drawer. These slides are useful in multiple applications because of their durability and high weight limits. Side-mounted slides can be bought with either a roller or ball bearing mechanism, but the latter are more durable over time.
VADANIA Drawer Slides are all side mounting and ball bearing design, which can be more durable. What’s more, their black design makes it easy to hide the sliders in dark cabinets.
- Center-mounted slides mount under the drawer’s center. They somewhat restrict drawer height, weight limit, and cabinet size, but they are simpler to install.
- Under-mounted slides mount to the cabinet sides. They are ideal when accentuating the cabinetry’s quality because they are invisible. These slides are perfect in areas with limited horizontal space.
- Groove-mounted slides aren’t commonly used in the U.S., but they can be seen on crafted furniture imported from Europe. This access hardware has a lighter load rating and is only used in partial extension variations.
Third, you need to think about what your cabinet use for and how far they should travel.
Think about drawer access
Drawer slides further differ by how far they allow a drawer to open.
Overtravel slides utilize a telescoping design that lets the drawer extend beyond the cabinet. Use them when overhanging countertops get in the way of drawer access. Make sure the cabinet location provides room for opening the drawer fully.
Full-extension slides also telescope, allowing the full length of the drawer to clear the cabinet. Choose these when you need easy access to the rear of the drawer, as in a file drawer.
7⁄8 -extension slides allow the drawer to extend 7⁄8 of its length—a good compromise between 3⁄4 – and full-extension.
3⁄4 -extension slides, as you might guess, allow the drawer to open 3⁄4 of its length. Choose this type of slide when unblocked access to the entire drawer matters little, or where space limits how far a drawer can extend.
Depending on the use of the drawer you may require a 75% slide which extends the drawer out to 75% the length of the slide, or a full extension which will extend the drawer outwards to 100% of the length of the slide. In kitchens you find most drawers extend 100%, whereas in bedroom furniture or office furniture you find more 75% extension slides.
MEASURING FOR DRAWER SLIDES
Taking accurate measurements ensures you buy slides that work in your cabinet. Follow these tips to make sure everything goes smoothly:
The Drawer Slide’s Thickness is the most important measurement in finding the right slide. A drawer slide that is too thick or thin will prevent your drawer slide from working properly, if at all.
If you want to renew your cabinet, it is best to measure your cabinetry, rather than your old slides, to find the thickness you’ll need. If your drawer measures 15 inches wide, and your drawer slot is 16-1/2” inches, then the total space you have for both slides combined is 1-1/2” This means that you require 2 drawer slides, each with a 3/4” thickness.
If you want to build a new cabinet, because the thickness of drawer slides and the width of the drawer opening are fixed, best practice is to build the drawer box to fit the difference between the two after assembling the cabinet. For example, most roller slides and side-mount ball-bearing slides require 1⁄2 ” of mounting space on each side. To use these in a 12″-wide drawer opening, build the drawer 11″ wide.
And VADANIA drawer slides have two thickness size, 0.5” and 0.7”, that means we need 1”/1.4” space for installing between drawer and cabinet.
The Length of your Drawer Slide is also a vital measurement. A drawer slide that is too long or short will not only prevent your drawer from opening and closing properly, but will also put additional stress on your slides. You should always use the longest slide possible for your application, without exceeding the drawer depth into the cabinet.
To determine the proper length, measure the interior depth of the cabinet (behind the face frame, if there is one) and choose a slide the next size shorter than that measurement.
For example, if the depth is 13in/330mm, choose 12in/300mm drawer slides. Deviations of 0.7in/20mm-1in/30mm are suitable
- Soft close size table download
- Push to Open size table download
- Heavy Duty with Lock size table download
- Ultra heavy Duty drawer slides size table
Forth, What does your drawer hold? How much load does it need?
The load rating is an extremely important factor to consider when selecting a drawer slide. Generally we categorize drawer slides into Light, Medium and Heavy Duty load ratings. Our selection of slides range from 10kg slides suitable for most kitchen drawers, up to 250kg heavy duty slides used for drawers storing tools and industrial components.
- Light Duty Ball Bearing Slides – (10kg – 15kg) (22lb – 33lb)
- Medium Duty Ball Bearing Slides – (35kg – 45kg) (77lb – 99lb)
- Heavy Duty Ball Bearing Slides – (120kg – 250kg) (264lb – 550lb)
VADANIA Drawer Slides belong to heavy duty ball bearing slides – (45kg – 120 kg) (100lb – 264lb)
- VADANIA Soft Close Drawer Slides and Push to Open Drawer Slides handle loads up to 100 lbs. They are mostly used in home, kitchen and office drawers.
- VADANIA Heavy Duty Drawer Slides with Lock handles loads up to 264 lbs. They are mostly used in emergency or recreational vehicles, ATM machines, and utility/service trucks.
This applies to all Drawer Slides when they are at full extension and fitted as a pair whilst side mounted, please note that mounting our slides on the base will reduce the load capacity by up to 80%. Side-mounted drawer slides can withstand greater weight.
Weight ratings apply to a pair of slides (if installation requires a pair), so two 100-lb slides cannot handle 200 lbs.
Longer slides have more robust construction than shorter ones of the same rating. For example, an 18″ slide rated for 100 lbs will be stouter than a 16″ slide with the same rating. A shorter slide has leverage to its advantage.
With decisions made on type, extension, and weight rating, determine the right size slide for the project.
SEPARABLE DRAWER SLIDES OR NOT
Decide if you want your drawer to be removable from the cabinet structure. If so, choose a slide with a disconnect feature that lets you separate the drawer member from the cabinet, or intermediate member, allowing the removal of the drawer (to clean for example).
There are slides with rail disconnect features (VADANIA Drawer Slides are all separable), which allow rails that are attached to the sides of drawers, to be released and lifted off the corresponding drawer members.
A disconnect feature is useful for furniture manufacturers with multiple assembly lines. One line may assemble hardware to drawers, while another may assemble hardware to cabinets. With a disconnect slide, manufacturers can simply mount the separate members in the assembly phases and then join them together in the final stage. Connecting a drawer member with a cabinet member can be as simple as align, engage and push closed.
Fifth, some special functions can make your cabinet work better.
SPECIAL FEATURES OF DRAWER SLIDES
Additionally, slides can come with features that make opening or closing a drawer more convenient. These include:
- Self & Soft-Close
- Push to Open
- With Lock
VADANIA Soft Close drawer slides includes a closing device, equipped with a damping cylinder, and cooperating springs that engages with the drawer member and assists the final inches of the drawer closing action. It provides assurance that the drawer will close quietly and smoothly every time. The soft close drawer slides application includes civil furniture, office furniture, cabinets/wardrobes, etc.
VADANIA Push to Open drawer slides allows opening of the drawer, without the need for a drawer pull. Activation the push to open slide is accomplished by simply pressing against the drawer front, which releases a spring activated device to “spring” the drawer out of the cabinet approximately 2 in. Closing is just a matter of pushing the drawer closed completely, which resets the device for the next opening activity. The push to open drawer slides application includes Civil Furniture, kitchen cabinet , Office Furniture, etc.
VADANIA Heavy Duty Drawer Slides with Lock can be secured in full extension and close. You just need to press the button to unlock the drawer slides. It is ideal for heavy duty keyboard, mechanical cabinets, warehouse cabinets, industrial cabinets, financial equipment, truck drawers.
Now that you know the options, simply consider all installation requirements and pick a slide that best suits the project. This brief guide should shed some more light on what makes an VADANIA drawer slides and how it can best serve your needs. You can browse our vast selection of movement solutions at vadania.com.
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