[Leo G]

Under mount drawer slides? They are nice.

Been a long time since I made a solid wood drawer. Been using Baltic Birch plywood forever now. Still dovetail it.

 

[Willievkatz]

Under mount drawer slides? They are nice.

Been a long time since I made a solid wood drawer. Been using Baltic Birch plywood forever now. Still dovetail it.

Baltic Birch is a beautiful plywood. Just spent $169 dollars on a sheet to do a punch repair--veneer was bashed by the appliance guys bringing in a gigantic fridge.

 

[Leo G]

Ouch. Last time I paid $90/sheet for a 5'x5'x16mm. And I don't think I'd ever call it beautiful.

 

[Willievkatz]

Ouch. Last time I paid $90/sheet for a 5'x5'x16mm. And I don't think I'd ever call it beautiful.

Mine was 4'x8'x3/4". Final product certainly turned out pretty beautiful!

 

[Leo G]

Ya, the 4x8s are much more spendy.

 

[Leo G]

 

[hoye0017]

Damn autocorrect made “undermining” out of “undermount”. just fixed it.

I’m pretty set on pocket screw drawer construction. I prefer to not see any of the joinery at all. I usually use pre-finished maple plywood with edge banding.

 

[Leo G]

Quick and easy. So not solid wood. Cheater LOL

I like the dovetails.

 

[tjbnwi]

Under mount drawer slides? They are nice.

Been a long time since I made a solid wood drawer. Been using Baltic Birch plywood forever now. Still dovetail it.

We fab nothing but 5/8” solid maple boxes with dovetails. Heights up to 16”, 2” increments.

Tom

 

[Leo G]

And you have a widebelt.

From 2.365" to 16.365" in one inch increments for me.

 

[KAP]

We fab nothing but 5/8” solid maple boxes with dovetails. Heights up to 16”, 2” increments.

Tom

We do 3/4" solid maple (less processing, beefier look, ties in with the rest of the cabinetry) with dovetails and 1/2" bottoms... we leave the 5/8" for vanities/bathrooms or other drawers that aren't that wide... most of our drawers are in the 21-36"w range and 4.25" - 12"h, although we go outside both those numbers depending on application...

Toyed around with the idea of just using the 13/16" as it comes in but sand/prep to remove a step but found there's always blemishes that are easier planed away prior to sanding... add to it, you'd have to remove 1/16" of an inch from the 1/2" bottom section of the side to accommodate the glides... so tossed that idea... just trading one activity with another with no real net benefit...

 

[tjbnwi]

And you have a widebelt.

From 2.365" to 16.365" in one inch increments for me.

I do not have a wide belt. Someday maybe.

Tom

 

[tjbnwi]

We do 3/4" solid maple (less processing, beefier look, ties in with the rest of the cabinetry) with dovetails and 1/2" bottoms... we leave the 5/8" for vanities/bathrooms or other drawers that aren't that wide... most of our drawers are in the 21-36"w range and 4.25" - 12"h, although we go outside both those numbers depending on application...

Toyed around with the idea of just using the 13/16" as it comes in but sand/prep to remove a step but found there's always blemishes that are easier planed away prior to sanding... add to it, you'd have to remove 1/16" of an inch from the 1/2" bottom section of the side to accommodate the glides... so tossed that idea... just trading one activity with another with no real net benefit...

The 563H slides we use wont take a 3/4 side. I know the 563F and the 569F will take 3/4 sides not sure how easily I could get those now.

Tom

 

[Leo G]

We do 3/4" solid maple (less processing, beefier look, ties in with the rest of the cabinetry) with dovetails and 1/2" bottoms... we leave the 5/8" for vanities/bathrooms or other drawers that aren't that wide... most of our drawers are in the 21-36"w range and 4.25" - 12"h, although we go outside both those numbers depending on application...

Toyed around with the idea of just using the 13/16" as it comes in but sand/prep to remove a step but found there's always blemishes that are easier planed away prior to sanding... add to it, you'd have to remove 1/16" of an inch from the 1/2" bottom section of the side to accommodate the glides... so tossed that idea... just trading one activity with another with no real net benefit...

So you're not using undermounts then. Unless you are paying the premium for the 3/4" slides. Most undermounts are for 1/2"-5/8". I think it's wasting space using a 3/4" side.

 

[Leo G]

I do not have a wide belt. Someday maybe.

Tom

Nor I. Maybe that's Pinwheel.

 

[KAP]

So you're not using undermounts then. Unless you are paying the premium for the 3/4" slides. Most undermounts are for 1/2"-5/8". I think it's wasting space using a 3/4" side.

Yeah, we use undermounts... pretty much all we use, full-extension Blumotion, except for specialty applications... the price difference between 563F and 563H is negligible (I think less than $2/glide set)... in fact, it actually costs you more in labor and consumables getting it to 5/8" if you're using solid wood... not so much the case if you're using baltic-ply... in that case, if you're that worried about a neglibile cost difference between the glide sets, one-sided pre-finished ply for the interior, so you only have to process the outside after assembly and sanding to finish makes sense...

Wasted space? You're talking a 1/4"... not even noticeable from a usability POV... only reason we do 5/8" for bathrooms for most cases is the drawers are generally smaller and the beefier look doesn't really matter as much.... as a rule if a drawer is less than 15" wide in a bathroom, it gets 5/8" sides...

 

[KAP]

The 563H slides we use wont take a 3/4 side. I know the 563F and the 569F will take 3/4 sides not sure how easily I could get those now.

Tom

Find it harder to get the 563H around here... but I'll tell you, the knock-off's that Wurth/Baer makes (imports) are pretty much identical to Blum's with the exception of the locking device, which is actually more substantial IMO than the standard locking devices... we'll see how they operate overall... couldn't get the 563H's for 5/8" (all drawers in this one were less than 15"w) in time for a customer we just did two bathroom vanities for who was selling their house (actually sold in two weeks with quick close)... drawers go in this week in the vanities and they close in two weeks... their kitchen we did as well, has the Blum 563F's so it'll be interesting to see the side-by-side comparison operation wise...

Big difference in cost though... my only reservation is I know they're a knock-off...

 

[Leo G]

Going from 13/16" to 3/4" or 5/8" makes little difference in time other than emptying the dust collector of chips.

 

[KAP]

Going from 13/16" to 3/4" or 5/8" makes little difference in time other than emptying the dust collector of chips.

Other than the multiple passes, planer blades and/or sanding pads/belts, electric, wear and tear on machinery and the time and materials to do it all... unless you're doing it for free...

Drawer sides got four pieces, two-sides... going from 13/16" to 5/8" triples the time you have into that aspect of fabrication than going from 13/16" to 3/4"... you're certainly going to spend more than less than $2 per drawer doing it just in labor alone...

 

[tjbnwi]

Find it harder to get the 563H around here... but I'll tell you, the knock-off's that Wurth/Baer makes (imports) are pretty much identical to Blum's with the exception of the locking device, which is actually more substantial IMO than the standard locking devices... we'll see how they operate overall... couldn't get the 563H's for 5/8" (all drawers in this one were less than 15"w) in time for a customer we just did two bathroom vanities for who was selling their house (actually sold in two weeks with quick close)... drawers go in this week in the vanities and they close in two weeks... their kitchen we did as well, has the Blum 563F's so it'll be interesting to see the side-by-side comparison operation wise...

Big difference in cost though... my only reservation is I know they're a knock-off...

View attachment 530700

I had to use those chinese knockoffs on the last job because I couldn’t get enough Blums.

There is a lot more slop in the knockoffs and they droop a lot more than the Blums.

There is no rear adjustment for tilt or side to side.

They tend to tilt the front when you have to raise the front.

None of the above matters much on overlays, they suck for insets.

I’ll never use them again.

Tom