Expert: Jamie Yocono - 5/3/2009

Question
Over the years I have had many dresser draws with many types of drawer slides, all wood, plastic, metal, combinations of the three. As a mechanic, I buy only tool boxes with ball bearing drawer slides which help to evenly distribute the weight. In asking different furniture sales personnel which is the best, I have ended up with many varying opinions and reasons. One says that the all wood bottom slides are best; and that the metal ball bearing ones just rip out of the side mounts. I have experienced this with the metal /plastic slides; especially the ones with the plastic mounts for kitchen cabinets and the such. Which ones do you recommend and why?

Answer
Hi Steve,

You're right, there are a lot of different drawer slides out there, I'll try to give you a little bit of info about how I choose a slide for any particular piece.

First, I don't really consider wooden slides to be a serious choice. Wood can shrink and swell with humidity fluctuations, and this can render your drawer slide useless. So I only use metal slides.

As far as slides go, there are some things to consider - the weight they will carry, and the amount of travel that you need. There are 3/4 extension, full extension and over travel slides. Which you choose depends on how much access you need to that drawer. Say it's a file drawer - you might want that to be (at a minimum) a full extension slide, so that you will have access to the paperwork in the back. An over travel slide might be even better.

Weight is a big issue - if the drawer will carry a heavy load, then you will probably want a ball bearing slide. But if it's a light load, a single roller wheel slide might be just fine, at about one-third of the cost.  Just a ballpark, but a good ball bearing slide is about $16, while ones with a roller wheels are often less than $6. Like I said, it all depends on your intended load, and the travel you need.

For kitchens, I generally use a white roller wheel slide, as it's clean looking, and is perfectly adequate for that usage. Those come in 50, 75 and 100 pound ratings, so they will hold just about any kitchen load possible.

Finally, I am a creature of habit, so I tend to stick with the same slides for everything I build. I like Grass slides when using the roller wheel slides, and Accuride when using a ball bearing slide. Using the same slides all the time allows me to learn the ins and outs of installing them, to get familiar with the quirks or tricks of any particular slide. It's quite helpful, as you can waste a lot of time trying to install a slide that you're not familiar with.

OK, hope this helps. Feel free to write back if you have any more questions.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com