Expert: Jamie Yocono - 3/20/2007

Question
We have an old bedroom set that we just refinished, but we've always had a problem with the drawers sticking.  They are a peg and groove style drawer where pegs are situated on the bottom of the drawer frame on either side and there are grooves running along the bottom of each side of the drawer.  Would you recommend any type of product to help them glide better?  Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Jill,

There are a few ways you could help the drawers, it depends on how bad they are, or how much trouble (or money!) you want to put into the project.

If I understand you correctly, the pegs (wooden, I'm assuming) are riding on the grooves below. That means wood on wood, which is probably part of the problem. One easy fix might be to simply apply some wax in the grooves. I like Johnson's Paste wax, it comes in a one pound tin, and will last a long time. I would apply wax to the runner, a nice coat, and see if that doesn't solve the problem. If you don't want to buy paste wax, you could probably try rubbing something waxy on the runner, like old candles or even crayons. I knew an old carpenter that would do that, and swore by it.

If that doesn't help, there are some products that might help. There is a product called Nylo-Tape, which is a nylon tape that has adhesive on one side. You basically lay the tape down in the groove, and it provides a nice slippery surface for your pegs to glide upon. I don't do any furniture repair these days, but when I used to, this stuff worked well.

Here is a link to a place that sells it: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=214

If you decide to go this route, please be aware that the groove must be clean and dry so that the tape will stick. If you try the wax suggestion first, the wax may keep the tape from sticking.

Here is another product that might help:  http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=213&cs=1

Finally, if these suggestions don't fix the problem, you might need to consider installing a mechanical slide. Most woodworkers use slides that are mounted on the sides of the drawer box. Generally, these slides are 1/2" wide. So your drawer box MUST measure one inch less that the opening. For example- if your drawer box (outside to outside) is 18" wide, then your opening must be 19" wide, as one half inch will be taken up on each side with the drawer glide mechanism.  If you don't have the extra inch, I wouldn't recommend installing glides, unless you want to have some new drawer boxes built. The other type of drawer glide is a bottom mount, and I think those are terrible glides. They're harder to install, and usually are not very well made. So I only recommend the side mount glides.

So, those are your options- try some wax. Try some Teflon tape. Or consider putting in better drawer glides. If you look around on that Rockler Woodworking site, they have some good information about drawer glides, you might want to familiarize yourself with them before starting this project.

Another very good place to look for parts when repairing furniture is this place: http://www.vandykes.com

OK, good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this. And if this answer was helpful... please take a minute and rate my service. Thanks!

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