Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/25/2007

Question
I am getting around to sprucing up a 1910s C roll desk that I've owned for 30 years now. On the right side of the desk below the writing surface there are only 2 drawers instead of 3. The lower drawer is double height and has 3 vertical slots for files. An old version of a pendaflex drawer IMHO.

The drawer is heavier and slides poorly as you can imagine. It binds up against the sides and you have push it harder to get the last 3 inches of drawer into its slot. That's empty,  loaded with folders, it's even worse. I've beeswaxed the runners, but not much help there.

Interestingly, there's a metal arm on the back of the drawer. There's also a small hole at the bottom of the desk behind the drawer and a crude screw behind and above the drawer. I have the feeling that there was some sort of spring attachment to the drawer to help with the sliding of the drawer. Have you ever seen or heard of anything like this? Was it some sort of retrofit somebody tried along the way?

Any help appreciated...

Answer
Hi Leanard
Nice to hear from you.
Leanard what you are describing certainly makes sense.
I personally have never seen this.
Over the years I have worked on a few of these (very few), But always they had 3 drawers down each side.
Probably no hope of replacing this device if it was original to the piece (which I suspect) so you will have to improvise if you want a smooth sliding drawer.
The wax is not doing it for you.
So remove the back and expose the drawer.
I think you will then easily see where the drawer is binding.
In most cases a drawer does not bind around the top edge (but I,ve seen that) drawers usually bind on the left and right sides of the bottom.
With the drawer removed you will see two pieces of wood that run the length of the desk on the bottom left and right sides. These pieces are around an inch wide.
This is usually where the binding takes place.
These pieces I call drawer guides. They keep the drawer going into the hole squarely.
Simple solution. Remove the old guides and cut new pieces that are 1/4 inch narrower.
Hope this helps
Great question
Regards
Eileen