Large Drawer Question

If your bottom is supported front and back, ¾” ply should be just fine for the bottom.

And either of those slides should be fine I use the Blum undermount slides on a couple of deeper but less wide drawers in the kitchen, and put a pretty heavy load in ‘em, and they’ve worked wonderfully thus far. Here's my page on how I evaluated drawer slides for our kitchen.

I’d be a little concerned about racking at that width to depth ratio, but sometimes you take what you can get and that’s going to be a concern with any slides you use.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

I have used the Blum undermount slide for the last few years and have nothing but good things to say about them. They always handle the weight, in fact the more weight, the smoother they seem to work. I really like the blummotion action. I just reviewed the link Dan just posted on comparing the two manufacturers and was impressed with his review. I’ve never used the Accuride slde system, so I can’t compare the two, but I will say that the only time I had a problem with the Blum not pulling the drawer completely closed was that I didn’t have to slides aligned. Once adjusted, they worked perfectly. Don’t know about the Accuride. If you look at my home page you will see a contemporary chest I built. The overall width of the drawers was almost 40” x 18” deep. Behind the single drawer front, I built 3 different sized drawer boxes connected together, using one set of slides to operate all three drawer boxes with one drawer front. I know that’s confusing, but the point is; That’s a lot of drawer, lots of weight and very wide. The slides work great. Good luck and let us know how things work out and which one works the best for you.

-- John @ Myrtle Beach

the slides rockler is showing is the 562 series , you didnt say the with of your drawers h=5/8 or 1/2 , F is for 3/4 sides for 18 you would want 4570 for the length, I dont remember the max with, Im sure 30” is over it but they rate them way on the cover their but range I believe you would be ok, be more concerned about weight cap. that is only a 60 or 70 pound rating slide, they do make a HD slide, I dont stock it , senior moment, cant remember the number, its 100 pound rating, as far as undermounts slides go, I stock blum, Knape & voight, and decoride(china) with the blum being far superior, Im not trying to sell on here, but that Rockler price seems high to me. Id look around if I was buying. look for blum 562H4570 or F for the 3/4 sides

-- Randy, Fla http://www.kelleyscabinetsupply.com

Yeah, Randy’s right. Shop around. I get the tandem (75lb) WITH blumotion for less than what rockler sells the regular tandem for through louis and company. Great drawer slides though

-- Childress Woodworks

Thanks everyone for the fantastic advice. I’m a bit confused about the 1/2 5/8 3/4 sides aspect. Is this the thickness of the sides? I’m planning on using 1×6 or 1×8 maple, so I’m guessing 3/4? I’m not sure how that affects the slides though, could someone elaborate?

Here is some info for you.
I’m not sure what guide your going to use but take a look at page 17, I think it will help.

You might have to go here click on drawer systems,
click on tandem, on the far right under downloads click on tandem brochure, then go to page 17.

The ½ vs 5/8 vs ¾ is the gap between the side of the slide and the slide itself, because the side of the drawer hangs down over the portion that slides, in between that slide and the side.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

OK, I get it now. I went with the Blum, and opted for the heavy-duty ones, just in case our eager 70lb black lab decides to hop in one of them… Thanks again for the help, hopefully this will turn out well enough that I’ll want to post it :)

click on kelleys right beside Randy, it will open the company I work for, then click on Blum, can look at all their products there, on 1/2 or 5/8 thickness sides use the H model for 3/4 thick sides use the F these are nice runners but ya gotta be fairly exact in your construction , then they are good to go

-- Randy, Fla http://www.kelleyscabinetsupply.com