# side drawer slide shims



## PaulHWood (Mar 26, 2012)

What is a good shim material for side drawer slides. Apparently I have manufactured 4 of my 24 drawers in a sop storage case a little out of tolerance and need to shim under the slide.

I was thinking veneer edging as I want it to be full length of the slide. Any other ideas.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

It would help to know what kind of slide and how much you think you have to shim it.


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## jayseedub (Jan 7, 2013)

Bandsawn shim
Cardboard from soda 12-pack
Aluminum can
Handplane shavings
Polycarbonate sheeting
Flat-head screws along the length, adjustable in/out to amount needed (creative, huh!?)


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## PaulHWood (Mar 26, 2012)

KV TT100 Economy 100 lb Full Extension Drawer Slide by Tru Trac (Woodworkers Hardware)

a piece of corrugated cardboard worked so we are talking 1/16" or so. Drawers work, but when fully extended, they lack contact on one side so you could potential twist them. alignment is good and when shimmed with the cardboard (not ideal) solved the problem.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Run some 1/16" strips off on the table saw.


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## Cooler (Feb 3, 2016)

Go to Starbucks and ask them to save a few of the spent gift cards. They don't absorb water and are easy to drill and cut. And they are free-well you will probably end up buying a cup of coffee-so not exactly free.


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## joek30296 (Jul 21, 2010)

Plastic laminate (formica) is about 1/16". I have used it in the past for exactly the same reason you need to.
It won't compress and it's waterproof.
Just my 2 cents


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## PaulHWood (Mar 26, 2012)

thanks, good ideas all.


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## PaulHWood (Mar 26, 2012)

Flat-head screws along the length, adjustable in/out to amount needed (creative, huh!?)

yes actually very creative


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## Cooler (Feb 3, 2016)

If you only need a few thousandths of an inch then iron-on white edge banding would work. You can cut it with a scissors and iron it on until the screws are in place. If you need more thickness you can apply to both sides of the box. I don't know about stacking the plastic stuff, but the birch or red oak stuff that they sell at the big box stores can be stacked.

I usually make my drawers at the high side of the dimensions. So I am sometimes a bit tight but never a little loose.

If it is too snug, I simply run the drawer through on my table saw with the blade set to the hardware height. I can set the blade to take as little as 1/64" of an inch.

If the piece is way oversize, which has not happened yet, I would take a little off both sides. I use a rip blade and it makes a very clean cut. I use solid wood for my drawer boxes and this would not work for plywood boxes.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

I've used most of the stuff listed above, but mostly it's the veneer edging that solves the problem for me.


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## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

Creative, but I would rather have a flat pc of laminate backing the whole width of the guide instead of a screw head sticking out.
I actually take laminate and make a cut for the screw so that I can place the shim wherever a screw is and the guide will suck flat to the wall without tweaking the guide member.


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