I have full slab of 3/4 MDF from which to cut vertical sides to support the 24"
Accuride 3832 slides for the drawers under my new WB.
There will be 4 of these side pieces.
Each will be about 31" high and 29" long.
Two verticals will go into each opening below the support structure for the WB.
Each of a pair of verticals will be installed // with no taper front to back.
I have only one shot to finish or not to finish the MDF.
I am considering sealing only the edges all around with wall compound and forget the
inner and outer surfaces. It is a work bench after all.
1. Am I headed in the right direction as far as the MDF is concerned?
2. Should I mount all of the appropriate half of the slides to the MDF before I
install the MDF? I think I can attach those parts better with the MDF flat on my WB
than after the sides are already attached to the vertical supports. There is not much
room under the WB for me to get my 6'-3" hunk in there.
I think one advantage of working with the MDF on top of my WB is that I can register
the two MDF sides and drill very tiny holes all the way through for the first and
last screws for each slide. Then I plan to install all slides and insert the
remaining screws for each slide. That way, I only need to pay keen attention when
installing the two sides in register against the vertical supports.
Is that a viable plan? Any better one?
I will appreciate any helpful suggestions.
Regards to All in This House,
Hoyt W.
Those are deep drawers and therefore heavy...with or without content. MDF
starts to show its weakness in joinery in this type of application. You are
asking a lot of the screws holding the glides and for the corners. Go ahead and
do it but be aware that it may not make it to "antique days."
Make two drawers of half the dpeth would help as would making drawers out of
good plywood.
JLucas ILS wrote:
> Those are deep drawers and therefore heavy...with or without content. MDF
> starts to show its weakness in joinery in this type of application. You are
> asking a lot of the screws holding the glides and for the corners. Go ahead and
> do it but be aware that it may not make it to "antique days."
> Make two drawers of half the dpeth would help as would making drawers out of
> good plywood.
Perhaps I gave the wrong impression. I am not making the drawers *with* MDF. The
drawers will be made with dovetailed and glued walnut fronts and oak sides and backs
and 1/4" B.B. ply bottoms.
The MDF, in this application, is used only to *support* the drawers. Therefore the
MDF would be in shear - as far as the screws are concerned. Perhaps "shear" is not
the proper term for screw pull-out resistance.
It is possible that I missed your point. If so, please have at me once again.
Regards,
Hoyt W.
JLucas ILS wrote:
> Hoyt,
> I clearly misinjterpreted your question. As for haning the slides to the MDF
> case, it is done all the time. I like to use sheet metal screws 8 x 5/8" - a
> very aggressive thread. Of course, if you have face framed the case, then you
> will have to build out the rail support accordingly.
J, do the heads of those threads interfere at all with the movement of the slides? I
assume they do not or you would not have said what you did. The 5/8 inchers sound
just right to me. I do not want them peeping through the other side. The aggressive
thread should be the best for MDF I think.
I will not be building a case per se. I will just install the two vertical sides into
the two spaces below the WB.
No face framing will be involved and the drawers will not be lipped. The front edges
of the MDF will be covered with some veneer tape or something similar such as a very
thin strip of walnut epoxied to the MDF. I do understand what you are saying though.
Thanks.
Hoyt W.
Robert Bonomi wrote:
<snipity snip>
> Being able to raise/lower and/or *rotate* (as in 'raise the front, while
> lowering the back) the entire liner against the carcass makes the final
> positioning a whole lot less of a hassle. It does come at a cost, however.
> You do suffer a reduction in the 'usable width' of the drawer space.
Thank you for your helpful reply Robert. As for the usable width, the present I.D.
between the two vertical support legs is 24 & 3/16 inches ( 61.44 cm ). That is 4bys
to 4bys. Ergo, I have ample room for the width of the drawers.
Regards,
Hoyt W.
In article <[email protected]>,
Hoyt Weathers <[email protected]> wrote:
>I have full slab of 3/4 MDF from which to cut vertical sides to support the 24"
>Accuride 3832 slides for the drawers under my new WB.
>
>There will be 4 of these side pieces.
>
>Each will be about 31" high and 29" long.
>
>Two verticals will go into each opening below the support structure for the WB.
>
>Each of a pair of verticals will be installed // with no taper front to back.
*good* idea! Otherwise you have to shim the shelf slides. DAMHIKT. :)
>
>I have only one shot to finish or not to finish the MDF.
>
>I am considering sealing only the edges all around with wall compound
>and forget the inner and outer surfaces. It is a work bench after all.
>
> 1. Am I headed in the right direction as far as the MDF is concerned?
I won't say you're wrong. Me, I'm _paranoid_ (or I would be, but I'm short a
noid :), so _I_ would put some sort of a seal-coat on all the surfaces.
Particularly if things were in a high-humidity environment.
Any sort of cheap polyurethane, shellac, or whatever. Water-based (i.e.
latex) paint is not a good idea. Oil-based is O.K. The local BORG usually
have 'returns' -- where somebody didn't like the color, or something similar.
at real cheap prices. Circa $4/gallon.
> 2. Should I mount all of the appropriate half of the slides to the
>install the MDF? I think I can attach those parts better with the MDF
>flat on my WB than after the sides are already attached to the vertical
>supports. There is not much room under the WB for me to get my 6'-3" hunk
>in there.
>
>I think one advantage of working with the MDF on top of my WB is that I can
>register the two MDF sides and drill very tiny holes all the way through for
>the first and last screws for each slide. Then I plan to install all slides
>and insert the remaining screws for each slide. That way, I only need to pay
>keen attention when installing the two sides in register against the vertical
>supports.
>
>Is that a viable plan? Any better one?
I've been known to use a 2nd piece of material on the inside of the carcass.
carefully (procedurally similar to what you describe) pre-mounting all the
slides to this 'inner' piece. Then I _clamp_ these pieces in place to the
carcass and test-fit the drawers. Adjusting the sides, as needed, to get
things right. *Then* I fasten the inner liner to the carcass. Then comes
the _last_ step -- remove the clamps.
Getting the slides parallel, square, and *matching* the other side -- when
the 'liner' piece is out on the workbench is a _lot_ easier than trying to
do things _inside_ the cabinet.
Being able to raise/lower and/or *rotate* (as in 'raise the front, while
lowering the back) the entire liner against the carcass makes the final
positioning a whole lot less of a hassle. It does come at a cost, however.
You do suffer a reduction in the 'usable width' of the drawer space.