Wooden Drawer Slides

If you can’t bear the thought of adding a chunk of metal hardware to your elegantly crafted creation but still want the convenience of a slide, consider using wooden concealed drawer slides. These mount underneath your drawers and provide many of the advantages of a metal slide without the manufactured look. Rubbing a little paraffin on the mating parts keeps things gliding beautifully.

Wooden slides offer near full-extension capacity while remaining quiet and unobtrusive. You can purchase these mating, dovetail slides or make them yourself with the help of a table-mounted router. While not entirely wooden, this track/glide combination offers smooth motion at a fraction of the cost of a set of metal slides.

Slide and drawer sizes

Most drawer slides are available in even lengths ranging from 10" to 28" with a couple odd lengths (15" and 21") thrown in. They also carry weight ratings. To choose the right length, measure both the depth of your cabinet and the length (front to back) of your drawer(s). Undermount slides are designed to match the drawer length. With the other slides, you typically get slides that are approximately 1" shorter than the depth of your cabinet.

As for the weight ratings, consider what you are going to put in the drawers and purchase slides up to the challenge. Canned foods, files, and tools will require heavier duty slides than clothing and linens.