Quality fittings are a prerequisite for the manufacture of solid cabinet furniture. The strength, durability and comfort level of kitchens, chests of drawers, slides, cabinets and wardrobes depend on the technical characteristics of the components.
There are several types of retractable systems that differ in design complexity, cost and ease of use:
- roller guides;
- ball guides;
- metaboxes;
- tandems;
- tandemboxes;
- legraboxes.
Usually installing drawer rails is a simple scheme that even a non-professional can handle. Do-it-yourself installation of drawer guides will require careful study of the instructions, a little time and skills in working with a screwdriver.
Roller guides for drawers
These rails are commonly used for making furniture in mass production. Manufactured from steel with white, grey, black or brown epoxy paint on topcolors. The length of the guides can be different: from 250 mm to 600 mm in 50 mm increments. It is specially selected for the size of the boxes.
The weight that the roller guides keep in motion is no more than 15 kg. Significant disadvantages of this type of guides are their noise when moving, fragility and incomplete rolling out of boxes.
The installation of roller guides for drawers requires precise calculation. If the calculation is incorrect, the life of the rollers is significantly reduced, and early problems with the movement of the boxes are also likely.
Ball guides for drawers
Made from stamped steel with anodized finish. Their design is fundamentally different from roller guides. To slide the box on the skids, a clip with metal balls filled with a viscous lubricant is used. This gives a relatively quiet operation and increases the service life. There are models equipped with built-in closers that prevent the drawer from making a noisy impact on the body rack when it slams shut. The system has two metal elements: one is attached to the inner wall of the product, and the other to the box. To separate these two parts, you need to use a retainer.
Ball guides can be fully or partially rolled out. Full extension rails (or telescopic) allow you to pull the drawer out of the cabinetfurniture, which maximizes the view of the interior space. Partial extension guides leave an unobservable area of about 50 mm from the rear end of the drawer. The length of the guides is from 200 to 600 mm in 50 mm increments. The maximum load of guides with a height of 35 mm is 30 kg. There are also reinforced guides, their height is 45 mm, and the maximum load is up to 45 kg.
Metaboxes
This is a kind of roller guide. The steel skids of these rails are enlarged to the height of the box and completely replace its wooden side walls. Hence the name - metaboxes or metalboxes. The rollers are attached to the sidewalls. The height of the side walls is from 54 mm to 150 mm. You can increase the height with special rails. The bottom of the metabox is made of chipboard, limiting the filling to 20 kg. The shorter the drawer, the greater the load allowed.
The front mount to the metabox has vertical and horizontal adjustment, which allows you to accurately align it with the body. Most often, metaboxes are used in the manufacture of serial kitchens of the budget category.
Tandems
Tandems - concealed mounting guides. There are two types: full and partial extension. The box on such guides is attached from above, completely hiding them under the sides and bottom.
Soft sliding (even with a load of up to 50 kg) is provided according to the bearing principle: blocksteel balls located on four sides of the skids (quad system), or cylinders - needles. The fastener allows you to adjust the position of the drawer relative to the body and remove the drawer from the rails without tools. Tandems are available in several versions:
- with closer - regular opening by the handle and soft closing;
- with tip on or push to open mechanism – opens by touching the front;
- with electromechanical opening.
Tandemboxes
Tandembox - a box consisting of double-walled metal sides, the bottom is usually made of chipboard, the back wall is made of metal or chipboard and concealed mounting guides. These are the same tandems equipped with double side walls. It is possible to increase the height of the drawer with rails and a special profile. Some manufacturers make glass extensions.
For the organization of the internal space of the box, additional options are provided: mobile dividers, containers and stands for cutlery and spice jars.
Legrabox boxes
The most modern and expensive drawer runner systems, occupying a high position in the list of all furniture components. The strengthened design steadily maintains loading already up to 60 kg. The brushed stainless steel finish accentuates the sophistication and sophistication of the legrabox's stylish design.
Installation of this type of systems involves precision drilling facadesand side walls, absolutely verified calculations in the manufacture of parts from chipboard. It is also imperative to correctly and accurately mill the bottom.
Manufacturers of furniture fittings offer other ways to use guides. For example, fastening of pull-out baskets, nets, containers for various purposes.
General guidelines for installing drawer rails
How to install everything correctly? The calculation of details when installing guides for drawers can be made according to the formulas that manufacturers provide for their products. Usually all the necessary information is also contained in the instructions.
The key to successful installation of drawer guides is accurate marking. All guides must be installed at the same level and strictly parallel to each other. It is most convenient to make markings before assembling the product on a flat horizontal surface with sufficient lighting.
There are two ways to install the drawer front: external and internal. With an external installation method, the facade closes the end of the housing. Then the guide must be attached close to the outer end of the product rack. With the internal method, the end of the product rack is in the same plane with the facade. When fastening, the guide must be moved inward from the visible end by the thickness of the facade.
Installation instructions for roller guides for drawers
Now let's talk about installing roller guides. When installing rollerguides for drawers, the set must be divided into right and left sides, and then into internal and external parts. The left outer part has a U-shaped profile, the right outer part has a G-shaped profile, the inner ones have an L-shaped profile.
All parts of the rails have holes for fixing and adjusting them on the parts using self-tapping screws. According to the marking lines, the corresponding parts of the guides are screwed onto the racks of the product case. It is necessary to make sure that the rollers on them are closer to the front end of the part. L-shaped parts of the guides are attached to the already assembled box. In this case, the rollers should be located at the rear end of the box.
The product is assembled, boxes are inserted, facades and handles are hung. Installation completes.
Installation instructions for ball guides
When installing ball guides for drawers, you need to separate the inside of the guide from the outside. To do this, find a plastic tab on the inside of the guide and pull out the narrow part.
According to preliminary marking, it is necessary to screw the outer part of the guide to the rack, and the inner part to the side wall of the box. Assemble the product, insert the boxes, hang the facades. Installation of telescopic slides for drawers is finished.
What about closet drawers? The installation of guides for drawers with a closer is carried out in the same way. Everything is quite simple here. Installation of ball guides "Boyard" for drawers or systems of other manufacturers is carried out in an identical way.
