I have a 70's vintage Craftsman tool chest, a gift from my wife way back when. It has old metal-on-metal friction drawer slides that have never worked. It' a chore to get the drawers open.
Upgrading to ball bearing slides seemed easy enough. But how to mount the new slides without welding? I'm no good at welding sheet metal, plus I didn't want to ruin the finish. The solution kept coming back - use wood. In a metal tool cabinet?
It worked out well. The chest sides are more rigid with glued-in plywood, and maple slide mounts add strength.
Here is an inside view of the 3-drawer chest with the old metal-on-metal friction slides.
Here is a new ball bearing slide compared to the old friction ones.
After cutting out the old slides, I had a cavity to fill and new slide mounts to install. I used 3/4" baltic birch plywood and glued it to the chest using polyurethane construction adhesive, then glued 1/2" hard maple to the plywood for the mounts.
Here are the new slides
The old slides were welded to the drawer box sides, so I had to cut out the spot welds.
Here is the new slide. I secured it with a 1/8" thick X 1/2" wide steel flat bar on the inside of the box, running the depth of the drawer, tapped 8-32, then nutted. Made the box sides much more rigid.
And here is the finished product. No wood to be seen. I have spent the last hour pulling out the drawers, and sliding them back in. Nothing like the feel of a nicely gliding drawer.
.
Key Words
› replacement tool chest drawer slides
› Tool box drawer slides
› Tool box drawer slides kit
› Tool box replacement slides
› Tool chest drawer slides
› craftsman ball bearing tool chest
› Ball bearing slides for drawers
› Tool box drawer rails
Upgrading to ball bearing slides seemed easy enough. But how to mount the new slides without welding? I'm no good at welding sheet metal, plus I didn't want to ruin the finish. The solution kept coming back - use wood. In a metal tool cabinet?
It worked out well. The chest sides are more rigid with glued-in plywood, and maple slide mounts add strength.
Here is an inside view of the 3-drawer chest with the old metal-on-metal friction slides.
Here is a new ball bearing slide compared to the old friction ones.
After cutting out the old slides, I had a cavity to fill and new slide mounts to install. I used 3/4" baltic birch plywood and glued it to the chest using polyurethane construction adhesive, then glued 1/2" hard maple to the plywood for the mounts.
Here are the new slides
The old slides were welded to the drawer box sides, so I had to cut out the spot welds.
Here is the new slide. I secured it with a 1/8" thick X 1/2" wide steel flat bar on the inside of the box, running the depth of the drawer, tapped 8-32, then nutted. Made the box sides much more rigid.
And here is the finished product. No wood to be seen. I have spent the last hour pulling out the drawers, and sliding them back in. Nothing like the feel of a nicely gliding drawer.
.
Key Words
› replacement tool chest drawer slides
› Tool box drawer slides
› Tool box drawer slides kit
› Tool box replacement slides
› Tool chest drawer slides
› craftsman ball bearing tool chest
› Ball bearing slides for drawers
› Tool box drawer rails
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