Adjustment of ball guides. Self-mounting rails on drawers. Advantages of ball guides

The most popular today, as before, are telescopic (ball) guides. full extension.

They look like this:

Their advantages include:

Relatively inexpensive price
Smooth and quiet operation throughout the entire service life
Able to withstand certain loads
Wear resistance and strength
Ease of installation

These mechanisms are very often used for drawers of dressers, kitchen sections, and other similar mechanisms, with the work of which one does not want to have problems in the future.

In order to correctly install the ball guides, let's check if you have done the detailing of the drawer itself correctly.

Width

According to the technological dimensions of furniture design, in a box without a facade in width (between it and the side of the product) should have gaps of 13 mm on each side. That is how much the thickness of the "telescope" will take on.

See the diagram for the dimensions of the box:

Length

Dimensions of telescopic rails for retractable structures from 250 to 800 mm in 50 mm increments:
250mm, 300mm, 350mm, 400mm, 450mm, 500mm, 550mm etc.

Ideally the depth of the box should be equal to the length of the guide. Also don't forget to leave gap of at least 10 mm between the back wall of the chest of drawers and the back wall of the drawer.

However, there are situations when you have to deviate from this condition. For example, if the inner depth of a cabinet, cabinet or chest of drawers is not 500 mm, but slightly less, let's say 495 mm. In this case, if we take a box of 500 mm - it does not fit, but to make it smaller, 450 mm long - the hand does not rise, because. wherein we lose 35 mm of usable space:

35 mm (loss)= 485 mm - 450 mm (rail length)
485 mm = 495 mm - 10 mm (distance between the back wall of the drawer and the dresser itself)

In such situations, it is worth considering the option of a 495 mm drawer with 450 mm rails. Of course, he will not leave completely because of the shorter guides, but this is not scary. But the capacity has become larger, in the process of operation, the hostesses will appreciate it!

Height

In terms of height, it is usually made based on the needs of the person who will use it. The height is usually 80-250 mm.

Marking the mounting points of the guides

The principle of installing guides is much simpler than it might seem at first glance.

Telescopes (if you pinch the black antennae and pull out one half) are disassembled into two parts, one of which is attached to the side of the box, and the second to the inner side of the chest of drawers.

Our main task is to determine the exact places of these fasteners, fasten each half with three screws and put the drawer into the chest of drawers, thereby connecting the guide into one.

Mounting ball telescopic guides

On the side of the box, horizontally, strictly in the center, mark the line and fasten one half of the guide along it.

Now we need to mark a similar horizontal line on the inside wall of the chest of drawers.

I took the exact distances and dimensions from, you can use the drawing of your furniture product, approximately as shown in the figure:

The most popular among furniture makers today are telescopic (ball) guides of full and partial extension, which have a number of advantages: low cost, ease of installation and adjustment, smooth and silent running, resistance to loads, long term services. Consider how to quickly and correctly install ball guides for drawers.

Ball guide kit consists of two steel symmetrical telescopic skids: left and right, each of which is disassembled into two components, moving relative to each other with the help of metal bearing balls, which ensures reliability and smooth running. More wide base fastened to the sidewalls, and the narrow retractable part - to the drawer itself.

Calculation of drawer details.

The assembled drawer without a facade, in width (between the drawer and the side of the product) must have gaps of 13 mm on each side (or the gap is made according to the instructions for a specific ball guide). The depth of the box should be equal to the length of the guide, usually they have a length of 250 to 800 mm in increments of 50 mm. It is also not necessary to leave a gap of at least 10 mm between the back wall of the chest of drawers and the back wall of the drawer. In terms of height, it is usually made based on human needs, the height is usually 80 - 250 mm.

Installation of ball guides.

We spread the ball guides to the stop, pressing the plastic black tongue, pull out the narrow bar.

On the side of the drawer, a line is marked in the center and a narrow retractable bar is screwed on. On the sidewall of the product, the installation line is marked, taking into account the location of the boxes and the installed guide on the box. In the same way, the base of the guide is installed on the other side, after which the box is simply put into place in the product.

For one drawer you need two pairs of guides. Some guides are attached to the drawer, while others are attached to furniture racks. Let's consider a variant of a curbstone with drawers.

In order to design and then install boxes, you need to know the following parameters:

drawer front height
drawer size – width, depth, height
dimensions for attaching rails to racks

For example, you need to make a cabinet for three drawers. Cabinet dimensions: width - 420 mm, height without legs - 560 mm, depth - 505 mm.

The lid of the chest of drawers will hang over the facades, the facades will be overhead. To calculate the boxes, the parameters of the roller guides will be used.

The first thing to decide is the height of the facades. We draw a diagram of the cabinet, side view. First, we put down the required gaps: between the dresser lid and all other facades - 3 mm, the indent from the bottom of the cabinet - 4 mm.

We calculate the height of the facades:

Plus all the gaps and indents: 3+3+3+4 = 13
From working height chest of drawers subtract the amount received: 523 -13 = 510
We divide the result by the number of facades: 510: 3 = 170

The height of one facade is 170 mm. The width of the facade is 6 mm less than the total width of the product: 420 - 6 = 414 mm.

The thickness of one pair of roller guides is 12.5mm. The total thickness of two pairs of roller guides is 12.5 + 12.5 = 25mm. Let's add one more millimeter in order to prevent the heads of the self-tapping screws from touching the guides, the total clearance is 26mm.

Now you need to mark the lines for attaching the guides to the chest of drawers. Marking should always start from the top edge of the part. And even if you make a little mistake, below it will not be noticeable. For markup, you can use next rule: the line on which the guide will be screwed must be 35mm higher than the bottom of the facade.

Many novice craftsmen who decide to assemble furniture with their own hands are frightened self-installation drawers. In fact, there is nothing complicated about this. And you don’t need to pre-compile some kind of additive maps and do complex mathematical calculations. In my experience in manufacturing, I have only known one assembler who meticulously calculated everything down to the millimeter before installing drawer slides. All the rest were done "by eye", observing only the elementary rules of geometry. And it "worked" just as well.

What you need to know before you start installing drawers

The principle of fastening the skids to the sidewalls of the pedestal is the same for almost all sliding systems. As a rule, 2 mm recede from the front edge and then screwed along the extreme mounting holes and several central ones, depending on the size of the guides themselves.

Only the calculation of the height at which the skids are attached differs.

There are three main types of drawer slides, with different slide positions:

Along the bottom edge (bottom). The simplest and most budgetary roller guides are installed strictly under the bottom of the box itself, overlapping on the fiberboard. As well as the most expensive options for equipping drawers - tandemboxes. They are also installed on the lower level of the drawer box.
Centered on the side of the box. Telescopic ball bearings give greater freedom during installation - they can be mounted on any level of the sidewall of the drawer box. But still it is better to stay in the center. As practice shows, installation and adjustment is simplified at times.
Top mount. In metaboxes (metalboxes), the roller guide rails are located on the upper level.

In each case, the box will “sit down” in completely different ways. Consider the example of a drawing of a conventional chest of drawers with three drawers. To facilitate the task, we assume that the boxes begin to be installed from the bottom of the sidewall of the cabinet itself, without deduction on the basement box and the bottom. This is possible in the next version.

The height of the sidewalls of the cabinet is 668 mm (with the height of the chest of drawers without legs 700 mm).
The height of the drawers is 150 mm with the height of the facades 221 mm.

How to install roller guides

Capturing the bottom with a part of the skids that are attached to the box is carried out at a height of 8-10 mm, depending on the thickness of the bottom (MDF).

Let's take the indent from the bottom to the lower edge of the facade equal to 20 mm (usually it ranges from 10-30 mm).

The scheme for installing roller guides will look like this.

In this case, there will be no trouble if the values \u200b\u200bare rounded. Take not the level of heights 32/255/478, but round for convenience to 40/260/280. The main thing is to fix the roller guides equally on both sides.

How to install ball guides

With a similar tolerance under the bottom of 20 mm, the installation diagram of the ball guides will look like this.

The difference is that it is customary to install ball guides in the center of the sidewall. Since they come in different widths, it's easier not to move them up or down.

Also, the values 99/322/545 can be rounded up and made, say, 100/330/550.

How to install metaboxes on a drawer

A distinctive feature of a drawer with metal sides is its fastening along the upper edge. The main thing here is to correctly choose the height of the metaboxes relative to the vertical of the facade. It can be 54 mm (optimal for installation in narrow niche under the built-in oven in the kitchen), 86, 118 or 150 mm. If a box is required deeper, it can be “built up” using one or two rows of special rails.

In our case, it is optimal to take a 150 mm metabox, the installation diagram will look like this.

As in the previous versions, rounding is acceptable for convenience: instead of 134/357/580, it is quite possible to take 130/360/580.

How to install drawer fronts

Facades on drawers always installed after "testing" and leveling the inner box.

First you need to make sure that the box moves freely and smoothly, does not warp during movement and does not jam.

Only then, with the help of special linings (fiberboard scraps, a wooden or plastic ruler will fit), the even position of the facades is pretended to be.

Then, with the help of double-sided adhesive tape, the facade is fixed and attracted from the inside to 4x30 self-tapping screws. Through fastening of the handle also "holds" the facade. But it is worth drilling under the handle only after the facade is securely fixed.

How to avoid installation errors

If the guide rails themselves are screwed at the same level, strictly opposite each other, and the drawer does not warp in any way during the extension process, then everything will “work” well.

This is the main rule in the installation of any box - to maintain alignment.

The second rule is the need to correlate the height of the sidewalls of the box itself with the height of the facades. Before you start their "distribution" in height. I recommend immediately making marks with a pencil on the end of the case, noting the position of the facades in order to have a visual representation.

The main pitfall is the irrational distribution of guides in terms of the usable volume of the box itself.

For example, in the photo - the drawers in the pencil case function absolutely normally.

But due to the fact that the top drawer is “pulled up” too high, its capacity is greatly reduced. It would seem, but the middle box is more spacious. But no. The lower edge of the facade of the upper drawer "does not allow" loading the middle drawer along the entire height of the formed niche.

In fact, this moment is not critical. And if you do not highlight it, then the owner himself will not notice. But the one who did it will definitely remember that it would be better in a different way.

Step-by-step instructions for installing a drawer

Before you install the drawer rails, you must correctly determine the position of the fasteners. Calculations are the first step in the installation.

Step 1 - determining the position of the drawers inside the cabinet

How more difference between the height of the facade and the height of the sides of the drawer, the greater the gap should be. This is done for reasons of fastening stability: after all, the facade is attached to the sides of the box itself and the attachment points should be close to the center.

The remaining distance is evenly distributed among the remaining boxes. Moreover, it is customary to leave the same amount at the bottom of the box box as it retreated on the bottom.

Such calculations are not difficult. Distances can be calculated using a calculator or drawn to scale. Many assemblers estimate immediately on the body, measuring with a tape measure from point to point.

When the position of the boxes is determined, the points of attachment of the skids are outlined. Depending on the drawer system, this may be the center, bottom or top edge of the drawer side.

After the calculations proceed to the installation of the drawer guides. This will be the second step in the installation.

Step 2 - fastening the drawer rails inside the cabinet

Strictly opposite each other, the outer part of the runners is attached to the sidewalls of the pedestal, and the inner part to the drawers themselves (with the exception of metaboxes, in which the internal guides are already built into the assembled drawers).

Then they try to push the boxes of drawers inside the cabinet, adjust so as to achieve a smooth and uniform movement.

Step 3 - adjusting the smooth running of the drawer guides inside the cabinet

Then proceed to the installation of facades. But first they measure out uniform gaps between them using the material at hand - various linings of the desired thickness.

Step 4 - setting uniform gaps on the facades

Step 5 - pre-fixing the facades on double-sided tape

And they are attracted from the inside to the screws.

For a long time I was going to write a lesson on working with roller guides. Here, at last, he got it. I already laid out the filler circuits here in. Now just bare practice. For example, I will assemble a simple nightstand with three drawers.

Let's start with boxes. They are assembled easily and simply on (a pair in each corner). Side walls they go overhead, that is, on them the confirmations are screwed into the face, and the front and back walls are loose, that is, into their butt.

Then put in place back wall, carefully align and pre-fasten with three nails (two in one wall and one in the next one) so that the bottom does not move.

After that, we turn the box over and use a tape measure or ruler to check its diagonals. They must be equal.
If not, we pull out a lone carnation, bend the box as it should and hammer it back. As soon as the geometry of the box has come into compliance, you can screw the bottom onto a permanent base (with self-tapping screws). Moreover, in the front and back walls just with screws, and in the side walls we immediately fasten the guide. First, we impose it, align and drill holes with a thin drill.

Then we screw self-tapping screws into these holes.

We have finished with the boxes for now, let's move on to marking the racks. I use the following technique (a minimum of mathematics). So, first we mark the borders of facades with interfacade gaps on the front edge of the rack. You can not apply facades, but simply use a ruler, but it’s clearer this way.

Please note that the lower facade is consignment note, that is, it closes the lower horizon, which means that you need to retreat from the lower edge of the rack by 16 mm less.

Now we mark the guides themselves. To do this, you need to figure out how the drawers will be located: they should be closer to the bottom edge of the facades, but not protrude beyond their dimensions, the guides on the drawers themselves are strictly below. For greater clarity, you can attach guides to the racks and see how they will look (we focus on our facade marks). I usually retreat from the edge of the facade up 20 mm and draw a perpendicular to the front edge.

On this perpendicular, we set aside 37 mm and prick this point with an awl (this is the center of the second hole on the guide.

We lay it on the marking line so that it can be seen in all holes. We screw a self-tapping screw into the first hole, and on the pencil line (in the center of the hole in the guide) we prick another point. We also wrap a self-tapping screw into it (you can strengthen it with one more, but in this example we will limit ourselves to a couple).

Please note that the front edge of the guide is 2 mm from the edge of the rack.

We repeat this manipulation for all three pairs of guides (that is, for both racks).

In principle, the additive of the sliding system ends here, but we will finish the bedside table to the end.

We assemble the box (we fasten the lower horizon with legs to the confirmations).

We put the back wall into the grooves, (we fasten it with corners), we fasten the upper horizon to the mounting corners (you can use minifixes, which is more difficult, but more accurate).

We set the middle horizon. In principle, the cabinet box is ready.

We install the boxes themselves inside the box. Holes for self-tapping screws are drilled in the front walls (for). For this, double-sided tape is glued. We mark and fasten on each facade by a handle-bracket. Screws must be used with a countersunk head, or deepen their hats)