Inset Drawer Stops
With inset face frame cabinets, making drawers stop just flush with the frame is tricky. Here are tips on hardware solutions and a "hillbilly rig." December 26, 2006
Question
We are doing our first inset face frame kitchen and are considering trying to mount the Blum tandem guides far enough toward the front of the cabinet so that when the guide bottoms out in the mechanism, the drawer front will end up flush with the face frame. This would save us from having to mount stops for the drawer front. We are concerned that the guide tolerance may not allow all the drawers to stop in the same position, flush with the face frame. Do any of you do your inset drawers this way or are we headed down the wrong road?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor M:
We offset our horizontal divider about 3/8 up from the face frame and it acts as a stop.
From contributor L:
To the original questioner: I've tried doing what you said. It doesn't work. I set my slides up so they would stop in their resting position and be flush. It was a pain and it worked. After I went back to the job a few weeks later for other work, I noticed all the drawers were slightly inside their face frames, 1/16" to 1/8". To remedy this, I bought the stops that are made for these slides to make them inset slides. I think it takes one screw to attach them and there is a screw to adjust where they stop. They work well. This is what I use for inset drawers now. On narrow (less wide) drawers, you can get away with only one. On wider drawers, you need one on each slide.
From contributor R:
Is this an attachment for the Blum Tandems? I just finished some drawers today and am wondering if I should look into this also.
From contributor L:
Yes, an attachment. Just screw it onto the Tandems and you're set.
From contributor C:
If you use system holes with a 37mm setback, the last hole in the first bunch on the Tandems will put your drawer front flush with the FF. Alternatively, set the front edge of the slide 15/16" from the front of the FF and they will bottom out correctly.
From the original questioner:
Thanks everybody! That's the kind of thing I was afraid was going to happen. I have not heard of these stops for the tandems and have not been able to find them in my catalog. Any chance you would know the part number for these stops?
From contributor C:
Proper placement of the slides for the application is free. If you want to buy something, Blum makes an inset drawer locking device that gives you in and out adjustment.
From the original questioner:
What concerns me about mounting the guide in the exact location to leave the drawer face flush with the face frame is that there is no adjustment if the process does not work out within tolerance. Also, we are using 7/8" thick face frame material so we can bring the deck of the door cabinets up to use for a stop with a bumper on the door. So setting the back screw hole at 37mm leaves us quite a bit shy of the face frame. Any idea on the part number for the inset drawer locking device? I have a copy of the 2006 Blum catalogue/technical manual if you have a page number. Thanks for your interest in this.
From contributor A:
Well, the hillbilly way is to put a long screw behind the drawer, in the top spreader, or just put a 1x4 down the center of the back to put the screws into. Just adjust it out until flush.
From contributor S:
Contributor A has a foolproof positive stop for sure. It's important to know when a drawer slide indexes off the drawer front and when it indexes off the back of the drawer. Think about it.
From contributor Y:
T51.1700.PV R and T51.1700.PV L are the Blum part numbers for depth adjustable locking devices. They work great.
From the original questioner:
Thanks. I'm afraid I didn't identify the drawer system we are using properly. They are the Blum Tandembox system with the integrated metal sides. I looked up that catch and I have used them with Tandem guides on wood drawer boxes. I don't think they will work on the Tandembox, though…?
Contributor A, I may be headed in that direction, as it does not reduce the drawer opening and is adjustable, but is a bit of work. Contributor L, was the stop you were referring to for the wooden box tandems?
From contributor L:
Yes, wooden boxes.
From the original questioner:
Looks like the hillbilly way, or hang something down from the face frame rail above to stop the drawer face on.
From contributor L:
If you do it the hillbilly way, make sure to put a bump on the wooden strip behind each box to prevent the knocking/bumping noises.
From contributor T:
The new Blum tandems have a lot of gizmos for fixing problems when something gets out of whack. Usually these adjustments are fine tuned before the cabinets leave the shop. My question is about how well these adjustments hold up over time. To balance a drawer in static position is a lot different than anticipating how it will live with weight in it, after it has been opened and closed a few hundred times.
I used to use a lot of these slides, but then I got tired of having to fix out of alignment drawers. The new adjustment tools look encouraging. For those of you that use them, how long have they been in service, and how well are they performing now?
From contributor T:
I want to also note that my typical cabinet is a flush inset face frame with eased edges on square-profiled doors and drawers. A typical gap between door and face frame is about 2.5mm. Would these slides work well in this application? Over time? Yes is the answer I would like to hear.
From contributor L:
The inset stops provide a positive stop. It is adjustable in and out from the factory. It is dependent on the original position of the mounted slide, of course. If you mount the drawer front flush with the face frame, you will have a true plus or minus adjustment. And it stays put.
From the original questioner:
We are using the integrated blumotion, but I think a bumper is still needed to prevent the hard sounds.
We have not used the Tandembox since the integration of the Blumotion, but the kitchens we have done before this seem to be holding quite well after a year's time. They have a heap of adjustment up and down, a little less side to side, and none in and out that I can find. We also use 2.5mm clearance
