Stainless Steel Drawer Slide Guide: What Are the Different Types of Drawer Slides
Given the frequency with which you will use a drawer over its lifetime, it is clear that selecting the right metal drawer slide is an important decision. Types, features, extension length, and even your preference for the texture of a particular full extension drawer slide will all have an impact on your decision. This guide is intended to help you in determining the best stainless steel drawer slide for your needs on Bestsuppliers.
What Are Stainless Steel Drawer Slides?
A drawer slide is a type of hardware that allows a drawer to smoothly and easily move in and out of a cabinet or piece of furniture. It typically consists of two parts: the slide itself, which is mounted on the side of the drawer, and a corresponding track, which is attached to the cabinet. When the drawer is pulled out, the stainless steel drawer slide glides along the track, providing support and stability for the drawer as it moves. Metal drawer slides come in a variety of materials, sizes, and weight capacities, and are an essential component of many types of furniture, including cabinets, desks, and dressers. A high-quality drawer slide has small resistance, long life, fluent to use. All these advantages are the basic characteristics of slides on the Bestsuppliers platform.
What Are the Different Types of Drawer Slides?
Roller Slide
This slide has been around for a long time and is the first generation of a quiet drawer slide track. The structure of a roller slide rail is relatively simple, consisting of a pulley and two rails that can handle the daily push and pull needs. However, the bearing capacity is low, and there is no buffer or rebound function. As a result, it is commonly used in computer keyboard drawers and light drawers.
Ball-Bearing Slide
Drawer slides with ball bearings are essentially metal drawer slides with two or three sections. The most common structure is to install in the drawer flank, which is easier and takes up less space. A high-quality steel bead sliding rail can provide a smooth push and pull as well as a high bearing force. This slide rail can also function as a buffer or press rebound. Steel bead slides are gradually replacing roller slides as the primary force in modern furniture sliding rails.
Damping Slide
The damping slide varies from the two types of slides mentioned above. It involves utilizing liquid buffer performance to achieve a desirable outcome of noise reduction and decelerating the drawer's closing speed, particularly towards the end of its travel. Consequently, the drawer closes gently, leading to less wear and tear. The damping slide's impact can ensure long-term usage without requiring maintenance.
How to Choose Metal Drawer Slides?
Choosing metal drawer slides can be a difficult task, but here are some factors to consider that can help you make the right choice:
Load Capacity
The load rating of a drawer slide or slide rail refers to the maximum weight it can safely bear. It might seem simple enough to stay within this limit, but it's important to consider the impact of the load on the mounting fasteners that hold the slides in place and the corresponding force on the cabinet member. If these components aren't capable of supporting the weight, then the overall design won't work either. To prevent any unforeseen issues, it's essential to determine the load capacity for the entire design. For instance, if your design requires a load capacity of 400 lbs, you must ensure that all the components involved can handle this weight. The most common drawer slides in the market are made with 316 stainless steel, and 304 stainless steel, if you are looking for high load capacity, then the 304 stainless steel drawer slides will be your first option, which usually provides absolute high load capacity.
Extension Length
When selecting drawer slides, it's crucial to consider how far you want them to extend.
- 3/4 Extension Slides are an affordable option and can be suitable for many applications. These slides allow the drawer to slide out 3/4 of the length of the slide, leaving the back 1/4 of the drawer inside the cabinet.
- Full extension drawer slides are designed to pull the drawer out so that the back wall of the drawer is flush with the cabinet face. These slides allow the drawer to slide out the full length of the slide, providing full access to all of your drawer's contents with ease. However, some full extension slides may have a stop that takes away about 1/2" of the length, preventing the drawer from sliding out completely.
- An over-travel drawer slide is designed to move the drawer further than full extension, creating a gap between the back of the drawer and the front of the cabinet. This type of slide is commonly used in kitchen cabinets where overhanging countertops require the drawer to clear the countertop edge when fully extended. With over-travel slides, the drawer can extend beyond the cabinet face, making it easier to access the contents of the drawer.
Thickness of the Material
When selecting drawer slides, the thickness of the slide material is a crucial factor to consider. Cheaper, knock-off drawer slides from China may have thinner material walls, leading to weak and flimsy slides that may not withstand regular use. In contrast, thicker material walls result in stronger and more durable slides. Therefore, it's essential to avoid cheap Chinese knock-offs, as they may feel "tinny" and fail to meet your expectations during usage. Opting for high-quality drawer slides made from robust materials will ensure reliable and long-lasting performance.
Drawer Slide Size
The size of the drawer slide is another factor to consider when choosing a vertical drawer slide such as a 10-inch drawer slide, 12-inch drawer slides, 14-inch drawer slides, 16-inch drawer slides, 18-inch drawer slides, 20-inch drawer slides, 22-inch drawer slides, 24-inch drawer slides. According to the length of drawer slides, they can be divided into 27cm, 36cm, 45cm, and other length slide. We can install different-sized slide rails according to their respective drawer model size.
How to Mount Stainless Steel Drawer Slides?
There are three different metal drawer slide mounting methods for your reference.
Mounting Type | Feature |
Side-Mount | As a common mounting type, side mount slides are attached to the sides of the drawer and cabinet or furniture piece. |
Bottom-mount | Bottom mount slides are attached to the bottom of the drawer and the cabinet or furniture piece, making them hidden from view when the drawer is open. |
Center-Mount | As an old type of drawer slide, enter mount slides are totally concealed, but instead of being mounted under both sides of the drawer, a single slide runs down the middle. |
What’s the Difference Between a Drawer Slide and a Linear Guide?
Drawer slides are typically simpler in design and are used to support and guide the movement of drawers in cabinets, desks, and other furniture. They are generally made of materials such as steel, aluminum, or plastic, and are available in a variety of sizes, weight capacities, and styles. Drawer slides are designed to handle lighter loads and are generally less expensive than linear guides.
Linear guides, which are heavy-duty stainless steel slides, on the other hand, are also more complex in design and construction and are used in a wide range of industrial and high-performance applications. They are typically made of high-grade materials such as hardened steel, aluminum, or ceramic, and are engineered to provide precise and smooth linear motion. Linear guides are capable of handling much heavier loads and are designed to withstand the stresses and strains of high-speed, high-precision movements. They are generally more expensive than drawer slides due to their advanced features and higher performance capabilities.
If you’re looking for quality drawer slides or linear guides, you can directly contact our suppliers here and get the best wholesale prices for stainless steel drawer slides. For any questions, please comment below.
