DIY Cabinet Slide

Cabinet slides help guide a drawer smoothly in and out. Newer cabinets feature telescoping metal slides that keep a drawer from being pulled out all the way — particularly important for safety reasons if young children are in the home. Older styles may have plastic wheels that follow a grooved piece of metal. Drawers in old cabinets eventually may be difficult to pull out if the track has been mangled or broken after years of use.

Tape measure
1-inch-thick plywood or lumber
Table saw
Pencil
Drill
3/4-inch screws

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the drawer in need of a new slide from the cabinet. Measure the side of the drawer from behind the face plate to the back edge. Measure the drawer opening in the cabinet from the front edge to the back.
- 2
  Disassemble, remove and discard any pieces of an old cabinet slide.
- 3
  Rip 1/2-inch-wide strips from the 1-inch-thick plywood or lumber. Subtract 2 inches from the drawer measurement and cut two lengths of wood to that size. Cut two lengths to fit the cabinet opening.
- 4
  Measure 1 inch from the drawer bottom up both sides. Mark a line on both sides, using a pencil. Drill pilot holes and screw the shorter pieces of wood to each side of the drawer. The wood pieces on each side should be resting above the marked line.
- 5
  Attach 1/2-inch-wide strips of wood to the cabinet. Drill pilot holes and screw the strips into the cabinet sides. Depending on the internal structure of the cabinet, it may be necessary to screw from underneath the strip, up and into the back of the cabinet. When finished, the strip of wood on the drawer will rest on the wood glide installed in the cabinet.

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