17mm draw runners

bsr

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Hi

I have some flat pack drawers with 16 X 278mm runners. The kids tend to hang off the drawers and break the runners.

So far I've replaced them with eBay specials but are there any quality strong 17mm runners out there? Or are they much of a muchness. The Hafele ones look no better in construction than the cheapies.

Thanks


bsr
 
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I assume the sort of runners you're referring to are the original Blum design which everyone and their dog has copied over the years (some good, some awful, a lotbin between). This sort of thing, the Blum Standard Euro Drawer Runners:

354594.jpg


The problem is that they are often only fitted using 2 or 3 screws per side, and those screws (from memory) are something like 3.5 x 16mm. So the limiiting factor is often the screws, although if needs be you can put 3 or 4 extra screws into the holes in the runners (there are quite a few holes in the sides to allowvthis), as well as going to longer screws, such as 3.5 x 30mm, where you have two cabinets adjoining or a cabinet sidewall with an 18mm decor panel on the outside. An alternative can be to use flat headed Euro screws

The best type were always the original Blum ones, but they are getting scarcer these days, because they are relatively expensive (possibly discontinued?)

Fundamentally, though, they are all rated at about 20 to 25kg load per pair. TBH I'm surprised that your young uns didn't manage to wreck the drawers first, as they often gave very thin bottoms

But if (over)loading is the issue, another thing to go for might be ball bearing extension runners, like these, which you find in a lot of office furniture.

4302305_1_0a12e64b-98a4-4504-84fc-128963768d7f_grande.jpg


Those are rated at 30kg a pair, but the same sort of design is available up to about 75kg/pair, or more (as used in mobile tool chests). The difficulty is that the heavier versions are often designed to work with a different style of drawer box which has a groove machined down the sides to accommodate the runners, so you might have to remake or at least revise your drawer boxes to accommodate them depending on the drawer runner set chosen

BTW what sort of damage are your kids actually doing?
 
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Fix the drawers then either lock them shut when not in use, or beat some good behaviour into the wretches ;)
 
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In that case you could adding extra screws (there are generally extra holes in the runners - if needs be drill the runners for even more screws) and if possible use longer screws.


That, or teach the kids not to climb on the drawers
 

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