Blum undermounts vs. Grass Elite Pro

R

Rick Herrick

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Feb 7, 2020
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As we all know, the Blums are just not readily available for the foreseeable future.  I had 6 ordered in October, expected to be in first week of Feb.  That came and went and I called vendor.  He told me Blum dropped their number by a large percent and now I am looking at end of 2022 for these.  I talked to their support (Woodworkers Express) and he suggested to try the Grass undermounts and he had them in stock.  I ordered 6 (very quick shipping).  I installed 1 in a test carcass I have.  There were 2 items that immediately jumped out at me.  The Grass front clips are much cheaper in feel.  Instead of that nice, large Blum handle, these have a small, springy lever and aren't as easy to grasp.  Also, when closing them, you have to push them kind of hard for it to catch and begin closing on their own.  My Blums glide so much easier and don't require that extra push to engage.

Anyone else use Grass Elites?  I could probably live with them here in my house (since they are available) but I am working on a dresser for my daughter and a little worried they won't hold up over the long haul. 
 
Do the jigs for the Blum slides work with the Grass?  Or will I have to get all new jigs?
 
I had to use Grass slides on a recent build due to availability of the Blums. I much prefer the Blums. I feel the latch to slide attachment on the Blum is far superior to the Grass.  The Blum detaches smoother also.

The jigs do not interchange, if I recall correctly the Grass holes are higher up on the slide.

Good news is I recently got 100 pairs of 1000 21" Blum slides I ordered in. These will get us about 1/3 of the wa through the current build. Hopefully the rest will come in on time fr us to finish this build and start the next.

Tom
 
Packard said:
Do the jigs for the Blum slides work with the Grass?  Or will I have to get all new jigs?
Click to expand...

The drawer box I had constructed using the Blum jig (actually the Rockler version) with the Blum worked fine as is (back hole, etc).  The only thing different is the front latches did not use existing Blum/Rockler jig holes, had to drill two new ones.  That was good to know in case I have to use the Grass slides now and possibly replace with Blum when they are available.
 
tjbnwi said:
I had to use Grass slides on a recent build due to availability of the Blums. I much prefer the Blums. I feel the latch to slide attachment on the Blum is far superior to the Grass.  The Blum detaches smoother also.

The jigs do not interchange, if I recall correctly the Grass holes are higher up on the slide.

Good news is I recently got 100 pairs of 1000 21" Blum slides I ordered in. These will get us about 1/3 of the wa through the current build. Hopefully the rest will come in on time fr us to finish this build and start the next.

Tom
Click to expand...

Thanks Tom.  Did you also notice with the Grass, that it takes more effort to engage the close mechanism?

Good to hear you got a supply.  I keep thinking about guys like you that do this all day long, hoping these supply chain issues don't hurt you too bad.  It sucks for me but I imagine guys doing this for a living could really be hurting waiting on supply.
 
Rick Herrick said:
Thanks Tom.  Did you also notice with the Grass, that it takes more effort to engage the close mechanism?
Click to expand...

I'll parrot what Tom said... [smile]...I always use Blum but I installed a Robern vanity that uses Grass slides. The drawers are difficult to remove, actually very finicky and when you replace them they're more difficult to engage, they have a metal-to-metal grinding feeling. With the Blum slides you just squeeze the handles and lift.
 
Cheese said:
The drawers are difficult to remove, actually very finicky and when you replace them they're more difficult to engage, they have a metal-to-metal grinding feeling. With the Blum slides you just squeeze the handles and lift.
Click to expand...
I agree, the smoothness is just not there with the Grass.  I guess this is $50 lesson to learn.  Cost me $25 to ship them and I expect it might be more to send them back...argggg.
 
Also worth trying Nikpol - their slides are a dream to use.

Www.nikpol.com.au

I am not sure of their availability outside Australia though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
We’ve been using Grass slides for ten yrs. +/- and while the latches aren’t as elegant and refined as the Blum ones, the slides operate just as easily and last just as long as the other major brands.

The end user isn’t really going to notice or care that brand “x’s” latch is smoother than brand “y’s”.    Grass is a quality slide , same as Blum, Salice, and Hettich.

Use what you can get ahold of in today’s climate.

Nikpol = NAINA
 
xedos said:
We’ve been using Grass slides for ten yrs. +/- and while the latches aren’t as elegant and refined as the Blum ones, the slides operate just as easily and last just as long as the other major brands.

The end user isn’t really going to notice or care that brand “x’s” latch is smoother than brand “y’s”.    Grass is a quality slide , same as Blum, Salice, and Hettich.

Use what you can get ahold of in today’s climate.

Nikpol = NAINA
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, it helps.  "Use what you can get ahold of in today’s climate" really is the mantra right now.  I will keep the 8 sets I got.  Its nice to know I can make the drawer box to fit Blums and the Grass's will work in case I ever want to change them out.  I did look at both side by side yesterday and the hole patterns for the cabinet side vary quite a bit.  On the 18" rs, very few of the holes match up other than the 37, 261 and 457, which is all you need, I guess..
 
I was just at my local woodworking store (Woodcrafters in Portland, OR) and they told me that the Blum undermounts are now classified as rainbow colored unicorns and all they had were empty bins labeled "Blum".
 
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