Layout Drawer Glides for Sysports

[Patrick Cox]

OK, I got my panels cut and am now ready to layout and drill holes for my drawer glides.  I will be using the LR32 system and OF1010 router.  My question is on layout of the holes and then use of the LR32 system to drill them.  For reference, here is a diagram of my drawer glides...

Here are my questions...

1. I understand from reading and watching videos that the front column of holes should be 37mm from the front of the cabinet.  In looking at the diagram above, there is a hole that is 35mm from the front of the drawer glide.  This would give me a 2mm reveal between the cabinet glide and the front of the cabinet.  Is this the way to go?

2. Now, here is where I am less clear.  How far back should I drill my back column of holes?  In looking at the diagram, I assume the holes that are laid out across the top of the diagram are the holes I should use, but I am not certain.  I don't really know why there are so many holes in the glide.  So if I do use the holes referenced across the top, would I measure back 128mm + 96mm from my front column of holes and drill my back column of holes at this measurement?  Do I need to use the hole that is 19mm from the back?  That hole is actually smaller than the holes at 35, 128 & 96 and I am not sure why.

3. One last comment.  I have watched "The Poplar Shop" videos on making Sysports and also on the LR32 system and it seems that the back column of holes are normally referenced from the back of the cabinet.  However my sides are not "Perfect" in terms of parallel dimensions.  They are within say 1/2mm but they are not perfect.  So I am hesitant to reference the back column of holes from a different reference edge as I am worried that my glides won't exactly line up with the holes.  And then if I layout my back column of holes from the front column of holes, my edge stop is not long enough to line up those holes from the front edge so I will need to lay these out manually.  Any tips on this?

So thanks for your assistance!

Pat

 

[Jeff Zanin]

The drawer guides I used to make sysports had two sizes of holes, one was for 5mm euro screws which were not supplied and one was for #6 (I believe) pan head screws that were supplied.  It appears the your drawer guides also have two sizes of holes.  So determining the hole location depends on what screws you will use. 

I ended up buying 5mm screws and using these in the holes made with the LR32 because they match the router bit diameter.  I made LR32 holes for the front and back 5mm screw holes and installed the slides using these, which provided alignment front to back and side to side.  I added a few of the pan head screws in the other holes, these have a pointed tip and did not require pre-drilling in plywood.

For setting the LR32 rail keep in mind you can mount the guide stops facing the splinter guard or out the "back" (spine) of the rail.

I ended up using the guide stops for the front set of holes and a piece of wood that I butted against the back of the guide rail and the front edge of the side, so both the front and back rows of holes were indexed from the front edge.

 

[Patrick Cox]

The drawer guides I used to make sysports had two sizes of holes, one was for 5mm euro screws which were not supplied and one was for #6 (I believe) pan head screws that were supplied.  It appears the your drawer guides also have two sizes of holes.  So determining the hole location depends on what screws you will use. 

I ended up buying 5mm screws and using these in the holes made with the LR32 because they match the router bit diameter.  I made LR32 holes for the front and back 5mm screw holes and installed the slides using these, which provided alignment front to back and side to side.  I added a few of the pan head screws in the other holes, these have a pointed tip and did not require pre-drilling in plywood.

For setting the LR32 rail keep in mind you can mount the guide stops facing the splinter guard or out the "back" (spine) of the rail.

I ended up using the guide stops for the front set of holes and a piece of wood that I butted against the back of the guide rail and the front edge of the side, so both the front and back rows of holes were indexed from the front edge.

Thanks for your reply.  I will take my glides to HD/Lowes to see which holes are drilled for the various screw sizes.

And great tip on the stops facing the other direction!  Now I just need to figure out how much to add to the scale.  Any idea on that?  I guess I can make a mark with the stops one way and then turn them around and make a mark the other and measure the difference?

 

[sancho57]

Hope this helps

=related

 

[Jeff Zanin]

Thanks for your reply.  I will take my glides to HD/Lowes to see which holes are drilled for the various screw sizes.

And great tip on the stops facing the other direction!  Now I just need to figure out how much to add to the scale.  Any idea on that?  I guess I can make a mark with the stops one way and then turn them around and make a mark the other and measure the difference?

There might be a mathematical way to set the guide stops in "reverse" mode but I didn't even consider it.  What we are trying to achieve is correct hole alignment front to back and side to side.

The side to side aspect is handled by the LR32 and requires either sides that are a multiple of 32mm tall or always using the same end (top or bottom) of the side to index the LR32 rail.

Front to back alignment is to position the holes so they line up with the holes on the drawer glides (the part that mounts to the case) that you have selected.

I made a prototype / test using a piece of scrap the same width as my sides, and positioned the front set of holes to allow the finished front of the drawer / shelf to align with the front edge of the case.  For the front holes I set the guide stops to index from the front edge of the side.

I attached a glide using a screw on the front hole, used a square to ensure it was 90° to the front edge, and marked the location of the rear hole I intended to use.  Then I removed the glide, set up the rail with the router and bit, moved the rail to align the bit with the hole, measured the distance from what ended up being the back of the rail to the front edge of the case, and made a spacer of this width which I used to align the rail when doing the back holes.

This way all holes are indexed from the front edge of the sides and provided you use the same drawer glides the front and back holes will match the holes in the glide part that mounts to the case.  It is very important to have all hardware in hand before developing the measurements, jigs and procedures, and if for some reason you have to change hardware then everything needs to be re-checked and possibly re-done.

Finally, if you are making the front and back holes with the bit in the LR32 set I think you will need to use the 5mm euro screws in the appropriate holes of the glide, because the router bit is 5mm and I have not found any other type of screw that fits properly.  The euro screws are quite nice to use, remember to get a Posi Drive bit or driver for them.