Drawer runner idea

[Badger110]

I'm putting this to the masses as someone may have some knowledge of an item that isn't going to cost the earth to mount a table.

In the rear of the build project, i have a table which folds away, however it also is needed to be pushed/pulled by approximately 500mm

 

My first idea was to use drawer runners, easily obtained and do what i want.

 

The weight of the table is taken up by a foldaway leg on the ' open ' side and the drawer runner on the fixed/hinged side allows us to eat our meals and play cards on it whilst holding up a pint or 2 of the good stuff.

 

However the issue is that the drawer runner is only present on one side of the table, as the other side is ' open ' and not fixed to anything ( it is hinged at the drawer runner ) 

 

This causes side to side movement as when the drawer runner is extended it becomes flimsy.

 

I've looked online for some more robust ideas ( https://gsf-promounts.com/product/ultio-8027-210-330-kg-pr-100-extension-aircraft-grade-aluminium-stainless/ )which seem to be a better option with more material to reduce flex, but it's still just shy of a £100 for a table slide!

 

Has anyone used drawer sliders which are heavy duty and have minimum side to side movement/flex?  

 

The actual load bearing is not important as there'll be no more than a few kg on the table at any time

 

I can post a picture of the mock up i made today to get the idea if it helps visualize it

[Stellaghost]

Pictures would be good , I made my own sliding runners for dog cages in the back of my wife's ford ranger she slides them out over the tail gate I used small castors  positioned in a u channel regards Stephen 

[Badger110]

I'll get some in the morning, too dark n scary outside at the moment

 

I looked at that idea, but i need the whole thing to be 500mm long and extend 500mm. 

 

I could possibly pinch an extra 120mm and make the track 620mm which if i did something similar to you, i'd have 120mm holding it all together at full lock ( 500mm exposed )

[simonr]

All drawer runners have some flex in that plane.  My suggestion would be to mount another runner perpendicular to the first (under the table?) as they tend to be less flexible in the other plane.  So the two runners form an L shape looking from the end.

I've used essentially this approach on a large door which had to slide out of a wall (star-trek style).  I used a pair of runners arranged in a V for exactly this reason.

These, in fact!

[Badger110]

That is a good idea!

 

It does raise another problem though as the fold away leg folds up and meets the bottom of the drawer slider...if i were to mount another runner the other way i may need to move the entire table up 60mm to allow the leg to fold below the additional slider but then the leg would be too short to keep the table level

No hang on, if move the entire lot up a set distance and add  to the table length and move the leg to the edge of the new length, it'll be level but may foul the floor.

I'll have a ply on this idea tomorrow as it won't cost me anything as i have 2 drawer sliders

 

btw was that a starwars film?

[simonr]

Quote

btw was that a starwars film?

I couldn't possibly say! 😉

I'm looking forward to a photo of what you've built - I'm struggling to imagine what it looks like from your description.

[Maverik]

9 hours ago, simonr said:

All drawer runners have some flex in that plane.  My suggestion would be to mount another runner perpendicular to the first (under the table?) as they tend to be less flexible in the other plane.  So the two runners form an L shape looking from the end.

I've used essentially this approach on a large door which had to slide out of a wall (star-trek style).  I used a pair of runners arranged in a V for exactly this reason.

These, in fact!

Are you telling us you actually made the sliding doors in that Start Wars movie....

[landroversforever]

1 hour ago, Maverik said:

Are you telling us you actually made the sliding doors in that Start Wars movie....

Shhhhhhh  

[Badger110]

Here’s some pics.. I’ve been using scrap wood and hinges so ignore the state of it all, it’s a mock up to work on the space available and if I can get it work in the environment 

 

First,folded away (picture needs turning 90 to the right)

 

Table in the upright position

 

then table moved into position to be near the seating

 

 

going on your idea Simon, the sticking point is the overall size of the table. The leg, when folded, sits beyond the point I could place another slider on the other plane to stop the flex.

 

I can’t make the table longer to move the leg away as there isn’t enough clearance on the floor

 

however your idea of a v rail might be possible, the downside is the table will be further into the living area if I pull it off.  I may need to get the welder out to it as wood won’t necessarily work for the shape, but we’ll see

[Badger110]

Short video of it motion

[simonr]

You could reduce the depth of this bit:

and have the other slide on top, such that it's still covered by the table top when extended.

You could also make the two slides deliberately Mildly pi**ed (divergant) so as you slide the drawer out, it increases the pressure on the slides.  That could make it quite solid when extended.

[Badger110]

i would need to remove that part of the table and include the missing bit as an anchor from the unit it'll fix to for that to work, but that's a simplier approach to the V idea.

 

But the leg would still foul the slider in the closed position

 

 

An extendable leg would make life simpler, but i'm using what's availble at the moment.

[Retroanaconda]

Or put a small removable brace between the extended table and the panel opposite on the left hand side of your video?

[Badger110]

4 hours ago, Retroanaconda said:

Or put a small removable brace between the extended table and the panel opposite on the left hand side of your video?

I gave this a go, however as the one side which was braced is on a slider, it still moves

 

Looking a Simon's idea, i think i've cracked it with the lateral adjoining slider, i'll post up a mock later if i'm still sober

[simonr]

8 hours ago, Badger110 said:

i would need to remove that part of the table and include the missing bit as an anchor from the unit it'll fix to for that to work, but that's a simplier approach to the V idea.

 

But the leg would still foul the slider in the closed position

 

 

An extendable leg would make life simpler, but i'm using what's availble at the moment.

Why don't you make the leg fold diagonally?  That would give you more length than the length of any side.

Si

[Badger110]

That could work as long as the material of the table is rigid enough.

 

The solution i've worked out is based on the L shape of 2 runners. 

[Badger110]

 

this is the result and it works much better, it doesn’t eliminate the wobble as they’re still cheapish sliders but it’s certainly an acceptable result 

now to work on a final build of it

thank you all for your input

[bishbosh]

What about a unistrut channel instead of drawer runners? Could that be more rigid?

[Badger110]

Yes it would be, however the channel is a specific roller slide with bearings inside it.  I looked at channel slides which have a single unit which slides within the outer cage but they are restricted in the amount of distance they can open.

 

I have re done it now and it’s pretty solid, as much as keeping the alcohol in the glasses and the peas on the plates