I want to replace the original drawer slides which were installed back in the 1970s. As you can see from the picture, the interior side panels of the cabinet are not flush with the cherry trim on the face of the cabinet. The panels are recessed by about 3/4". The slides are currently mounted to the edge of the cherry face and, in the back of the cabinet, to the face of the rear panel.
Is there a type of drawer slide that comes with a metal bracket that gets mounted to the interior panel, compensating for the panel recess, and the slider in turn gets mounted to that bracket? Or do I need to install a piece of 3/4" plywood to the interior panel to bring the panel flush with the cherry edge?
Best Answer
Your cabinet has what is commonly called a face-frame. There are many, many drawer slides available that will work with face-frame cabinets, either by specific design or by use of optional mounting hardware. A "gap filling" strip is not necessary if you use the proper (sometimes optional) face-frame brackets for your slide.
I think you may be approaching this the wrong way. Instead of looking for special brackets, which would not be "universal" and would only work with a particular drawer slide brand and model, you should be shopping for drawer slides that will work on a face-frame cabinet. Virtually every slide maker has options for face-frame so you would narrow your selection by other necessary (or desired) specifications such as: length needed, full-extension desired?, weight rating needed, soft-close feature desired?, etc.