I think not having full extension will be fine for most purposes. You could put 3/4 extension in all but the top drawers, and full extension in one of the top drawers, and then wait and see what to do for the other top drawers.

1/4 of an extension is only 6'' that you're ''losing'' - you can probably get by with that, until the lottery cooperates . . .

David,

I am now considering the 3/4 extension sliders, of course, partly because I am concerned about tip over with heavy, fully-extended drawers in an island. (The island will be like a piece of furniture, not bolted to the floor.)

The full extension sliders can hold up to 100 lbs, the cheaper 3/4 extension ones only 50 lbs.

What I was planning for these drawers (the really heavy stuff) is flatware and dishes in at least 2-4 drawers. I just weighed my flatware and it's more than 70 lbs, but I can easily break that into two drawers.

The dishes present another problem because smaller width drawers are much less efficient space-wise when storing round things like plates and bowls and I was planning on going with 30" wide drawers for dishes for that reason

Other things in this island would be cutting boards, colanders, salad spinners, knives, hand tools etc. and they don't present weight/space issues and the 3/4 extension sliders may be the way to go.

I wonder how long it would take to get used to having differing extensions on drawers in the same cab.

Hoping the GW-KF collective brainpower can provide additional ideas on how to solve this problem. I have since found that by buying 10 pairs I can get the unit price down to about $220 each, saving about $300, but still it's more than $2K for drawer sliders!

L.

David,

I am now considering the 3/4 extension sliders, of course, partly because I am concerned about tip over with heavy, fully-extended drawers in an island. (The island will be like a piece of furniture, not bolted to the floor.)

The full extension sliders can hold up to 100 lbs, the cheaper 3/4 extension ones only 50 lbs.

What I was planning for these drawers (the really heavy stuff) is flatware and dishes in at least 2-4 drawers. I just weighed my flatware and it's more than 70 lbs, but I can easily break that into two drawers.

The dishes present another problem because smaller width drawers are much less efficient space-wise when storing round things like plates and bowls and I was planning on going with 30" wide drawers for dishes for that reason

Other things in this island would be cutting boards, colanders, salad spinners, knives, hand tools etc. and they don't present weight/space issues and the 3/4 extension sliders may be the way to go.

I wonder how long it would take to get used to having differing extensions on drawers in the same cab.

Hoping the GW-KF collective brainpower can provide additional ideas on how to solve this problem. I have since found that by buying 10 pairs I can get the unit price down to about $220 each, saving about $300, but still it's more than $2K for drawer sliders!

L.

The drawers in the temporary house we're in right now doesn't have full extension glides. Heck, I don't even think they have glides. It's wood sliding on wood and very poorly at that. Anyway, you get used to it pretty fast when you yank a drawer open and it stops 3/4 of the way on you. When it's extended, it's extended. The back 6" being hidden isn't too big a deal. You just have to arrange the drawer accordingly.

I just realized something.

The thing that might bug me about these slides is that the instructions say the drawer face must be ''notched'' to clear the stationary part of the slide.

Makes sense when you think about it.

http://www.drawerslides.com/docs/2002-r8-0207.pdf

There are some Hafele two-way drawer slides that permit full drawer faces, but they are complicated (use a ''drawer-in-a-drawer'' design) and even more expensive than the full-extension Accurides (a lot more).

http://www.hafele.com/us/external/catalog/sub-sections/vol9/644-655.pdf

Also appear similar

http://woodworker.com/2-way-drawer-slide-white-mssu-865-651.asp

Off the top of my head, I am not sure how you'd have a two-way drawer without a notched drawer face, unless you do the complicated drawer-in-a-drawer design, or use wood slides with the end of the slide flush to the face (so there is still a notch, but it looks nicer).

If you find a solution - ask at a woodworker's forum, I think - let us know.

And yet another wrinkle in my plan - it turns out that the max width of the cheaper 3/4 extension drawers is only 12"! PLus the thing JohnLiu points abut notching ...

Yet, I know I've seen someone here with two-way drawers and never seen notching.

So, if you know more about this I'd appreciate some comments, and, maybe, pics?

Thanks

L

I've never ordered from them before, but A&H Turf has the 24" full extension ones for $150. Still expensive, but quite a bit cheaper.

Here is a link that might be useful: The slides at A&H Turf

Thanks for all the comments to date - they have all helped my process forward.

I am bringing this back up because as I research this more I am more perplexed about what I thought I had seen here.

Does anyone remember whose kitchen in the FKB may have two-sided or pull-through drawers in the island? I am quite sure I saw it mentioned and never noticed anything unusual about the drawers (see the notches noted by other posters above).

I have designed some possible work-arounds but would really like to look at finished projects with this feature.

The cost of the two-way sliders is still absurdly high, though with help from posters above and determined online searching I can cut about $1200 of the total cost. Further savings can be eked out by chainging the plan in small ways: One of the drawers was a flatware one. My husband pointed out that I rarely need flatware while cooking, so since that's a top drawer on the end of the island, I could have that drawer pull out, with regular full extension sliders, from the end not the side of the island, eliminating the need for two of these pricey beasts (Saving $300-500 bucks). It will take some artful cab work to accomplish that (drawer pulls out from side, not face of cab!), but it will work fine, I think. Some other drawers (knife drawer with built-in slots) can use the much cheaper and narrower two-way hardware and other compromises can be worked out, if I keep at it. I may still need a few of the expensive two-way FE sliders, but it won't be as awful as I feared a few days ago.

But what is frustrating me now is the notched drawer front issue, so pictures would really help me out.

I can sort of picture the FKB posting, it's a kitch with many custom and unusual cab features; I think with natural colored wood cabs. I was wondering if it was the kitchen with fantastic human-form door hardware..... I just can't remember!

Thanks, in advance, if you can recall who has this feature on the FKB, or are wiling to post pics of your own installation.

L

I think it's love2cook4six's kitchen. She/he has a two-way trash in her peninsula. Looking at her picture, the door opens like a normal door and just the trash cans slide to either side of the peninsula? Lots of cool and functional features in that kitchen!

Here is a link that might be useful: love2cook4six's kitchen

Not a solution, but I ran across this place whose catalog lists two way drawer slides
http://www.cabinetmakerssupply.net/products

And thought you might call them and ask if there is a way to build a two way drawer without a notched drawer face. Or you might call Rockler or another cabinetmakers' supply place.

Posting on a woodworkers' forum is another option.

Also, I keep running across two way drawer systems that look like the one below
http://woodworker.com/fullpres.asp?PARTNUM=865-651&LARGEVIEW=ON

These seem to be more complex that simply a slide that goes either way. I do not really understand how they work, but it is an avenue for inquiry.

Maybe a notched face, or a face with a gap at either side, can be worked into the style somehow? Depends how traditional your vision is.

re: the notch -- could you have an overlay over the notched face? So the notched part is a basic unfinished kind of wood, and it's covered by whatever your chosen drawer face is. This would work for full overlay, I'm not sure about inset or partial overlay. I've mocked it up here to try to explain what I mean. The stuff at right is my attempt to show it from a side view - basically two layers of wood, one with notch and one finished without notch. Your drawer fronts might come out further from the frame than typical, but there should be a way to make that OK (maybe a slightly larger counter overhang; or maybe the part with the notch is inset into the cabinet frame and the finished front is therefore like a typical drawer face.)

{{!gwi}}

Chicagoans, I think the issue is, if the drawer faces are attached to the drawer box, and the drawer box slides both ways, then the drawer face has to be able to disappear ''into'' the cabinet opening when the drawer is being pulled out from the other side. But inside the cabinet, there is a drawer slide. Part of the slide is attached to the drawer box, but the other part is fixed to the inside of the cabinet. The drawer face has to get past that fixed part of the slide - hence the notch.

Or, a complex design like the Hafele or the one I linked above, in which the drawer face remains stationary while the drawer box is being pulled out the other side.

I'm also very curious to know if there is a graceful, inexpensive, reasonably heavy-duty solution.

In furniture, there are sometimes two-way drawers, but those are traditional furniture construction without slides. The drawer box itself precisely fits the cabinet opening, there is no separate drawer face piece, and there is no fixed slide, hence no notch.

Personally, I think a two-way drawer in a narrow island is so cool and useful, that I'd live with the notch. Maybe I'd try to disguise or distract from it with an an almost-full-width drawer pull. Don't give up, L!

D'oh! Giving myself a head slap. Johnliu of course you're absolutely right. I wonder how they make it work, if they make it work, w/out a notch? hmmmm

Thanks lirio for posting this as I had the same set-up drawn in my plan. I knew loves2cook had this and just assumed it was a pull-thru drawer and not a door with a pull-out. This now to puts a kink in my plan with the notches. I was wanting to do this for the trash drawer only. If all else fails, I can pull the trash out from the end of the island but that may cause some interference with the range. Hum? Food for thought.

I think having (10) heavy drawers in a cabinet not attached to the floor is a recipe for disaster.

Hope you solved the problem, but if not . . . If you have two drawers (one over the other, or the trash bin, for example), maybe replace the drawer fronts with cabinet doors.