Making drawers 16 1/2” space?

[stoppy]

Again I’ve never made drawers. If use 1/2” material, with Promark 1/2” thick slides, would you make the drawers 14 1/2” wide or do you make them slightly less wide (-1/8”) for a little play? Or a different number?

[rwe2156]

Again I’ve never made drawers. If use 1/2” material, with Promark 1/2” thick slides, would you make the drawers 14 1/2” wide or do you make them slightly less wide (-1/8”) for a little play? Or a different number?

Check the manufacturer's recommendation. 

I usually subtract an extra 1/32". 

1/8" is definitely too much.

[FS7]

I use ball-bearing full-extension slides. These usually specify 1/2" of clearance on each side, so an opening of 16.5" would require drawers that are 15.5" wide at a maximum. 

In my experience, the soft-close mechanisms prefer a little bit of play, so I'd go with 1/16" less (leaving 1/32" on each side). I have done exactly 1/2" and these drawers were tight at first, though they did smooth out over time.

[stoppy]

A what would you do question. The drawers will be flush with the front of the old cooler. From there to the back is 21 5/16” depth. The front wall is 2 3/4” thick. The opening at the door is 16 1/2” wide. I’m thinking of making the interior cabinet carcass 17 1/2” wide so the glides are flush with the opening at the door. It would make the drawers 16 7/16. Or would you make the inner carcass flush with the old door opening of 16 1/2”?

[FS7]

A what would you do question. The drawers will be flush with the front of the old cooler. From there to the back is 21 5/16” depth. The front wall is 2 3/4” thick. The opening at the door is 16 1/2” wide. I’m thinking of making the interior cabinet carcass 17 1/2” wide so the glides are flush with the opening at the door. It would make the drawers 16 7/16. Or would you make the inner carcass flush with the old door opening of 16 1/2”?

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the glides need to represent an effective opening equal to the face frame or similar. If the interior carcass is 17.5", then it will need spacers on each side to bring it to 16.5". Otherwise the drawer won't open (again, unless I'm missing something).

[stoppy]

Here’s what I was thinking, the glides are a half inch thick and that gets the glides matching the 16.5” opening in the old door. Right? Wrong?

[FS7]

Here’s what I was thinking, the glides are a half inch thick and that gets the glides matching the 16.5” opening in the old door. Right? Wrong?

The glides are nested. So the drawer portion of the glide protrudes from the drawer about 3/8". When extended, it needs that clearance. There is a portion that mounts to the carcass, a portion that mounts to the drawer, and sometimes a portion that telescopes between those. As both the telescoping portion and the drawer portion need to move freely, the only space you could theoretically utilize would be the thickness of the carcass mount. This will be a maximum of 1/16", and is probably slightly less. This image, while not an exact representation of common drawer slides, should help illustrate:

[stoppy]

I'm going to match to door opening it will make figuring everything out easier, especially since this is my first insert. The extra inch of drawer space I thought I'd get isn't worth the hassle.

[Gary G™]

Jim

It seems your mixing width and depth.
You told us the interior width is 16-1/2”.
With typical 1/2” thick hardware, your drawer width OD is 15-15/32”
This is 15-1/2” less 1/32” for adjustment.

The depth depends on the length of the slide mounts, which you haven’t discussed as far as I can see.
The drawer can be deeper than the slide mounts depending upon how you install the slides but for full extension mounts, there’s usually a relationship.

Have you purchased the mounting hardware yet?

[stoppy]

Yes,  hardware is purchased.  The depth from front to back is 21 3/8 inches. The front wall is 2 7/8 inches thick leaving an interior depth of 18 1/2 inches. The drawers will extend out to be flush with the front, 21 3/8”.