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Lockdowel Inc
lockdowel.com › home › one-click_drawer_slide
One-click drawer slides - Lockdowel.com
August 5, 2025 - They come with our factory-installed, patented Channel Lock fasteners. These drawer slides are the fastest solution on the market, installing three times faster than traditional slides.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/woodworking › i made a desk and used dowels as the drawer slides
r/woodworking on Reddit: I made a desk and used Dowels as the drawer slides
June 10, 2018 - More dowels will do it! Maybe insert some 1/2 inch ones at the end of the slides, perpendicular to the action, sticking out about 1/2 inch.
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Kottke
kk.org › cooltools › using-dowels-as-drawer-slides
Using Dowels as Drawer Slides – Cool Tools
In this 3x3Custom video, Tamar experiments with a unique way of making slides for the drawers of a desk. Spoiler alert: She uses dowels. Besides the slides themselves, there are some other clever ideas here, like how she cuts, spaces, and sands the grooves for the slides.
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Adafruit
blog.adafruit.com › 2020 › 11 › 17 › using-dowels-as-drawer-slides
Using Dowels as Drawer Slides
November 18, 2020 - In this 3x3Custom video, Tamar experiments with a unique way of making slides for the drawers of a desk. Spoiler alert: She uses dowels as the slides. Besides the dowel slides themselves, there are…
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CabinetParts
cabinetparts.com › p › hafele-organizers-kitchen-organizers-HAF43101693-p60560
Hook Dowel for Undermount Slides, Hafele MX, and Quick Trays | CabinetParts.com
Hafele 431.01.693
Adjustment : Adjustment/Repositioning: 1. Remove tray; 2. Tilt up drawer slide to disengage hook dowel and remove from support; 3. Hook Dowel for Undermount Slides, Hafele MX, and Quick Trays
Rating: 5 ​
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/woodworking › i used dowel rods for drawer slides on these bed side tables and i think it turned out pretty cool.
r/woodworking on Reddit: I used dowel rods for drawer slides on these bed side tables and I think it turned out pretty cool.
September 8, 2025 - As long as you're not putting bricks in these and you wax the dowels every couple of years you'll never have any issues with the drawers. I have some wood on wood drawers I built for my workshop, and I've got like 60lbs+ of hand tools in the big drawer on the bottom of my kit, I wax it every other year or so, and it slides with minimal effort.
Top answer
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4

You haven't significantly compromised strength by removing the last pin and the back of a drawer actually doesn't need to be that strong1 so I don't think it's a big concern.

But obviously it is best not to lose a part of a joint (even if only so the effort to make it isn't wasted!) so I'll list some options for you.

Sticking with the Blums
For future drawers you can simply change the style/spacing of the dovetails and you're golden — no shallow pins there, zero loss of strength once the notches are removed.

If you just can't stand to do uneven pins (they do look odd) you can always use Blum's own recommendation for the no-notch version of mounting, which is included in the PDF you linked to in the Question on page 11:

An even simpler option is don't dovetail the back — nobody ever sees them and nobody really cares but the woodworker LOL And they certainly aren't needed for strength on a drawer back — drawers typically see almost no forces exerted rearwards trying to push the back off. As a result even the simplest option of all, butt joints, are more than adequate for the back of virtually any drawer if glued and pinned or reinforced with skinny dowels2.

If a butt joint is unacceptable for some reason, you could use a housing joint (dado joint) instead, although you inherently lose a small amount of drawer volume this way since the back has to be brought forward slightly.

Select different slides
There are different makes of undermount drawer slides and not all require the same positioning. So another option if you must dovetail all four corners and you'd prefer to continue to do them exactly as done already is to simply pick a different style of slide.


1 Traditionally both fronts and backs of drawer boxes were dovetailed because they were overbuilding for strength, as well as creating a joint that held together mechanically because they knew from experience that their glues sometimes failed. We don't really have that concern any more, unless you're using a protein glue of course!

2 Bamboo skewers are great for this. Short lengths of bamboo dowel are extraordinarily strong and make a great alternative to pins if one wants to avoid metal fasteners for any reason (e.g. so the sides of the drawer remain safe to plane).

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I'd like to keep using this style of slides on the rest of my drawers. Are those slides just incompatible with dovetails, or is there some trick so that I don't end up with a missing pins?

I can think of a few solutions, but if you want to keep using dovetails for that rear joint, the simplest solution is surely to just change the spacing of the pins and tails so that the bottom pin is taller than the notch for the slide. Your dovetails don't have to be laid out symmetrically: the back of the drawer doesn't experience a lot of force, and people aren't likely to see the rear joints, so having a taller pin at the bottom rear corners won't hurt.

Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r › DIY › comments › 9rf13c › i_built_a_desk_and_used_dowels_for_the_drawer
r/DIY - I built a desk and used Dowels for the drawer slides
In this case, there's a difference in radius between the dowels and the rounded slots on the sides of the drawers, which would probably go a long way to offsetting expansion-related stickiness.
Published   August 29, 2015
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Pinterest
pinterest.com › explore › diy and crafts › woodworking
Pinterest
October 25, 2018 - Skip to content · Search for easy dinners, fashion, etc · When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures · Log in · Sign up
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Woodgears
woodgears.ca › drawers
Wooden drawer slides
Its this kind of drawer slide that gives wooden drawer slides a bad name. For this reason, I have never built anything where I had softwood glide on softwood. I do have one example of such a piece of furniture in my basement though. A boarder left it behind many years ago. Its a fairly space efficient storage unit though, which is why I even took it with me when I moved to my new place. The drawer sides are made of plywood, so partially, the drawers slide on the end grain to some extent, which would cause additional wear to the cabinet if they were used frequently.
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Amazon
amazon.com › Drawer-Slides-Cabinet-Hardware › s
Amazon.com: Cabinet & Furniture Drawer Slides: Tools & Home ...
Online shopping for Cabinet & Furniture Drawer Slides from a great selection at Tools & Home Improvement Store.
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Hardware Resources
hardwareresources.com › functional-hardware › drawer-slides › undermount-slides › use-adj.html
HR MAX™ Adjustable Plastic Rear Bracket for Undermount Drawer Slides with 8 mm Dowels
HR MAX™ Adjustable Plastic Rear Bracket for Undermount Drawer Slides with 8 mm Dowels
HR MAX™ Adjustable Plastic Rear Bracket for Undermount Drawer Slides with 8 mm Dowels
Price   $3.93
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Woodworker Express
woodworkerexpress.com › cabinet drawer slides and metal drawer box systems
Cabinet Drawer Slides & Drawer Box Systems | Woodworker Express
Blum 27" MOVENTO 769 Full Extension Soft-Close Heavy Duty Undermount Slide Blum 769.6860S SKU: 11467235 Manufacturer's Part: 07298852 ... Blum 12" TANDEM plus BLUMOTION 563H Soft-Close Undermount Drawer Slide for 1/2" - 5/8" Drawer Side Blum 563H3050B SKU: 11198194 Manufacturer's Part: 563H3050B
Price   $
Call   855-993-4968
Address   1758 N Topping Ave, 64120, Kansas City
(4.7)
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/woodworking › can i use drawer slides that are technically "too short" for my drawers?
r/woodworking on Reddit: Can I use drawer slides that are technically "too short" for my drawers?
May 15, 2019 -

I'm building a bed with six drawers, three to a side. It's a queen size, so the drawers are 28 inches deep. I've been checking out slides and found that my options are somewhat limited. There are a few slides that are the full 28 inches long, but those tend to be much more expensive, heavy duty models. I don't want to spend $200 just on slides, especially ones that are way stronger than I need.

I've found a couple options that are well within my budget and should be more than strong enough to hold drawers full of clothing. Trouble is, they aren't the full 28 inches long. Here's a 20 inch side mount, and here's 24 inch euro mount. I don't care whether the drawer can open the full 28 inches. To my way of thinking, if I install the cheaper, shorter slides, I'm basically going to end up with perfectly functional drawers with a 3/4 extension. Is there any reason not to do this? What am I not thinking of?

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Dcdrawers
dcdrawers.com › home › dowel drawers
Dowel Drawers - Drawer Connection Inc.
September 11, 2025 - When you place your dowel drawer box order you can customize with engraving, file drawers, angled drawers, drawer scoops, drawer dividers, smooth drawer glides, notching and drilling. We also offer in drawer power outlet and charging options.