A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks) ...

that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

s, chests of drawers (bureaus),

desks A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks of ...

, and the like.

Construction

Drawers can be built in various ways using a variety of materials, including

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

, various wood composites,

sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...

, and

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

. Wooden drawers are often designed so that the front face is complete and the end grain from the side pieces does not show. The corners may be

dovetail A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart (t ...

ed for additional strength or for aesthetics, and a half-blind

dovetail joint A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joinery technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery (carpentry), including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber framing. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart (t ...

may be used for the front corners to hide the joint. To attach the bottom piece of the drawer, a groove may be cut in the four vertical pieces to insert the bottom of the drawer.

Handles and locks

One or two handles or

drawer pull A drawer pull (wire pull or simply pull) is a handle to pull a drawer out of a chest of drawers, cabinet or other furniture piece. A drawer pull often includes a plate to which the handle is fastened. The handle may swing from one or two mou ...

s are commonly attached to the front face of the drawer to facilitate pulling it out from its enclosure. In some cases, drawers may have another means by which to pull it, including holes cut in the front face or a hollowed-out area to insert the fingers on the bottom side of its front. Some drawers can be locked, notably in

filing cabinet A filing cabinet (or sometimes file cabinet in American English) is a piece of office furniture for storing paper documents in file folders. In the most simple context, it is an enclosure for drawers in which items are stored. The two most comm ...

and

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks of ...

drawers.

Movement

Drawer slides often have a mechanism to keep the drawer from accidentally being pulled fully from its enclosure. With the simplest kinds of mounting, the drawer cannot be pulled out sufficiently to see the full interior, without pulling the drawer completely out of the cabinet, often leading to the contents being dumped on the floor.Alvan C. Nye. "Notes on Furniture Draughting"
"American Architect and Architecture, Volume 46"
1894. p. 58.Alvan Crocker Nye
"Furniture Designing and Draughting"
1907. p. 85. There are at least two ways to make the full interior of a drawer visible, while still being completely supported by the cabinet. One way places the back of the drawer such that it is fully visible when the drawer hits the stop -- the interior of such a drawer is much shorter than the sides of the drawer. That visible back of the drawer may be a false back that conceals a secret hiding place behind it. Another way uses full extension drawers, which have full-extension drawer slides, also called telescoping slides, a kind of that support the drawer even when the drawer is pulled entirely out of the cabinet.

Drawer slides

drawer slide A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of furniture that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinets, chests of drawers (bureaus), desks, and the ...

or drawer runner is the part of a drawer that allows it to move. There are various types of slide mechanisms with different features, for different uses, at different price points.

Uses

Examples of uses are in home

hardware, office appliances, and industrial equipment, including kitchen cabinets, oven slides, rails for

sliding door A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually horizontal to a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a space in the parallel w ...

s, and fridge slides (for

cooler A cooler, portable ice chest, ice box, cool box, chilly bin (in New Zealand), or esky ( Australia) is an insulated box used to keep food or drink cool. Ice cubes are most commonly placed in it to help the contents inside stay cool. Ice packs a ...

s).

Performance metrics

A good slide rail is defined by smoothness, tight tolerance and load capacity.

Types by slide mechanism

;Wooden slides: The drawer rests directly on the cabinet. ;Wheel drawer slide: A wheel drawer or roller runner slide (sometimes called a European-style slide) is a simple mechanism that can handle heavy loads. However, the drawer cannot be fully extended, except when removing it. ;Ball bearing slides: Ball bearing or steel ball slides have ball bearings to make drawers slide more smoothly. ;Telescoping ball bearing drawer slides: Telescopic channel slides allow for full extension of the drawer during normal use, and therefore better access to the space inside it. They are manufactured using a

drawer slides roll forming machine A drawer slide roll forming machine is a cold roll forming machine used to manufacture drawer slides. They have similarities with roofing roll formed products, but require a higher performance and skills in profile forming. These machines are al ...

, and consist of outer, middle and inner rails. They can be made with a soft-close mechanism. They are also called 3-section slides, as opposed to 2-section ball bearing slides which cannot be fully opened.

Types by mounting or placement

;Side-mounted slide: Most drawer slides are side-mounted, leaving them visible when the drawer is opened. Concealed slides are generally mounted on the underside of the drawer: ;Under-mounted slide: Also called bottom-mounted slides, they are mounted out by the sides on the bottom of the drawer, leaving them concealed when the drawer is opened. Under-mounted slides of the ball bearing type can include a soft-close mechanism. Due to its more complex form factor, under-mounted slides usually cost more than side-mounted slides. ;Center-mounted slide: Center-mounted slides are mounted near the bottom center of the drawer, and are therefore also usually concealed when the drawer is opened. They are often limited to lighter loads than other types of slides.{{citation needed, date=September 2021

Soft close

A soft-close mechanism is a special feature that slows the drawer's velocity in the last part of closing, then closes it automatically. The user gives the drawer a gentle push to engage the mechanism, and the drawer closes smoothly and quietly without the possibility of slamming.

Gallery

Bottom mounting wheel drawer slide rails - 50 cm - B.jpg, Simple drawer slide with wheels instead of ball bearings Bottom mounting wheel drawer slide rail - 50 cm - right wall mount - head.jpg, Wheels on a roller runner slide Light Rail.jpg, Telescopic drawer slides with ball bearings Easy Rail.jpg, Roller bearing slides Compact Rail.jpg, Industrial profile rail guides See also:

Guide rail A guide rail is a device or mechanism to direct products, vehicles or other objects through a channel, conveyor, roadway or rail system. Several types of guide rails exist and may be associated with: * Factory or production line conveyors * Pow ...

and

Linear-motion bearing A linear-motion bearing or linear slide is a bearing designed to provide free motion in one direction. There are many different types of linear motion bearings. Motorized linear slides such as machine slides, X-Y tables, roller tables and som ...

References

Containers Furniture Clothing containers Cabinets (furniture)