Good screw on keyboard drawer

lifeblood

Senior member
Oct 17, 2001
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Anyone have an opinion on keyboard trays and mice? I never liked them because they are flimsy and never wide enough for both a full size keyboard & mouse. However, I just built a simple desk for my 14 year old daughter and she wants a sliding drawer on it. She plays games like Mass Effect along with school work so she needs something sturdy. Does anyone have experience with one of the prebuilt screw on drawers they can share with me?
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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3M used to make decent drawer for keyboards. Search for KB45.
 

Mike64

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2011
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Anyone have an opinion on keyboard trays and mice? [...] However, I just built a simple desk for my 14 year old daughter and she wants a sliding drawer on it.
I have no experience with them myself (I like the idea, but they've never been practical for any desk I've had), but If you're not necessarily looking for one that swivels and/or pivots in addition to just sliding in and out, and since you're obviously have at least basic carpentry skills, I'm inclined to think your best bet is just making one yourself. Apart from what would surely be a big cost saving, I suspect pretty much any medium-to-heavy-duty drawer slides bought as discrete hardware would be much stronger and more durable than those on all but (maybe) the most expensive pre-built drawers...
 

lifeblood

Senior member
Oct 17, 2001
999
88
91
I have no experience with them myself (I like the idea, but they've never been practical for any desk I've had), but If you're not necessarily looking for one that swivels and/or pivots in addition to just sliding in and out, and since you're obviously have at least basic carpentry skills, I'm inclined to think your best bet is just making one yourself. Apart from what would surely be a big cost saving, I suspect pretty much any medium-to-heavy-duty drawer slides bought as discrete hardware would be much stronger and more durable than those on all but (maybe) the most expensive pre-built drawers...
That is also one of the options I've been looking at. The internet does have some good examples and videos of DIY keyboard drawers. The only problem is time. The struggle for the legal tender takes up most of my day.
 

Mike64

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2011
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The only problem is time.
Yeah, that's an issue, and getting drawer slides level and lined up as close to perfectly as possible on a one-shot basis is kind of a PITA. They make jigs and tools that help, but those aren't cheap either, especially if you wouldn't be using them very often, Mostly I was thinking that a teenager would likely end up leaning on it, yanking it out and/or shoving it back hard, or otherwise "abusing" it, so that being able to use heavier-duty slides than you're likely to find on a commercial product (not to mention a probably sturdier base) would be a bigger plus than it would be in an office setting, for example.
 
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