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Kennedy Tool Box Drawer Slides

Kennedy drawer guides

  1. Post

    Did a search on kennedy drawer guides figuring I would hit on a bunch of info,but I didnt.The old style of drawer guides that have the double channel peice in between the drawer and the cabinet get harder to move as time goes by.When I finnally get around to taking the drawer out and cleaning all the chips,dirt and gunk out of everything lubing it up and putting it back together Im always dissapointed in the difference it makes.Every other guy in the shop that has these engineering marvels feels the same way.Maybe its that we have 300 pounds of "stuff" in a drawer thats designed for 100? Anybody have a fix or lube or maybe some magic rollaway dust that will help? Id love to have a new box with ball-bearing slides but Im too cheap. I know one of you guys have a plan.

  3. Post

    What kind of lube are you using? I use white lithium, or even moly grease on my Kennedys. Oil is too thin, IMO.

    Jeff

  4. Post

    I have been looking at ball bearing slides to make some storage with. I have looked at Knape-Voit and Accuride. I don't chinese stuff, but it looks like Accuride has a factory in China. I don't think KV does. Either company makes them up to 500 lbs. Maybe 750. Trouble is, price gets up there the bigger they are.

    Woodworker's Hardware sent me a catalog with KV in them. Prices start at around $12 for a pair that handles 100 lbs. Reid Tool Supply sells Accuride.

    On ebay there are some folks selling Chinese ones for about $4 a pair. There is a seller in there, PD Supply, I think, in Wilmington Delaware selling some that looks like maybe old stock, $10 to $15 a pair.

    How big of a drawer are we talking about here in a Kennedy?

  5. Post

    Just the brown wrinkle paint Kennedy rollaways that every machine shop in the country is full of.Dont know the model number,but the drawers are from 1.5"to 6" deep.To me ,the way they are made its surprising that they work as well as they do.

  6. Post

    I too use either Lubriplate or molylube on mine, with good results. These are not heavily loaded

    Kennedy does (did) offer ball bearing slides as an option for most of their larger boxes. I've been told that they don't work very well, but I have no personal experience with them.

  8. Post

    I use a white lithium grease on the channels. About once a year or so clean the gunk out of the tracks and a thin coat of the grease, top and bottom, and they slide pretty smooth. The problem with the grease in a dirty environment is that the dirt will stick in the grease which means you'll have to clean and grease more often. Also, I don't over load the drawers, which makes them glide easier and makes it to easier to find what I need when I need it.

  9. Post

    I have a Kennedy 15 drawer roller cabinet at work. The ball bearing slides are great, but I have to lock them to move the box around. they slide too easy. They are heavier than the newer Craftsman, and the drawers open ALL the way. I bought a grip latch Kobalt for home. The drawers stay but they don't open all the way. Most of the less expensive ones stop 1 to 2 inches short.

  10. Post

    I bought my kennedy in 85, way back then in the stone age any roll around had slides like that, and they made them like that because they work, and they last, mine just turned 21 and is now old enough to drink, and it still works great.

    Bill

  11. Default

    Resurecting an old thread found by searching:

    How do you get the drawers out of a Kennedy benchtop machinist box?

    (I think somebody once posted this but I cannot find it.)

    Thanks in Advance - JRR

  13. Default Bump

    Bump! Surely someone can describe how to do this. It is probably obvious but I haven't got it yet. Thanks in advance,

    Quote Originally Posted by SouthBendModel34 View Post

    Resurecting an old thread found by searching:

    How do you get the drawers out of a Kennedy benchtop machinist box?

    (I think somebody once posted this but I cannot find it.)

    Thanks in Advance - JRR

  14. Default Drawers

    If it is the older style, IE 297, there are small black clips at the ends of the slides. Take a small screw driver and pry it out slightly, then push it up or down, again slightly. This will disengage from the slide mechanism. Do the same thing to the other slide on that drawer, and it will slide out of the slide. I hope this helps.
    JB Bergman

  15. Default

    JB Bergman:

    Oh, that worked really well ! I used a small hook tool, which made the maneuver practically effortless - the clips came right out.

    Ended up having to clean more slides than I planned, because I picked up a Kennedy 523 in fair condition at a Flea Market for $35, well stocked with slightly rusty tools. (Yes, that is a mild gloat!) This box had been exposed to wood sawdust, and was pretty messy behind the drawers and of course the sawdust was in the slides.

    One thing I did notice is that Kennedy's paint is not well-adhered to the interior of the chest. The chest seems to be made out of sheet metal that is plated on the interior side. The paint is not well-adhered to the plating. If there is a primer present, then it is exactly the same color as the crinkle topcoat. (This from studying the big flakes of paint that came off.)

    I decided to rub the slides with canning wax, a translucent soft parrafin wax. I thought this would avoid gathering particles as grease would. It helped but it is not as slippery as the greases recommended above. Maybe powdered graphite, applied sparingly, would be the best.

    John Ruth

    Last edited by SouthBendModel34; 07-07-2011 at 05:03 AM. Reason: typo

  16. Default Kennedy compound slides

    What works for me is when you clean the slides is that old favorite,rubbing alcohol.(ROH) then,one drop per slide of Starrett instrument oil.Do not use the destroyer of many mechanical things WD 40.It leaves a funky residue,and attracts EVERYTHING.

  18. Default Same technique works on older Sears Craftsman mechanic's chest drawers.

    I just used the same JB Bergman technique to get the drawers out of an older Sears Craftsman plain-slide mechanic's tool chest. This Craftsman mechanic's chest has the same style slides as a Kennedy machinist chest, just made much larger to take the greater weight.

    There were several "foreign objects" behind the drawers of the Craftsman chest. It must have been tipped on its back while full.

    John Ruth

  19. Default

    I had a nice 29" roller cab that I bought in like 83-84 it was well built they changed the slide in 94 I think not as good.

    The reason I know this is the night shift put a homemade long part stop thru it and I tried to replace just the damged drawers they told me prior to 94 they cant help they changed the manufacturing size


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Kennedy Tool Box Drawer Slides

Source: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/kennedy-drawer-guides-92623/