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How do I straighten out friction slides?

rjwilliams

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Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
137
I was excited last week when Snap On said that they had replacement slides for my box. They came in and were the wrong ones. Now I need to straighten the ones that I have. Problem is some have compound bends in them and I don't want to pinch the rails when trying to bend them. Any input?
image_zps38e25d06.jpg

image_zpsd6171054.jpg
 
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Rickster

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Jun 26, 2005
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6,218
Location
SE PA
I straightened mine in a vise. Just started at the biggest bends and worked down from there. Once the rails were straight I worked the edges. Good luck
 

dirtmister16

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Apr 6, 2011
Messages
696
Location
wisconsin
you can probally make some sorta jig and press them straight, or a jig for your vice. should be doable out of hardwood. or if you play around with a mill im sure you could think up something.

otherwise you going to have ta vise it and hope for the best.
 
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zkling

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Jan 23, 2007
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16,939
Hey this looks familiar. I am working on a KRA59A for / with my little brother, and am having to do the same thing.

What box is it on? Do you have the numbers on the old slides? I might be able to cross reference to a newer part number.

As for straightening the old ones. Depends on what tools you have available. I used a large arbor press. I found a piece of solid steel stock that fit between the rails on the U portion of the runner (small U) to solve bend in the vertical plane. That way I wasn't pressing on the bearing surface of the runner.

When bending them I used a 3 point bending technique, where the slide was supported by pieces of wood dowels at the extreme ends and then applied the force from the ram very slowly. Go slow and be patient. It is a pain to do, but you can get them back in working order. Be careful and try to avoid using pliers or other pieces that may mar the bearings surfaces of the slides. That can cause exaggerated wear on the female or mating portion of the drawer runner.

One tip I found is to first straighten the vertical bend (causes drawer to sag when pulled out, your second picture) then fix the side to side bend (your first picture). Go a little at a time and alternate between the two, check against a straight edge often.
 
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rjwilliams

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Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
137
Original part number for slider is 8-1347 and the box is a 65-67 KRA-503a three box combo.
 

lilredex

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Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
5,956
Location
Toronto
You could make some "dies" like these (below) to fit your vise. They would have a length of 1/2" square bar, rather than the pipe lengths shown in the photo. Placed back to back in your vise, they would re-align the body. The flanges could be straightened by tapping a flat bar of the appropriate width between them (while squeezed by those above dies). Then they could be straightened.

jv40np.jpg



This is the female die that was used to make the halves, when I was ambitious and made some slides.

34q2phv.jpg
 
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