Can't Psh Metal Drawer in
How to fix a drawer with metal sides that is coming apart
Q. The fronts of our kitchen drawers are pulling away from the edges of the drawers, and we cannot figure out how to tighten them. The drawers have a "Cellini" label on them, but I can't find a manufacturer or distributor of Cellini kitchen products. Can you identify someone who can help with this?
Washington
A. From the pictures you sent, it's clear that the drawers in your kitchen have metal sides, a style that's easy to build and maximizes drawer space. The sides double as slides, eliminating the need to allow extra spacing for that mechanism. But the flip side of the picture is that drawers with metal sides aren't as easy to fix as wooden drawers because you need a manufacturered part.
But the wonders of the Web come to your rescue. A little sleuthing revealed that Cellini cabinets were made by a Canadian company, Canac Kitchens, which was bought out by Kohler and then closed. Luckily, an auction for factory leftovers is still online, even though the sale was in 2011. Among the items on sale: metal drawer sides made by Grass America. Geri Moore of Grass America was able to use the photos you sent to identify the drawer sides as those in the company's old Mepla ADS Aluminum drawer system. Moore also tracked down the instructions that came with these parts. So the simple answer is to find the line of four screws where each drawer side meets the front and tighten the Phillips screw that's at the far end from the screw with the hex head.
A reader asks, "The fronts of our kitchen drawers are pulling away from the edges of the drawers, and we cannot figure out how to tighten them up. (reader photo/READER PHOTO)
If that doesn't work, perhaps the bracket holding the sides to the front is broken. Then you'll face one of the challenges of parts that are made to be easy to assemble but are impossible to repair and can't be replaced once they go out of production. Luckily, there are a couple of strategies that will allow you to keep the same drawer fronts, saving you the expense of having to redo your cabinets. If you can push the drawer side tightly against the back of the drawer front, lock them into place by drilling through the side where it overlaps the bracket so you can install a short bolt and nut. Or you can purchase new metal drawer sides and reuse the old drawer fronts. Grass's new products, Nova Pro and DWD XP, should work for that, but you will need to replace the back and bottom of each drawer.
I inherited an oil painting of my father that was made years ago when he was stationed in Japan. I would like to have copies made for my siblings. What is the best way to have this done without commissioning an artist to do two copies? I have looked online at companies that copy a photograph and make it into a computer-generated painting. Would you recommend this technique? Any other ideas?
Vienna
Go to a printing company set up for giclee printing, a term that refers to archival digital prints made on fine art paper or canvas.
The printers used for this process are ink jets, but with six or more ink colors, rather than the four on standard printers. The extra colors mean prints have more accurate, vibrant color. All of the materials are archival quality, so the colors should resist fading for decades.
Among the companies equipped to make these prints are Old Town Editions in Alexandria (703-684-0005) and Imagination Center in Frederick (301-695-0086). At Imagination Center, giclee prints cost $11 to $13 a square foot on art paper and $15 a square foot on semigloss canvas, with a minimum order of $50. You'll also need to have the painting scanned (to create a digital image), for about $50. Included in that price is a test print so you can see the colors in the scan and compare them to the original. Colors can be tweaked, but if a lot of color correcting needs to be done, there might be an additional charge. Prices at Old Town Editions are higher.
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The Checklist Read Jeanne Huber's roundup of home-improvement tasks you should tackle in October, such as adding outdoor lighting.
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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/how-to-fix-a-drawer-with-metal-sides-that-is-coming-apart/2012/10/16/6ee891ea-12ea-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html