How to choose metal boxes for the kitchen? Sizes, types, features

The metal thickness does not exceed 1.2 mm. The color range is limited to white and metallic. Most often, metaboxes can be found in the kitchen. However, they are also suitable for other furniture that has pull-out cabinets. The most popular are metaboxes with a partial extension system. But furniture with full extension cabinets also exists. True, the cost of such furniture is much more expensive than its analogue.

Assembling such a pull-out cabinet is quite simple. To do this, you need to saw through the bottom, facade and its back wall. Usually the first and last are made from laminated chipboard. It is absolutely not necessary to adjust the façade to the design of the product. The fastening system allows you to adjust the façade in relation to the furniture body.

Metaboxes: calculation, choice of manufacturer and installation

A metabox box is a type of retractable system consisting of side walls made of metal and roller guides. Metaboxes are most widespread in the manufacture of kitchen furniture, since due to their design features it is possible to save the working space of the room with the presence of the maximum possible number of places to store various items. Read on to learn how to select, assemble and install a metabox with your own hands.

Drawer system

Advantages and disadvantages of metaboxes

Metaboxes for the kitchen are different:

• capacity achieved due to the minimum thickness of the side wall;

The standard thickness of the metabox sidewall is 12 mm.

• strength. The bottom of the metabox is usually made of 16 mm chipboard, which allows the box to be loaded up to 35 kg;
• ease of use. The guides of the drawer system are located in the upper part of the drawer, which eliminates the possibility of loosening, falling out, and so on;
• ease of assembly and installation. The box can be installed independently with a minimum set of tools. Adjusting the system also does not require special skills.

The most significant drawback of the system is the impossibility of producing boxes of great depth. To some extent, this problem can be solved by installing additional elements - rails that are fixed to the back wall of the drawer and the facade.

Metabox, complemented by roof rails

How to choose a metabox

When choosing a retractable metabox system, you should consider:

Sizing

To assemble the metabox, the retractable system must be supplemented with:

The dimensions of these elements are calculated using the following formulas:

Rules for calculating the sizes of components

For independent calculations, you can use not only the presented formulas, but also specialized programs located on the website of the furniture fittings manufacturer. For example, the largest manufacturer of drawer systems, Blum, offers the DYNAPLAN program.

Working window for furniture design from the Blum company

Choice of equipment

In addition to overall dimensions, when choosing a system, it is also necessary to take into account the equipment. Standard boxes can be additionally equipped with:

Metabox box with soft closing system on the bottom

Systems for dividing the internal space in a drawer

Popular manufacturers

When choosing a retractable system, it is equally important to decide on the manufacturer, since parameters such as:

The most popular manufacturers of retractable systems, including metaboxes, are:

Dimensions of Bloom metaboxes

Among the disadvantages, one can highlight the relatively high cost of Bloom products, which is completely offset by the quality and duration of use.

Accessories from a German manufacturer

High-quality furniture fittings at more reasonable prices are manufactured:

Popular class=”aligncenter” width=”400″ height=”285″[/img]

One of the main criteria when choosing a metabox is the brand and manufacturer. After all, if a company has proven itself poorly, this means that it is better not to buy such furniture.

The best companies in the manufacture of drawers are the following:

1. Bloom. This company is located in Austria. It features high-quality and technologically advanced drawers. It takes into account the wishes of its clients, conducts online consultations on the official website and also makes it possible to calculate the size of the retractable system. True, the cost of such furniture is appropriate.
2. German company Hettich. This is probably one of the most famous brands for the manufacture of retractable furniture. It is distinguished by a variety of models, high quality and online customer support on the official website. There you can also leave a review about the manufacturer, ask a question or help, or use the built-in program to calculate the dimensions of the boxes.
3. GTV company from Poland. This is an analogue of Bloom, only at a better price. In no way inferior to its more expensive company. Moreover, these metaboxes are increased in length up to 750 mm.
4. Fgv from Italy. These metaboxes can be assembled by anyone without any specific skills.
5. Firmax and Boyard from Russia. These companies produce perhaps the cheapest metaboxes. However, the quality is not inferior to foreign representatives.

Thus, by choosing a metabox responsibly, you can make your room attractive and cozy.

Installing metaboxes yourself

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Metabox with railings.

Purpose of railing in metaboxes.

The railing must be installed in metaboxes whose front part is 2 or more times higher than the height of the metabox sidewalls. The installed rail provides, necessary in such cases, additional fastening of the facade and its tight, distortion-free fit to the body of the cabinet in the closed position. Among other things, the railings give the metabox stability and also act as a kind of sides. The rails are adjustable; by rotating the screw of the facade hinge, you can achieve a perfect fit of the facade.

The length of the railing is taken along the length of the metabox guide.

Diagram of a metabox with railings.

The order of assembling a metabox with a railing.

1

. Assembling the metabox (see post above).

2

. Marking for the façade hinge.

3

. Test of pressing a façade hinge onto a rough piece of chipboard.

4

. Installation from the facade.

5

. Installation of end fastening.

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How to make a kitchen cabinet with drawers on metaboxes?

Making a cabinet with drawers just seems complicated. And it’s complicated because you need to know how to correctly calculate the details of the drawers and how to mark the side walls for the guides and the fronts for the fasteners.

In our article we will tell you how to calculate and assemble a kitchen cabinet with three drawers on metabox guides.

Metabox guides

Metabox is a guide system created on the basis of roller guides; the sides of the guides are covered with impact-resistant enamel.

Why a cabinet with three drawers? In our opinion, this division of kitchen cabinet space is the most optimal.

The bottom drawer occupies half the height of the cabinet. Due to the fact that the box is high (357 mm along the front), it can accommodate pots, packages of cereals, bottles of vegetable oil, vinegar, etc.

We make the remaining two drawers the same in height. We use the top drawer to store cutlery, for which we will additionally place a special plastic tray in it.

The middle drawer will be quite suitable for storing cereals, low kitchen utensils, stacks of plates, cups, and small pots.

Blum Dynamic Space ergonomic concept

The main theses of the Dynamic Space concept. Five zones in the kitchen and their placement depending on the kitchen layout. Online kitchen planner from Blum.

How we calculated the dimensions of the drawer parts and obtained drilling drawings

To calculate the boxes we use the free DYNAPLAN from Blum. Link to the program https://www.blum.com/ua/ru/services/planning-construction-product-selection/dynaplan/

The program provides a variety of options for designing cabinets and selecting the necessary fittings. DYNAPLAN contains all the necessary information for ordering accessories and making furniture with Blum products, as stated on the manufacturer’s website.

But we also use this program to install metaboxes from the GTV manufacturer, there is no difference in the calculations.

Using the program, we obtain all the necessary data for making a cabinet with drawers ; here are screenshots from the program:

Metaboxes, height 150 mm

Additive size

Attention!!! All guides for metaboxes are mounted into the body of the furniture product with a space of 2 mm from the edge.

Drawer installation diagram and calculation of the size of the drawer bottom and back wall

The dimensions of the drawer bottom and back wall are calculated based on the internal dimensions of the case minus 31 mm.

Dimensions of the non-pull-out part of the drawer and the minimum depth of the cabinet

To calculate the size of the non-drawer part of the drawer, you can use the following table:

Assembling a kitchen cabinet with three drawers

The assembly order was as follows:

Watch a video about a kitchen cabinet with three drawers

Source

Metaboxes, height 118 mm

Additive size

Attention!!! All guides for metaboxes are mounted into the body of the furniture product with a space of 2 mm from the edge.

Drawer installation diagram and calculation of the size of the drawer bottom and back wall

The dimensions of the drawer bottom and back wall are calculated based on the internal dimensions of the case minus 31 mm.

Dimensions of the non-pull-out part of the drawer and the minimum depth of the cabinet

To calculate the size of the non-drawer part of the drawer, you can use the following table:

General concepts about guides for metabox type drawers

Metabox is a guide system based on roller guides.

In metaboxes, unlike roller guides, the side of the drawer is part of the guide system, the second part of the metabox is similar to roller guides and is attached to the side wall of the cabinet body or the side wall of the sliding wardrobe section.

In Russia you can also find such a name as metalboxes , but this is an analogue of metaboxes. Metaboxes are basically a partial extension slide system, but Blum has solutions for full extension metaboxes.

The guides of the metabox system are coated with impact-resistant or epoxy enamel, which is not so easy to chip in a proprietary design, which is not guaranteed by cheap Chinese manufacturers.

Problems with the operation of metaboxes arise due to incorrect calculation and installation. Plastic rollers in metaboxes are resistant to high loads; metaboxes can withstand dynamic loads similar to roller guides, about 25 kg. The advantages and disadvantages are described in detail in a review article about the types of drawer slides.

The height of the sidewalls of drawers with metabox guides is 54, 86, 118 and 150 mm.

If the slow closing of metaboxes irritates you, then the BLUMATIC soft closing mechanism allows you to reduce this negative point when using metaboxes to a minimum.

Metaboxes for the oven drawer

Metaboxes with a height of 54 mm are usually used for a drawer in an oven cabinet. With the height of the built-in oven being about 600 mm, there is little space left; metabox guides with a height of 54 mm allow you to use the remaining space to make a box for storing pans and trays.

The price of metaboxes , depending on the depth of the box and the height of the sides of the box from Blum , ranges from 230 to 350 rubles. for a set of metabox guides. What standard sizes are there for metaboxes, read in the section guides for drawers.

Metaboxes, height 86 mm

Additive size

Attention!!! All guides for metaboxes are mounted into the body of the furniture product with a space of 2 mm from the edge.

Drawer installation diagram and calculation of the size of the drawer bottom and back wall

The dimensions of the drawer bottom and back wall are calculated based on the internal dimensions of the case minus 31 mm.

Dimensions of the non-pull-out part of the drawer and the minimum depth of the cabinet

To calculate the size of the non-drawer part of the drawer, you can use the following table:

Mechanism for smooth closing of metabox drawers

BLUMATIC soft closing mechanism , in Blum terminology it sounds like BLUMOTION, is designed for partial extension drawers with a case width limitation of up to 900 mm. One mechanism is needed and it is mounted on the left side.

There is, however, one nuance here: when using the BLUMOTION mechanism, the height of the opening for installing the box with metabox guides increases by about 3 mm, which is not significant; I doubt that you are installing the metaboxes very tightly to each other. The cost of the mechanism is about 120 rubles.

Below are photos of the BLUMOTION mechanism being mounted on the left side wall of the cabinet. It is recommended to install two mechanisms for cabinets with a width of more than 900 mm, but it is better not to install cabinets of this width on metaboxes.

The second part of the mechanism is fixed to the bottom of the box at a certain distance from the front edge of the metabox guide .

Metaboxes, height 54 mm

Additive size

Attention!!! All guides for metaboxes are mounted into the body of the furniture product with a space of 2 mm from the edge.

Drawer installation diagram and calculation of the size of the drawer bottom and back wall

The dimensions of the drawer bottom and back wall are calculated based on the internal dimensions of the case minus 31 mm.

Dimensions of the non-pull-out part of the drawer and the minimum depth of the cabinet

To calculate the size of the non-drawer part of the drawer, you can use the following table:

Internal drawer on metabox guides

Increasing the height of the sides of a metabox using Boxside

Many people do not know that the height of the sides of the metabox box can be increased using railings, and also the extended sides can be made solid using a single-wall BOXSIDE for METABOX .

In order to increase the sides of the metaboxes, we will additionally need to purchase a set of railings for the corresponding depth of the metabox, holders for the railings and, in the version of metal sides, two single-wall BOXSIDE for METABOX.

Internal organization system for metabox drawers using Orga-line

Additional longitudinal tubular holders can be installed on the transverse dividers. As a result, the space can be structured according to your needs, you can place different bottles, jars, boxes, and the dividers will not allow the contents to dangle freely around the box.

In order to make a storage organization system in a metabox similar to the one in the photo, you will need to purchase, in addition to railings, additional tubular holders and dividers.

Drawer on guides metabox for kitchen sink

For general development, I will cite the use of galleries for making a drawer on metabox guides in a cabinet with a sink. The solution is original and relatively cheap, anyone who makes kitchens will understand.

So, if you make drawers in a cabinet with a sink, then the sink will not allow the drawer to close. In this case, we make a cutout in the bottom of the box and make short back walls in the box. To install the tubes, you need double tube holders and the tubes themselves.

In the rear walls we drill two non-through holes with a diameter of approximately 11.5 mm, cut the tubes to size, determine the size locally in accordance with your product.

We fasten the holders using self-tapping screws at the corners of the cutout in the bottom, insert the tubes into the holders themselves and the holes in the rear wall, for rigidity we fasten the rear walls with self-tapping screws to the bottom, and glue the tubes into the holes in the rear walls.

Current offers from manufacturers

I do not recommend purchasing the products in question from little-known “handicraft” manufacturers. Such a product may turn out to be made of low-quality metal, which will eliminate all the advantages of metaboxes described above.

Let's look at the metaboxes of the most popular brands.

GAMET

The prices in the article are current in the summer of 2022.

The Polish company GAMET offers relatively inexpensive metal boxes. As an example, we can consider the technical characteristics of the SPR-10150-350 model:

The Polish model SPR-10150-350 is characterized by a fairly low cost combined with the greatest possible depth

Linken System

Linken System offers you metaboxes with increased load capacity, which can be seen by reading the technical characteristics of one of the models of this company:

Linken System iron boxes can withstand greater loads than similar designs from competing manufacturers

BLUM

BLUM is already an Austrian representative of metabox manufacturers, characterized by high reliability, but also considerable cost. For a closer look at their products, you can check out the 320K4500C model:

The Austrian model 320K4500C is highly reliable and expensive

SAMET

The Turkish company SAMET also produces metaboxes. Their products are low cost and silent in operation. As an example, consider the technical parameters of model 1211134 086/250:

The model of the Turkish company SAMET 1211134 086/250 stands out among its competitors by the almost complete absence of any sounds during its operation

GTV

GTV is another manufacturer from Poland that offers very affordable products, which can be seen using the example of the MP-086400-10 86/400 model:

The Polish company GTV offers diverse and affordable products