There are two ways to build a kitchen or bedroom drawer: make a timber or MFC box and hang it on a pair of runners, or use a metal-sided drawer system where the sides, runners and front fixings come as one kit. We have fitted both for twenty years. Here is an honest comparison so you can pick the right one for the job.
What a "standard" drawer box is
A standard box is four board sides (usually 15–18 mm MFC or plywood), a base, dowels or screws, and a separate pair of side-mount runners such as Versalite PLUS. You cut every part, drill for the runners, assemble the box and then hang it. It is the cheapest route per drawer and lets you make any size, but it is the most work and the quality depends entirely on your cutting and squaring.
What an Axis Pro drawer is
GTV Axis Pro is a slim metal drawer system. One kit gives you two 13 mm steel drawer sides in anthracite with the full-extension runners already built into them, the front fixing brackets, back-panel brackets and the base clips. You cut just two pieces of 16 mm board – a base and a back – clip them in, screw the front on and the drawer is done. It is the same type of system used in most branded fitted kitchens.
Head to head
| Standard box + runners | Axis Pro drawer system | |
|---|---|---|
| Parts to cut | 5 (four sides + base) | 2 (base + back) |
| Time per drawer | 45–60 min including runner fitting | 10–15 min |
| Side thickness | 15–18 mm board + 12.7 mm runner each side | 13 mm steel side, runner inside it |
| Internal width gained | – | Around 35 mm more usable width per drawer |
| Soft close | If you buy soft-close runners | Built in (or push-to-open version) |
| Full extension | Yes with ball-bearing runners | Yes, always |
| Heights | Anything you cut | 86, 120, 168 or 199 mm sides (add a railing for taller fronts on request) |
| Lengths | Any runner length | 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550 mm |
| Finish | Matches your board | Anthracite steel |
| Cost per drawer | Lowest | Mid – but no sides to buy or edge |
| Best for | Odd sizes, matching timber, very deep or very wide drawers, heavy loads on H53 runners | Kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, replacing old drawers, anywhere you want a factory-finish drawer fast |
Where Axis Pro wins
Speed. On a six-drawer kitchen run the difference between cutting thirty parts and cutting twelve is most of an afternoon. The runners are already aligned to the sides, so there is no drilling jig and no runner that sits a millimetre low and rubs.
Space. Because the runner lives inside the 13 mm side, you lose about 26 mm of width to the drawer walls instead of 60 mm or more. On a 500 mm cabinet that is a noticeably bigger cutlery drawer.
Finish. Powder-coated anthracite sides, a smooth soft-close action and no exposed runner – it looks like the drawers in a showroom kitchen because it is the same kind of system.
Replacement work. Taking a tired 1990s drawer out and putting an Axis Pro box in with the original front is one of the most satisfying jobs there is. Measure the cabinet, order the kit, cut a base and back, done.
Where a standard box still makes sense
Awkward sizes. Axis Pro tops out at 550 mm long and 199 mm high. For a 700 mm deep pull-out or a 300 mm deep pan drawer you need a board box on heavy-duty runners.
Heavy loads. Workshop drawers, van racking and anything holding 50 kg+ belong on an H53 runner with a plywood box.
Timber kitchens. If the drawer sides are meant to be seen – an oak dovetailed drawer in a painted kitchen – the box is the point.
Tight budgets. Per drawer, board plus a pair of Versalite PLUS runners is still the cheapest way to get a soft-close drawer.
Sizing an Axis Pro drawer
Choose the length first: it must be at least 10 mm less than the internal depth of the cabinet, so a 500 mm deep cabinet takes a 450 mm kit and a 560 mm cabinet takes a 500 or 550 mm kit. Then choose the height by the drawer front: a low 86 mm side needs a 115 mm opening, medium 120 mm needs 147 mm, high 168 mm needs 198 mm and extra high 199 mm needs 230 mm. The base is cut from 16 mm board at internal cabinet width − 75 mm by runner length − 24 mm, and the back panel at internal width − 87 mm.
You do not need to remember any of that: the Axis Pro calculator works out every cut size and drilling position, and the drawer builder picks the kits and matching handles for a whole cabinet and adds them to your basket in one go. Both are free.
Our verdict
For a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom drawer between 250 and 550 mm deep, use Axis Pro. It is quicker, it gives the customer a better drawer, and the extra cost over board and runners is mostly paid back in time. Keep the board box and separate runners for the big, heavy or unusual drawers. That is exactly how we build our own kitchens at ABJ Kitchens & Bedrooms.