People often throw away cabinets because the locks have been broken or tampered with, but they may not know that buying and replacing file cabinet locks is much cheaper than buying a new cabinet. Look for a lock that is exactly the same as the one that is broken. Bring it with you to the hardware store if you can. Lock replacement is a smart choice because it saves you money on the cost of a new lock and helps keep your file cabinet contents safe.
Changing how your office looks? Cleaning or moving? In any of these situations, you might need to take out the drawers of a lateral file cabinet. How you take out the drawers may depend on how your file is built. Steelcase, a company that has been making office furniture and equipment for almost 100 years, uses a tape and an interlocking cam to keep drawers from all opening at once.
Steelcase has a variety of lateral and vertical file cabinets with sliding drawers that won’t move all the way out unless they are opened by hand. Depending on the style of storage cabinet, the release lever or levers are usually on the drawer slides or on the back of the cabinet. If you want to take out more than one drawer at a time from a Steelcase cabinet, you have to turn off the safety system. Look for the mechanisms that keep a Steelcase file cabinet drawer in place in a systematic way to turn them off.
The safety mechanism for a single drawer is on the back wall of the Steelcase file cabinet. Most of the time, a quarter-sized white plastic wheel with metal spokes is used. To take out the second drawer, turn this wheel up while the release tabs are in place.
Take out everything, including the dividers, from the drawer. If you need to empty every drawer, start at the bottom and work your way up. When you pull out the drawer all the way, you’ll see steel guides on both sides.
Straight-up lateral filing systems have been used for a long time. Drawers need to be fixed every so often because of the weight of the hundreds of files they hold. Most lateral filing drawers have steel guides that are held in place by clips and mechanical brakes so that the drawer doesn’t open at the wrong time. If you know where to look, you can get to a lateral file drawer in less than a minute. Most of them look like a few different models, and they all come off in the same way. Both sides have the keys you need to take them off.
How do you take the drawers out of a Steelcase lateral file?
Press down on the lock catch on each side of the drawer as needed to pull it out. Pull the file drawer on the side out until it stops. As shown, pull the drawer up and out while pressing down on the lock retainers on each side of the drawer.
Can the drawers be taken out of a metal file cabinet?
In the drawers of many steel file cabinets, there is a special latch that opens the drawer. It is built into the side panels of each drawer, and pulling on it makes it easy to pull out the whole drawer.
How do you take out the drawers from a two-drawer lateral file cabinet?
With a screwdriver, take out one screw from the front of the drawer runners about an inch from each side. Press with both fingers on a tab above the screw holes. To open the drawer, lift it up.
How do you take drawers off metal slides that don’t have levers?
If there are no buttons or levers, gently push the drawer out. Just lift it up until you hear a click. Using the putty knife, remove any debris from the rail that might be blocking the slide if it is stuck or broken.
If a drawer doesn’t have a release, it’s hard to take it out.
Grab the drawer’s front handle and pull it out. Pull the drawer all the way out until it stops. You can also grab the front bottom of the drawer if that makes it easier to pull it out. Just be careful that your fingers don’t get stuck in the tracks of the drawer.
How do I get a flat drawer out?
To move the drawer above the drawer wheels, gently lift it up from the sides. Keep your hands under the drawer to hold it up while you do this. Carefully take the drawer out by moving the front of it down.
How do full extension drawer slides work?
Cabinet builders and homeowners both like full extension drawer slides. This kind of slide lets the drawer go all the way to the front edge of the cabinet, so you can get to anything stored there.
How do I get a flat drawer out?
To move the drawer above the drawer wheels, gently lift it up from the sides. Keep your hands under the drawer to hold it up while you do this. Carefully take the drawer out by moving the front of it down.