Want to build a automatic opening drawer? Answered

Very little power in the DVD tray BUT the principle is good.

A rack and pinion is the traditional way (as in DVD) but you could make arrangements with some string and a motor for example.

Good free running draws on tracks is the key so they are easy to move.

Remember that with a heavy object (eg a FULL draw) the inertia will be considerably increased from when it was empty and light.


T emulate that Smoooth action you so often see in CD players etc look for some smart grease and use a spring to pull the draw open when the catch is released, you will have to push it back though.

Smart grease info here:

http://www.nelsonthornes.com/aqagce/AS%20sample%20material/Head%20of%20Design%20and%20Technology/Product%20Design/AS%20Product%20Design.pdf

Would love to have something like this Ikea thing, but much cheaper:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30238703/

so with research i have decided against the original curiosty..... naturaully i decided to go with push to open soft close drawer slides im gonna do a step by step for the drawer should be a fun lil project

A DVD tray opener would be much too light to open any drawer that weighs more than a few ounces.
I would suggest you think of a worm gear type garage door opener. Copy the design using an all-thread rod and a large nut. Fasten the nut to the drawer and the all-thread rod to an electric motor. You can scale the sizes to open pretty much any drawer you need. Reverse the direction of rotation of the motor with a switch and it will also close the drawer when you're ready.