Drawer Box Calculator for Blum TANDEM

Opening → Drawer Box → Runner Install

Getting Started with the Drawer Box Calculator for Blum TANDEM

Blum TANDEM runners are concealed under the drawer, so the box has to be built to suit them: an exact inside width, a notched back with hook holes, and a set height off the bottom. Enter your cabinet opening and drawer stock, and this calculator gives the box sizes and where the runners go, with a link to the page of Blum's instructions behind every number.

How to use it

  1. Pick your runners in 1. Runners: 563H for sides up to 5/8", 563F for sides up to 3/4", or 563. (18" and 21" only). The model number is on the runner. Runner Length picks the longest runner that fits the cabinet, or choose one yourself.
  2. Describe the cabinet in 2. Cabinet Opening. Choose Frameless, Face frame, rear brackets (blocking behind the frame and a bracket at the back) or Face frame, full blocking (the sides blocked out for the full depth). Enter the opening width and height and the inside depth; for a face frame, also the Frame Overhang, how far the frame stands proud of the inside of the cabinet side.
  3. Measure your drawer side stock and enter it in 3. Drawer. Use the actual thickness: plywood often runs thin.
  4. Choose the drawer front: Overlay, or Inset with the thickness of the box front and the applied drawer front, and the locking devices you'll use. Inset fronts move the runners back.
  5. Build the box from Drawer Box and drill it from Drilling the Box: the rear notch, the hook holes in the back, and the locking devices with Blum's template.
  6. Install the runners from Installing the Runners: setback, screw positions, blocking and rear bracket. Press Print Drawer Sheet to take it all to the shop.
  7. Check the sources: each size links to the page of Blum's instructions it comes from. Sources links the whole document.
  8. Save your work with Save Project, and share it with Copy link. Projects are kept in this browser, on this device. Reset starts over with the example drawer.

Key terms

Inside width
The width between the drawer sides. Blum says it must equal the opening width minus 42 mm (563H, 563.) or 49 mm (563F) for the runners to line up, so it's the number to build to; the outside width follows from your side thickness.
Setback
How far the front of the runner sits behind the cabinet face: 3 mm for overlay fronts, more for inset fronts so the front ends up flush.
Blocking
Strips on the inside of a face frame cabinet's sides that bring them flush with the frame, so the runners mount straight.
Rear notch and hook holes
The notch at each bottom corner of the box back clears the runner; the hole above it takes the runner's rear hook.
"from" in a source
The size is worked out from Blum's numbers and your measurements. Without it, the number is Blum's as printed.

Assumptions

  • Covers TANDEM plus BLUMOTION 563H, 563F and 563. runners, from Blum's US installation instructions. Blum can change its specs, so check the current instructions before cutting.
  • Sizes are worked out in millimetres, as Blum publishes them, and shown to the nearest 1/32" as Blum's inch equivalents are.
  • The box length is the runner's nominal length: a 21" runner takes a 21" box.
  • The maximum box height is the tallest the opening allows. Build lower if you like; the bottom clearance and bottom recess stay the same.
  • Inset setbacks follow Blum's formula, and Blum recommends a trial fit. Runners mounted to the cabinet bottom aren't covered yet.
  • There's no cut list for the box: part sizes depend on your joinery and on how the bottom panel is fitted, so size the parts from the box dimensions to suit how you build.
  • Not affiliated with or endorsed by Blum.
Open this guide again any time with the Getting Started button.

Box sizes, not a cut list. This calculator gives the drawer box's overall size and how to fit it to the runners. It doesn't list the parts to cut, because their sizes depend on your joinery (dovetails, dadoes, rabbets, or a front and back between the sides or over them) and on how the bottom panel is fitted (in a groove, or screwed or nailed under the box). Size the parts from the box dimensions below to suit how you build.

Drawer Box

563F5330B runners in a 15" × 6" opening, 3/4" sides. Each size links to the page of Blum's instructions it comes from.

1 15/32"15" opening14 9/16" outside13 1/16" inside6" opening5 7/32" max9/16" clear1/4" clear
MeasurementSizeSource
Inside widthopening − 49 mm; Blum: it must be this13 1/16" 332 mmfrom 563F p. 2from 563F p. 2
Outside widthinside + 2 × 3/4" sides14 9/16" 370 mmfrom 563F p. 2from 563F p. 2
Maximum box heightopening − 20 mm5 7/32" 132.5 mmfrom 563F p. 2from 563F p. 2
Box lengthfor the 21" runner21" 533 mm563F p. 3563F p. 3
Bottom recessunderside of the bottom, up from the bottom edge of the sides1/2" 13 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2

Drilling the Box

1 3/8" min.9/32"1/2"15/16"side
MeasurementSizeSource
Rear notch width (minimum)from the inside face of the side1 3/8" 35 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2
Rear notch heightfrom the bottom edge of the back1/2" 13 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2
Hook hole, in from the sideto the centre, from the inside face of the side9/32" 7 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2
Hook hole, up from the bottom13 mm notch + 11 mm15/16" 24 mmfrom 563F p. 2from 563F p. 2
Hook hole sizeØ6 × 10 mm deep, into the back of the box563F p. 2563F p. 2
Locking devicesDrill with Blum's T65.1600.01 template, which Blum says is essential for their position and 75° angle.563F p. 2563F p. 2

Installing the Runners

cabinet facecabinet back21" drawer1/8" setback22 1/2" inside depth548 mm runner13/32" to first hole

Side view: looking at the inside of the cabinet's side panel, the one the runner screws to (through the blocking). The front of the cabinet is on the left and the back on the right; measurements run back from the cabinet face.

MeasurementSizeSource
Runner563F5330B (548 mm long)563F p. 3563F p. 3
Setback from the cabinet faceoverlay fronts1/8" 3 mm563F p. 3563F p. 3
Front screw hole, back from the facesetback + 7 mm13/32" 10 mmfrom 563F p. 5from 563F p. 5
Screw heighthole centres, up from the bottom of the opening1 15/32" 37 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2
Blocking behind the frameflush with the inside of the face frame1/4" 6.5 mmfrom 563F p. 5from 563F p. 5
Rear bracketFix with at least three 606N or 606P screws.295.3750.02, for 21 15/16" to 23 19/32" inside depth563F p. 3563F p. 3
Inside depth neededup to 23 19/32" with the bracket21 15/16" 557 mm563F p. 3563F p. 3
Top clearance (minimum)above the box1/4" 6 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2
Bottom clearancebelow the box9/16" 14 mm563F p. 2563F p. 2

Sources

TANDEM plus BLUMOTION 563F Installation Instructions Blum Inc., INST-TDM563F 05.16, posted 2024-02-06. Numbers checked against it on 2026-10-17.

Sizes marked "from" are worked out from Blum's numbers and your measurements; the rest are Blum's numbers as printed. Blum's specs are subject to change without notice, so check them against the current instructions on Blum's TANDEM downloads page before cutting, and make a test drawer first.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Julius Blum GmbH. BLUM, TANDEM and BLUMOTION are trademarks of Julius Blum GmbH.

About the Drawer Box Calculator for Blum TANDEM

Size drawer boxes for Blum TANDEM 563H, 563F and 563. runners in frameless or face frame cabinets, with overlay or inset fronts. Get box width, height and length, the rear notch and hook holes, runner setback and screw holes, each with the page of Blum's instructions it comes from.