Carpentry and Woodworking - ?Rebuilding kitchen drawers?

I'm looking for advice on rebuilding 5 main kitchen drawers in our kitchen so a decent suspension system can be installed. Currently my kitchen drawers are on wooden rails and are really heavy to pull open and shut. They were built too wide to install any side mount suspension systems and the undermount sytem I installed on one drawer turned out to be pretty shoddy. I've found a good undermount system on the internet (Hettich, Quadro) but there isn't enough clearance for them either. So I guess if I want drawers that open smoothly I will need to rebuild the box part of the drawer. I think I have all the necessary tools (table saw, chop saw, router, staple guns, etc) but I've never done anything like this before and my husband thinks I'm crazy. Is this a do-able job or is it better hired-out? Is it common for anyone do this kind of "small-time" work? Any advice will be much appreciated.

Before you take on the big task, have you tried applying bees wax or other substances to your rail to make them glide more smoothly?
If you are really up to the task it may be possible to rebuild the drawers. Take a good look at their construction. Is the drawer front dovetailed to the sides? This is the best method of construction, and the most difficult to resize.
Keep in mind your objective is to move the sides in about 1/2". This would allow you to attach side slides to it. If you were able to explode the drawer by lightly tapping on its components, you could, then, figure out how to resize it. Without seeing the drawers it would be difficult for me to give a detailed step-by-step.
Another avenue is to have someone (or you) build new drawers the size you need and attach your existing fronts to them. You have the tools, don't let them rust.

Larry

Hi Larry,
Thanks for the encouragment, actually that's what I had in mind--building new drawers and attaching the oak fronts. What I have right now isn't anything fancy, they aren't dovetail construction, it just looks like slots, staples and glue holding them all together I figure if they've lasted this long (25+? years) coming up with something similar should work well enough. I'd have to router the back side of the drawer fronts to make the box a little narrower. Thanks for your ideas. :)

I agree with Larry about narrowing the drawers by a 1/2 inch so you can attach a good set of sliders. I invested in a lock joint bit for my router and love it for building drawers. It makes fantastic joints.
Chris