DIY Wooden Drawer Pulls (aka handles)

Another great idea I picked up from the Woodgears site was how to make wood drawer pulls.

It seemed logical to have wood pulls, since the whole bench is all about wood working.

I pretty much followed his design and method to make my pulls. I did vary my dimensions just a touch, mainly because I used 1x2 select pine and used the full width of the board rather than cut them down, so my pulls are a touch wider as a result.

With a 1 inch forstner bit, drill the inside curves. I cut three pine boards so they'd yield 10 pulls - laid out on 3 pieces with 3 pulls on two of them, and 4 on the other.

I used my recently rebuilt King-Seeley press - note the hose from my shop vac sucking up sawdust.

I had also measured the pulls for their mounting holes and drilled those at this time as well.

Then cut out the inside of the pull, between the holes, with a scroll saw.

The scroll saw is a new addition - very generously on permanent loan from TMD. I can already see how valuable it will become.

Two of the ten pulls with their insides cut out.

You'll see in a minute why I haven't cut them apart just yet.

There was a small ridge on each one between the drilled hole and the scroll saw cut, so I shaved those down with a chisel. Pine is so easy to work with, the chisel made fast work of this part.

Now the cool, fun, but really dangerous part.

With my trim router mounted in my simple DIY 'table,' I routed the inside edges. This is why I left the pulls all together as long as I could - easier and safer to handle this way.

What I am not showing is what happened next. I cut the pulls apart, then routed the outside edges. Scary, yes. Wear gloves, focus and go slowly. After I did a couple, I was ok, but you need to approach a router bit spinning at 30,000 rpm with a LOT of caution.

About this time I did start thinking about how much I need a proper router table!

And here we have ten wood drawer pulls!

This was a bit tedious, but a lot of fun and productive.

I splurged for an $8 drawer pull template from the Despot. I could have made one myself, but it would only work for my one specific spacing. I can use this one over again as needed. Eight bucks seemed like a reasonable investment.

Side story: Found the template on Despot's web site. I armed myself with the exact aisle and bay number where my local Despot has these (supposedly). Went to that location and didn't find them. Asked a clerk. HE couldn't find them. I told him "got this from the web site, you're supposed to have six of them." Sigh.

Went to ANOTHER Despot (actually a better one, better wood selection there, which is where I got the wood for the bench...). Same similar location - near the drawer pulls. Didn't see them. Then FINALLY I found them, hanging on a column on one of the racks. Lesson: pay attention to the stuff they can hang up! Still, the guy at the first store probably should have seen them.

After marking the holes, I drill pilot holes for the mounting screws.

And in a nod to actual craftsmanship, countersink the screw holes from the inside of the drawers.

Before I mounted the pulls, I decided since I was so close to having the drawers finished, I didn't want to forget to wax the slides to help them, well, slide easier.

Note my lifetime supply of Butcher's Bowling Alley wax. Good stuff.

"One might have to go to a bowling alley to meet a woman of your stature." -Sir John Gielgud (Hobson) to Liza Minelli (Linda Morolla) in Arthur.

Here they are installed. Really glad I decided to make some - they seem very appropriate for the new drawers.