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Handmade Drawer Pulls |
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Handmade
drawer pulls enhance these simple nightstands. |
I
recently made some simple plywood boxes into arguably attractive
pieces of furniture by adding some special touches to them.
These small nightstands are plywood carcasses enhanced with
solid walnut face frames, a top with breadboard ends and dovetailed
drawers and bases. The feature I would like to discuss in this
article is the pair of modern drawer pulls, which were hand
milled using special purpose planes.
For this project, I could have purchased some drawer pulls and
declared these nightstands finished; however, I like to make
my own hardware whenever I can. I find that doing so adds a
special touch, and gives the piece a handcrafted appeal. To
begin making the pulls, I first established their length, in
this case 3-1/2". I then planed the stock on all four sides,
leaving the pieces long. I actually milled the entire stock
length and then crosscut it into two pieces; this assured continuity
between the pulls. I used some 3/4" walnut that was 2"x7".
I began by shaping the upper front bevel of each pull. Using
some special molding planes really made this operation painless;
however, this could also be done using a low-angle block plane
or even a spokeshave. To ease the process, I drew the desired
profiles on the ends of the pieces and slowly planed down to
them. Different profiles will appeal to different woodworkers
— the shape is easily adapted. I gave the pulls a nice
gentle round over and then flipped each one over. Using a hollowing
plane, I shaped the undersides where one's fingers grab when
pulling out the drawer. I worked slowly along the length of
each, stopping and checking as I went.
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| Shaping
the front bevel of one of the pulls. |
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Shaping
the underside. |
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Other Articles from this Issue |
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