Project 06 · Hardware

New hardware, new life

Published Aug 31, 2026 · 7 min read

Assorted brass knobs and pulls laid out beside a drawer front

The fastest, cheapest transformation on the bench — done right, it also lines up.

Nothing on this bench changes a piece faster or cheaper than its hardware. A dated dresser with new pulls reads as a different object; a plain cabinet with the right knobs looks intentional. Hardware is also where beginners make the most visible mistakes — mismatched hole spacing, filler that shows through paint, hinges that never close right — so this project is the boring, decisive detail: measuring, filling, drilling and choosing.

Measure before you shop

Pulls are sold by centre-to-centre spacing: the distance between the two screw holes. Measure the existing holes (common sizes: 64, 76, 96, 128 and 160 mm; imperial equivalents in older pieces) and buy pulls that match, and the whole project becomes screw-out, screw-in. Knobs need one hole and fit anything. If you want a different size or want to switch from pulls to knobs, you are filling holes and drilling new ones — very doable, but plan it into the paint schedule, because holes get filled before the last two coats.

Filling old holes so they disappear

For a painted piece: press wood filler into the hole from the front, slightly proud, let it dry fully, sand flush with a block, then prime — filler is more absorbent than wood and shows as a dull spot without primer. For very large holes or a piece with a clear finish, glue in a short length of dowel of the same species, trimmed flush and sanded, which takes finish like the wood around it. Do not fill with caulk, spackle or glue alone: they shrink, crack and telegraph through paint within a season. Fill from both sides on thin drawer fronts so the back does not show a crater from inside.

The drilling jig from a scrap of cardboard. Cut a strip of stiff card the width of the drawer front, mark the centre line and the two hole positions, and use it as a template on every drawer — identical placement, zero measuring errors, and the pulls line up down the whole piece. Drill from the front with a piece of scrap clamped behind so the back does not splinter, and start each hole with a small bit before the full-size one.

Cardboard drilling template held against a drawer front with holes marked — The cardboard jig: every pull on the piece lands in exactly the same place.

Choosing: material, finish, proportion

Solid brass and steel feel heavier and age well; zinc alloy with a plated finish is cheaper and fine on pieces that get light use, but the plating wears at the touch point in a few years.
Finish colour works by contrast or by echo. Brass or bronze warm up a dark or coloured piece; black or nickel sharpen a pale one. Matching the hardware exactly to the room's tap or door handles is optional; matching it to itself across the piece is not.
Proportion is the most common miss. A pull should be roughly a third to a half of the drawer-front width on wide drawers; tiny knobs on a broad drawer look lost, oversized pulls on a small one look like a handle on a suitcase. Cardboard cutouts taped on for an evening settle the question for free.
Hinges on cabinet doors: replace like with like unless you enjoy chiselling new mortises. Soft-close is a genuine upgrade on kitchen pieces and available in most standard patterns.

Restoring the originals instead

Sometimes the best hardware is the hardware. Original brass under decades of grime and old lacquer comes back with a soak in warm water and a little dish soap, a soft brush, and a brass polish; heavily tarnished pieces respond to a paste of vinegar and salt, rinsed and dried immediately. Test whether a piece is solid brass with a magnet — a magnet sticks to plated steel, not to brass — because a plated finish will not survive polishing. Reinstall with the screws in the same holes, and the piece keeps its history without keeping its grime.

Restored brass pulls drying on a cloth beside a bowl of soapy water — Originals, cleaned: often the best hardware for the piece was already on it.

Questions from the bench

The new screws are too short (or too long) for the drawer front.

Universal, and the fix is a bag of machine screws in the hardware's thread size (usually M4) in two or three lengths — a few cents each. Too long: add a washer or two under the head inside the drawer, or trim with a cutter. Too short: longer screw, same thread. Never force a screw to fit; a stripped pull is a replacement, not a repair.

Knobs keep loosening after a month.

A drop of removable thread-locker on the screw, or a thin rubber washer between the knob and the drawer front, stops the wobble. Tighten by hand plus a quarter turn; overtightening crushes the wood and makes the loosening worse.

Can I mix knobs and pulls on one piece?

Yes, in a pattern: knobs on small top drawers, pulls on the wide ones below is the classic arrangement and reads as designed. Random mixing reads as a shortage. Keep the finish identical across both types and the piece stays coherent.

Every technique on the bench, now on one piece: the one-weekend dresser.