Monday, April 27, 2009

DIY: Natural Rock Drawer Pulls

This is, quite possibly, my best invention yet. Do you remember when I declared that everything that is mass manufactured can be made right at home? Well, here is more proof. In my current decorating frenzy I set out to put some cupboard/drawer pulls on my kitchen cupboards. I had just recently torn out an advertisement from a home improvement magazine for some beautiful rock pulls that are currently selling for a minimum of $10 per piece (go ahead and see for yourself- just Google "stone drawer pulls"). Well, I decided that this natural and beautiful hardware would make my cupboards look lovely but I could already hear my checkbook wailing from inside of my new purse. Nevertheless, I still had to have them.

So, again with the terrific knowledge of nuts and bolts that my husband stores away in his brain and a complete raid of my decorating closet, I came up with the exact same product for about $1 each. Here's how you can make one too:

Here's what you need:

Polished rocks (found in the home dec section of any store including your local dollar store or pick up your favorites on the beach)

Epoxy glue

Cap Nuts (I bought mine at McMaster-Carr item #90835A300 1/4"X20 and 12mm length)

Machine Screws (McMaster-Carr item # 90271A542 1/4X20 and 1" length)

Dremel or sandpaper for roughing up surfaces

First, rough up the surfaces of your rocks and cap nuts. This will help the glue to stick better.

Mix up the epoxy following the directions on the package. Dip the cap nut into the epoxy and place on the rock to dry. You won't need too much glue on the nut and if you do get too much on you run the risk of it sliding off of your rock before it is dried.

Tah-Dah!! I purchased a mounting template that helped me mark where I wanted the pulls to be. Drilling was a piece of cake and the kids even helped me put the screws through the holes and twist the pulls on.

I am so impressed with the success of this project that I'm already scheming up new places in my home I may put them (buttons in the craft lab?) You could use nearly anything other than rocks for a unique look. What will you use?

35 comments:

  1. This IS a great invention, I love it! I'll be linking to this post.

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  2. love the ideas. it can be applied to just about anything you might use for pulls.
    Thanks!

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  3. Thank you for posting where you found the cap nuts. I've had the hardest time finding them at any of the local home improvement places.

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  6. Thanks for this interesting blog. You are right this is natural and beautiful hardware.

    Brushed Nickel Drawer Pulls

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  7. I have done this with my drawers and have had some trouble with the epoxy. I have used two part epoxy and a couple others. I have some rocks come off of the cap and can reapply but would love to find something that works a bit better. Any ideas.

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  8. After a few years, how are they holding up? I want to try it but I'm concerned about how they would survive day after day of constant use.

    ReplyDelete
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  13. I was making different cabinet knobs for my kitchen also but I was trying to find a cap nut in the standard size 8-32. I have looked everywhere any ideas. Kathy

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