What Is This?! How to Install Cabinet Knobs and Pulls with a Jig

Updating cabinet knobs and pulls is a simple and effective way to give your kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanity or favorite piece of furniture a fresh, updated look without making major changes. Whether you're replacing existing cabinet hardware to refresh the appearance of your cabinets or installing knobs and pulls on doors and drawers you've built from scratch, adding the right hardware is an important finishing touch to any project.

The hard part is positioning holes for the mounting screws precisely and consistently. If even one hole is off, the hardware can look crooked or out of alignment with other knobs or pulls when installed. Repairing the mistake is difficult to do without it showing.

Our Jig-It Cabinet Hardware Pro Drilling Guide (#53038) makes drilling these holes easier and virtually foolproof. Set the guide once, using the actual hardware you're installing, for pinpoint hole spacing. Then use the same guide setting to repeat the hole placement across matching doors and drawers.

Explore the Rockler Jig-It Cabinet Hardware Pro Drilling Guide features and details.

In this edition of "What Is This?!" we show how to set up and use the Rockler Jig-It Cabinet Hardware Pro Drilling Guide, when you would use it and how it helps take the measuring and guesswork out of installing cabinet hardware successfully.

What is the Jig-It Cabinet Hardware Drilling Guide?

It is a reusable jig with a fence that rests on the edge of a door or drawer face, equipped with a pair of fully adjustable drilling guides that match the mounting screw positions of knobs and pulls. It helps keep hardware straight and either centered or in the same place from one door or drawer to the next.

When Do You Use It?

• Replacing kitchen cabinet knobs or pulls
• Updating a bathroom vanity
• Adding hardware to new cabinets or drawers
• Installing knobs or pulls on a dresser, nightstand or other furniture
• Repeating the same hardware placement across several matching doors or drawers

How Does It Work

For pulls with two mounting posts, you set the hole spacing by attaching the actual hardware to screw holes above the drill guide bushings and lock the guides in place. Then you measure horizontally and vertically to determine where the hardware should sit on the door or drawer, clamp the guide in position and drill the screw mounting holes with the included 3/16'' drill bit. Setting and locking an adjustable indexing foot with stop collar on the guide lets you repeat the same placement for as many doors and drawers you like. The only power tool required is a drill.

Why Use the Actual Pull to Set the Spacing?

The drilling guides make it unnecessary to measure the distance between the hardware mounting holes and hope you measured correctly. It's especially helpful when hardware sizes are listed in millimeters or the distance between the mounting holes does not conform to standard industry spacing. The guides adjust to fit post spacings at any span up to 7-1/2'' apart.

Can You Use It for Knobs?

Yes. For a single knob, just use one drill guide bushing instead of two to position the screw mounting hole. The jig's fence and adjustable indexing foot work just as well for single-screw knobs as for double-screw pulls.

What About Wide Drawers with Two Pulls?

The indexing foot can move from one side of the guide to the other, and it has a stop collar to mark its setting. That lets you use the same setup at both ends of a wide drawer with no additional measuring required.

Before You Drill

• Decide where you want the hardware positioned and draw layout lines as needed to make those locations clear.
• Consider practicing the setup on scrap material first, especially if this is your first time using the jig.
• Hold or clamp the guide firmly against the door or drawer face so it cannot move while you drill.

Also Worth Knowing

The guide can position hardware from 1'' to 8-1/4'' from the edge of a door or drawer. For longer pulls, the optional Rockler Jig-It Knob and Pull Pro Drilling Guide Extension gives you even more post-to-post range.

Whether you are refreshing a kitchen, updating a vanity or adding hardware to a furniture project, the Rockler Jig-It Knob and Pull Pro Drilling Guide helps make one of the most visible parts of the job easier to get right every time!