If you’ve always found the hardware installation stage a bit difficult and intimidating, this is probably because the hardware is at the front of your project. What you need to ensure success in any DIY installation project is a good cabinet hardware jig.
There are a lot of hardware jigs you can use out there, but not all of them are the same, and only a few are versatile enough to go from project to project. If a project requires a significant amount of hardware, it will be time-consuming and you might end up compromising on accuracy if you don’t have the right tools with you.
Fortunately you can save yourself the trouble by having a cabinet hardware jig handy. You’d be amazed at how quickly and easily you’ll be able to work through each task. Cabinet hardware placement is not an easy feat—you need to measure, mark, re-measure, and measure from the opposite side to make sure everything is truly centered. But a single tool can do all that for you.
How To Use A Cabinet Hardware Jig?
We will be discussing how you can use a cabinet hardware jig to install cabinet doorknobs. You can use any hardware jig, but be sure to go for one that’s from a known brand so you won’t compromise on quality.
Installing New Cabinet Door Knobs 101
There’s a quick and easy way to make your kitchen cabinets look brand new—replacing cabinet doorknobs! Installing a new set of door fasteners is actually a quick and ingenious way to bring new life to your kitchen. So without further ado, below is a short but helpful tutorial on how to install cabinet doorknobs with the help of a cabinet hardware jig.
First grab your bag full of doorknobs, head back into the house and get a screwdriver. If you already made your choice on doorknobs that match the same hole pattern as your cabinet, then it’s simply just a matter of inserting the screws and you’re all set. If any of the holes have stripped out, just give it a little squirt of wood glue, let it dry, the run the screw through it once more.
However, if you chose to go by a slightly different style, then you’re going to need a bit more work to make sure all the doorknobs are all lined up evenly.
Place the new knob on the cabinet door and move it around until it covers the old screw holes.
After that, mark through the hardware using a pencil and mark the door.
Although measuring the hole offset is a good idea and a great way to make sure that everything lines up, you also risk the chance of making an error in your measurements. This could throw everything you’ve worked hard on off-balance. Fortunately there’s a way for you to fix this.
What you need to do is to grab two pieces of scrap wood, a 2 by 4, and plywood then bolt them together into a T-shape. Once you’ve successfully done this, you’ll be able to hold this up to the cabinet door and indicate where the new holes will be. Make an outline on the edge of the cabinet door onto the plywood then mark the drill hole locations on the template.
Next, drill screw holes in the cabinet hardware jig. Now you have a template you can apply on each cabinet door to make sure each and every hole you drill will be the same and on the same level.
After that, you’re finally ready to connect the new hardware. Grab your drill as well as a small pilot bit. When you drill pilot holes into the wood, you won’t end up splintering the cabinet facing.
Once you’re done with that, all that’s left for you to do now is to attach the new doorknobs.
What you need to do is to put the screws through the attached hardware and screw them tightly into the pilot holes.
Make sure you don’t tighten the screws too much. You just need to make sure it’s secure. Over tightening can warp the doorknob and make the screw strip out of the pilot hole. You wouldn’t want to risk that, right?
Installing a cabinet doorknob with a cabinet hardware jig is no easy task, but you can make it easier with the help of the right tool. A new doorknob can definitely transform your kitchen even without a major remodel. If you think your kitchen is starting too look a little old, boring, or run-down, don’t decide on a full remodel right away. Simply try to upgrade your kitchen cabinets and shop for new cabinet hardware. Installation would be easy with a cabinet hardware jig, and you’ll love the new look of your kitchen afterwards!
Conclusion
Most people don’t realize how many knobs and pulls they need to install when working with kitchen hardware. You can own 30 or more knobs in your kitchen and that alone requires a LOT of measurement work.
Once you know how to use a cabinet hardware jig to measure the drilling points, you’ll be able to figure out the best position to drill the holes. You need to make sure that you find the best place to position them in, or else they’ll simply look horrible.
To make any installation look evenly centered from any angle, position the drawer up half an inch from the center of the bottom drawer. Elevate it about a quarter of an inch from the middle drawer and then place it in the middle of the top drawer.
When you do this, the cabinet will look good no matter what angle you view it from.
When you use a good quality cabinet hardware jig, every part of your job will go smoothly and quickly. From fitting, and placing the drawers right up to finishing up the drilling for the hardware, and literally every step of the way, you can be sure that your job will go a whole lot easier.
