Showoff of work and a serious question
Attached are some photos of a project I am currently working on for my youngest daughter. She is expecting her first child and she wanted a baby changing table. So me being dad, I told I won’t buy one but I’ll make one for you.
The design is based on what she wanted. The height/width/depth based on a place she wants to put it, one center drawer, and one shelf. So, no golden sections here. However, it seems to look OK to me. But then again I may not be that critical with my own work. LOL…
The approximate sizes are 35 inches high, 49.5 inches wide, and 25 inches deep. The drawer is 31.750 inches wide by 6.250 inches high.
Now my questions:
In the pictures you will see two solid brass knobs that are 1.250 inches in diameter that I purchased. The more I look at them, the less I feel I should use them and instead make a wooden pull.
I can find no hard rules on placement of knobs on a drawer front and I’m having trouble on the length/width/depth of a pull if I make something out of one of the woods I am using. The woods are: Purpleheart, Jatoba, and some Birdseye maple trim. Note that the top is not yet finished and it is just setting on the base.
What would you folks recommend?
Sorry for the poor quality pictures. They are full of shadows but I would hate to cut down a huge maple just to get the sun to shine in my little (shop?). Oh, and a picture of the saw I use. Not the best but it does what I need.
Thanks in advance and have a GREAT day!
Replies
WillGeorge,
I did the same thing about a year ago for my daughter and her cousin. I ended up making 3 changing tables. One for her house, one for our house and one for the cousin.
When looking at changing tables I noticed that many of them had 1 wide drawer. It occured to me that while holding the baby on the table when it is old enough to wiggle around and opening the drawer may not be the safest. So I made two narrower drawers at the top and two shelves below. Works great.
Where to place the pulls on your drawer may be a combination of aesthetics and how you attached the drawers. If the drawer is on metal slides and roll our easily it won't matter where you put them as long as they look good to your eye. If the drawer is hard to pull our I would think at abour 1/4 the distance from each side.
ASK
I think one pull in the center as this may be something often opened with one hand. You could get out a router and make a recessed pull right in the drawer. You could also fashion some sort of wide pull mounted to the center with screws from the inside of the front. Sort of like this but wider and not necessarily shell shaped:
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=48563&cat=3,43520,43521,46669&ap=1
I agree with Samson, you have to think about mom holding a squirming baby with one hand and opening a drawer with the other. One drawer pull should do it. I don't have the info at my fingertips, but there are a few FWW articles floating around with details on making your own drawer pulls.
Regarding handle placement:
First of all, I respectfully disagree with previous posters about only using one centered knob. I think on a drawer this wide that knob will look lonely in the middle. A smoothly operating drawer should not bind by opening one handed. Try dividing the drawer width into 4 or 5 and placing the knobs at the outer 2 marks. (Does that make any sense?!) 31.75÷5=6.35 from the edge. Or use phi (golden ratio). Or put them wherever looks good to you (and your daughter!)
As for height, IMHO, centered looks too low. I submit that this is because the drawer is usually viewed from 5 or 6 feet high (eye level) and the knobs will actually appear to be mounted lower than half the height. I like to put knobs about 5/8ths of the height from the bottom (again-does this make any sense??!!) 5/8 approximates the golden ratio. Or try placing them one knob diameter above center. Again, whatever is pleasing to the eye. But anywhere but centered for the sake of my personal pet peeve.
Anyway, congrats on the gran-baby and nice looking table!!
peace
mark
Edited 9/12/2007 10:25 pm ET by marking
We have found with our children that babies are pretty durable. Each of them has "bounced' at least once. They are now in their 50s with no visible signs of damage.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
I'm going to use the brass knobs at approx. 6.3 inches from the edge and 5:8 from the bottom of the drawer. (By the way, the sections at each side of the drawer are approx. 6.5 inches wide)I bit the bullet and hot glued the knobs there and I decided it looked ok. I also made several wooden pulls and none seemed to look as good. I tried some wooden knobs of different sizes (roughed out) and several different length wooden finger pulls. All in all, the knobs seemed to look the best.The drawer has quality full extension slides so you can pull it from anywhere and it opens perfectly so one center knob would have worked but I liked the look of two knobs better. Now all I have to do is refinish the drawer front. The hot glue messed it up. Live and learn!Thanks to everyone for their input.
WG, Think of when she is faced with a wrapper full of stinky and two little ankles hoisting the nipper with one hand and then looking for one of those knobs (that will pull askew on the drawer being 1/4 in from each side for visual balance) with the other to find a wipe or another wrapper.
Functionality says that it may be better to make a custom wood pull 2/3 the width of the drawer, undercut(core box bit ?) to make a grab edge along most of it's length. Make it vanish in the same wood as the drawer front or the same as the trim color. Congrats .
Paddy, father of three and Gramps to two.
Edit. Oops, I looked at the pic's again and saw that BEAUTIFUL grain on the drawer front and I would size that pull to match the upper cap of the drawer and use 4 screws. Thus not disturbing the art or the lines of the piece. whew. pfh
Edited 9/14/2007 8:35 pm ET by PADDYDAHAT
grain on the drawer front..Exactally why I thought I liked the brass knobs better.I have a lot of Jatoba but nothing that matched the grain of the drawer front. I even went back to my hardwood supplier and looked for something and with my luck I found nothing I thought would match.I hate going there. That trip cost be $300.00 for some really nice Riff and Quarter Saw white oak and one beautiful birdseye maple board. Dang, I have to stay away from that place!Think of when she is faced with a wrapper full of stinky and two little ankles hoisting the nipper with one hand and then looking for one of those knobs..She owns a day-care center and has babies as well as pre-school children there. Knowing her I doubt any child would give her a hard time when she wanted to reach a knob! She does not yell or anything like that.. I have seen her walk into a room full of wild children she never has seen before and has them settled down in about 5 minutes. She just has a way with little children.
WG, that's a special skill that some ladies have, I have two of those but the Prince(the youngest at 32 now) as his sisters refer to him has much different skills. I no longer fear the wood purchase as my sawyer in Tenn. loves me. But, If I go into Zabars Deli in NYC I am a poor man . It's like an addict being aware of a dangerous places. The lower level could cost me $50-100 for the BEST cheeses in the world, cold cuts(not boar's head but the best smoked tongue. hams from Italy. Germany) fresh smoked salmon, sliced by an old master(you could almost read through it), then there is short ribs, spare ribs falling off the bone, salads like the seafood salad with baby octopus, clams, shrimp, squid, scallop, celery, olives vingarett etc. super fresh.
THEN you go upstairs to the best pots, knives, serving dishes and tools for the cook at about 2/3 the price of Macy's. Please pray for me as I cook as well as cut wood. I could wipe out my pension in this place and smile all the way home. Paddy
BTW, a year or so ago I bought a 1/10 pound (that's right .10 pound) slice of an imported goose pate -$75 per pound. This was very, very rich and about 3/16x2 1/4x3x1/4.
It didn't last half way home on the commuter rail! pfh
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