How to make a template for fitting cabinet door or drawer handles

Fit cabinet handles quick and easy with this template

When fitting drawer or door handles or knobs to a number of cabinets like an Ikea kitchen for instance, it is important that the handles are located in exactly the same position on each cabinet draw or door so that the end result looks neat and uniform. The best and easiest way to do this is to make a template or jig for positioning the handles accurately each time. This video tutorial will demonstrate a step-by-step method to making your own jig or template at home with minimal expense of time or money.

This is how I go about making a door or drawer handle template.

1. Hang the doors and fit the drawers in the already fitted cabinets.
2. Adjust drawers and drawers so that they are all neatly aligned and vertical. I will demonstrate how to adjust the door hinges and drawers of Ikea kitchen Metod cabinets in a upcoming video.
3. Decide on the position of the handle on one of the drawers or doors and mark with horizontal and vertical lines depicting the centre of the handle or knob in both dimensions.
4. Cut a suitable sized piece of material preferably from sheet metal but one can use wood or plastic. However with plastic or wood the guides for the drill may become worn with use and therefore the template might lose some precision.
5. The one long edge of the template need a 90 degree bend or attached strip of material. This acts as a positioning stop on the edge of the door or drawer.

1. Mark the centre of the template with line at 90 degrees to the bent edge.
2. Position the template on the drawer or door first engaging the stop on the edge then line up the centre of the template with the centre of the handle (already marked) on the drawer or door.
3. Now mark the other dimension marked on the door or drawer on the outer edges of the template and join them with a line.
4. Now mark the centre of the template (where the lines intersect) with a centre punch or an awl and drill a hole the size of the drill needed for the handle bolts, usually about 4mm diameter. You can go about 0.5mm larger to give a bit of leeway.
5. Next determine the distance between bolts in the case of a handle with 2 bolts. Very often this distance is marked on the packaging then use a tape or better a Vernier gauge to mark the centres on the appropriate line on the template. To do this divide the distance between centres by 2 then set the vernier at that distance and then work off the centre hole and mark the centres on the line of the template.

1. Centre punch and drill the holes in the template.
2. That is the template done.
3. Now mark the centre of each door or drawer on the cabinets with a pencil line.
4. Place the template on the outer surface of the cabinet so that the lip of the template engages the edge of the door or drawer and the line on the cabinet appears to cut the centre hole in the template in half.

1. Clamp with a wooden block behind and drill using the appropriate holes in the template as guide. The block behind helps to prevent splintering around the exit hole of the drill. If you are fitting a knob with just a single bolt then use the middle hole on the template, if it is for a handle with 2 holes then use the 2 outer holes.

1. Finally reduce the length of the bolts to fit the thickness of the drawer or door. Usually the length of the thread needed will be thickness of the door plus about 4mm to go into the handle.
2. Fit the handle with a screw driver.

Here is the video demonstration of how to make the template and fit the handles:

Here are the key moments in the video:

00:00 Beginning

00:34 Marking the position of the first handle or knob

01:57 Designing and marking the template or jig for positioning door handles

03:58 Marking and drilling the guide holes for the handle’s bolts  in the template

06:21 Determining drill bit diameter for guide holes in template

08:14 How to use the template to fit drawer or door handles and knobs

08:53 How to prevent splintering of wood around the drill exit hole

10:44 Fitting the handle to cabinet door or drawer

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