How to Make Your Own Drawer Pull Installation Template

Measure your drawer pull. Most have screws spaced 3-inches apart. Four inch spacing is also common. Use a carpenter's square and hold the pull up to it, with the screw holes facing up for the most accurate measurement. Measure your drawer fronts top to bottom. If you have more than one height of drawer front, chances are the larger drawers are on the bottom. Create your template to space the pull in the center of the shortest front.

Cut a piece of 3/4-inch thick plywood as tall and as wide as your shortest front. Use a square to mark a line down the center, top to bottom and side to side, of the plywood piece. Continue the top to bottom mark onto the edges of the plywood at top and bottom. Divide the measurement from step one in half. Mark a screw hole on the horizontal line that distance from the center vertical line in each direction. Drill through the plywood precisely on each mark with a 1/8-inch bit.

Cut two pieces of 1-by-2 lumber half the width that the template is long, less 2 inches on each piece. Apply glue along the top edge of the drawer face. Attach the 1-by-2s with one long edge flush with the marked face of the template and their ends even with the outside corners. This will give you a 3/4-inch lip, with a 4-inch gap in the center to align the template on the center of the drawer.

Mark the top edge of your drawer front in its center, side-to-side. Place the template, with the 1-by-2 top lip overhanging the top of the drawer front, and resting on top of it. Align the center mark on the top of the template with the center mark on the drawer front. Clamp the template in place with two squeeze clamps.

Drill through the template and drawer face with a 1/8-inch bit in each hole. Remove the template and position the drawer pull on the front of the drawer face with the holes aligned with the pilot holes in the drawer face. Thread a screw through each hole from inside the drawer to the threads in the drawer pull. Tighten with a screwdriver.