How to Make Cabinet Knobs
One area of a kitchen's design where you can experiment and have a little fun is in the cabinet knobs. There are a wide range of knob materials and styles, some of them remarkably ornate and expensive, others very simple. Or you can make them yourself, using a standard threaded knob base with an unfinished flat wood top (available in hardware stores and craft shops) and whatever you want to attach to it. Here's one project that employs the state-themed quarters that the U.S. government began issuing in the past few years. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- State quarters of different states, enough for each knob
- White vinegar
- Rubber gloves
- Old toothbrush
- Rubbing alcohol
- Glue gun with high-strength glue
- 80-grit sandpaper
- Small, flat-topped wooden knob bases on standard threaded knob screws (make sure the knob tops are smaller than a quarter)
Instructions
-
-
1
Soak your quarters in white vinegar for five minutes. Using your rubber gloves, take the coins out of the vinegar one by one and brush each of them with the toothbrush. Drop them into a cup of rubbing alcohol. Rinse them thoroughly in warm water and pat dry.
-
2
Spread newspaper out on the countertop. Lay your quarters out, with the head sides up.
-
-
3
Load your glue gun with a glue stick and turn it on. While it's heating up, sand the tops of each of your wooden knobs with three or four strokes of the sandpaper to clean and scuff them.
-
4
Put a pea-sized dab of glue on the center of each quarter. Aim at George Washington's ear. Press a knob onto each coin, the flat top of the wood knob facing down into the glue and flattening it. Let them set overnight.
-
5
Install the knobs by twisting the threaded screws clockwise into the knob holes of the cabinets, until they're almost tight. Then continue turning them until the design on the front of the coin is positioned correctly.
-
1
