Hi Folks, While this isn’t actually a jewelry related question, I’m
hoping its close enough or there’s a happy coincidence that someone
might be able to provide suggestions. I want to make kitchen drawer
pulls and cabinet knobs that contain cabochons of leftover granite
home improvement stores that have ceramic or corian inserts, but I
have not been able to find any without inserts already in them.
Of course, I could lathe turn something then have a caster or
foundry reproduce it for me, but that seems like reinventing the
wheel, and an awful lot of labor for something that should (might?)
be available commercially.
Does anybody have any contacts, suggestions or ideas that might pan
out for these “knob blanks?” Ideally looking for a pewter or brushed
stainless look, by the way.
Thanks in advance,
Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio and
Carolina Artisans’ Gallery
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
http://www.CarolinaArtisans.com
Hi, Dave- Drawer pulls with cabachons would be utterly cool. Why
search for specialty premanufactured pulls, though? You could just
find some drawer pulls that you like, saw the knobs off and solder on
bezel cups. Nuthin’ wrong with that 
Lee Einer
http://members.cox.net/appealsman/
Hi Folks, While this isn't actually a jewelry related question,
I'm hoping its close enough or there's a happy coincidence that
someone might be able to provide suggestions. I want to make
kitchen drawer pulls and cabinet knobs that contain cabochons of
leftover granite from my countertops. Wouldn't that be cool???
I've seen knobs at
Two other options I have used for carved drawer pulls: You can drill
holes in the stone and epoxy in the female threaded inserts used in
woodworking. When I do this for customers I actually carve the pull
from a piece of granite that is as thick as the distance from the
surface of the drawer to the surface of the pull. So if the pull is
1.5 inches thick and there will be 1 inch behind the pull space for
your fingers then I start with a 2.5 inch piece of granite. I drill
out the hole for the insert then use a core drill to establish the
outside diameter of the spacer. THE CENTER HOLE NEEDS TO BE DEEPER
THAN THE CORE DRILL (in this case 1 inch) OR THE WHOLE SPACER WILL
SHEAR OFF. Another method I used per the customers request was to
use an 8 gauge brass backing plate. I used JB Weld attach the stone
and the brass together. Then I painted the visible small seam of the
grey JB Weld with a brass colored enamel paint. I made sure the seam
was concave so that there would be little or no wear on the paint.
Before the adhesive step I drilled a hole for the bolt and
countersunk (?) the stone side of the brass so that a brass bolt
with a wood screw-type top could beset in place and then the whole
thing JB Welded together. (It really is harder to write about a
process if you don’t know the correct terminology) Then I used
decorative brass lamp finial tubes for the spacers.
I hope this makes sense. It’s much easier to understand if you can
see me waving my hands around.
Epaul Fischer
Gryphon Song Creations
http://GryphonSong.com
Hi Dave, You might contact a local potter. I have seen some really
wonderful pulls that are ceramic. I know that you would not fire the
fittings with the clay in the kiln. They are attached after the
firing process. Hope this helps ! Helen
Dave, I think you should contact Marj Bates who makes glass knobs.
Her e-mail is marj@glassthings.com. Sounds like a great idea. Good
luck!
Janice
Does anybody have any contacts, suggestions or ideas that might
pan out for these "knob blanks?" Ideally looking for a pewter or
brushed stainless look, by the way.
Hi Dave, You can contact me off list if you would like , or call…
We do pewter casting and I can give you an explanation as to what is
involved as the process is different than lostwax. We have done
drawer pulls in the past for furniture designers who needed
something " special". Daniel Grandi Sales@racecarjewelry.com
Tel: 401-461-7803
I came across a site with knobs for sale a couple of years ago.
They were beautiful things made from the dark and light banded agate
from Botswana. I remember the manufacturer was in Germany, and the
price was high. Perhaps a search of the web would turn it up. Can’t
say I remember exactly how they were constructed, seems to me the
whole visible area was agate, not metal. Rose Alene McArthur
@O_B_McArthurs
Hi Dave; Did you know that with a lot of the RTV mold rubbers you can
cast pewter directly into the rubber mold? You could carve up one of
these guys in wax, then melt a length of threaded rod into the wax
where need it, then vacum the RTV right in around the wax and the
threaded part. Naturally, the next thing is to cut the mold. Then,
cut some lengths of threaded rod, put one in the mold where it fits,
and cast the pewter and voila! You have a knob with threaded part
ready to put on the drawer after you glue or set or however mount the
rock. A pewter bezel should be a breeze to set with.
David L. Huffman
Dave, Last year a gentleman came to our G&M Society asking us to
drill over 30 small stones of various types shapes and sizes for use
as knobs on kitchen cabinets. We drilled them with 3/8 inch core
drills making the holes about 1/4 inch deep. He was then going to
epoxy short lengths of threaded rod into them, place a spacer on
that, insert through holes in the cabinets and use a nut to hold them
in place.
Haven’t heard back but assume all went well.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio where simple elegance IS
fine jewelry! @coralnut1