Handle Hole Jig by julvr

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

A universal tool for all your kitchen cupboard handle hanging needs...
I had to replace the hardware on my kitchen cabinets, and I know from past experience that being off by even a millimeter is very visible. I decided to make a template this time around. It worked quite well, but while using it I thought of some more improvements. While I'm done with mine for a while, I thought I'd model them up, and post here for others to use.
With the download, you get:

A Main bracket with guide holes spaced at both 3" and 5" apart (fits most hardware). Deep guide holes help make sure the the drill does not go in on an angle


Adjustable guide which keeps main bracket square with side of cabinet door/drawer. Guide can be adjusted from around 1" to 7".


Holes in Main Bracket which accept 8-32 screws for locking the guide into place. If you don't have 8-32 screws, don't worry -- they come standard with most kitchen cabinet hardware!


Center markers on Main bracket which mark the centers of the 3" and 5" holes (for easy alignment)


Centering pins. Once one hole is drilled, pin can be inserted through the guide hole into drilled hole. This will keep the jig firmly in place. Also useful when going from single hole hardware to multi hole hardware. There's two holes on the main bracket to hold the pins when not in use. (The second pin is in case you break your first one. If you break both, you can use an 11/64ths drill bit instead)

Springs to hold jig in place. These can be mounted on the end of the guide, which hold the guide in place. There's two models -- one for 3/4" and one for 5/8" hardware. They can be mounted with 8-32 screws or with krazy glue.
A couple of quick hints:
Most kitchen hardware comes with 8-32 screws. You need an 11/64 drill bit to drill shanks for this (this jig is made assuming those sizes). Also most kitchen hardware have 3" or 5" center to center, but you should double check before printing this.
The pilot holes for the 8-32 screws used to lock the guide in place are a touch small (on purpose). You either need to tap those with an 8-32 tap or predrill with a 9/64 and then you can use a screw to self-thread.
The guide is quite long, so this has to be printed in PLA on a heated bed. Kapton tape is suggested. No supports required to print.