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Glueing a handle on a door

xxPaulCPxx | Posted in General Discussion on March 23, 2009 02:39am

I’ve got a 9″ x 1.5″ handle that is normally used on a cabinet/fridge door pull.  I want to use it on my pocket door.  The door doren’t close flush into the wall, it stops with the dore exposed 1.5″ – here is where I want to mount the handle.

I’d like to not fill and refinish a plug on the otherside, so running an 8-32 screw all the way through like a cabinet pull is out (if I can help it).

What I was thinking was screwing a 8-32 stud into the handle, drilling a slightly larger hole in the door, then glueing the stud into the door using either urathane glue or titebond III.

Any thoughs about permanently mounting a handle like this?

Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!

Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

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Replies

  1. DanH | Mar 23, 2009 02:41am | #1

    If the handle has enough surface area I'd consider using double-backed tape.

    The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
    1. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 03:26am | #2

      It's just a "C" type handle with only two 1/2" diameter surface mating points.

      I was thinking the glued stud might be OK since the force is in shear, instead of pulling the handle out.

      Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

      Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

      1. DanH | Mar 23, 2009 04:45am | #13

        You could bore 2 3/8" holes and glue in pieces of 3/8" dowel, cut to be flush with the handle side and glue to the back side of the other side.
        The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith

        1. DanH | Mar 23, 2009 04:47am | #14

          (I'm assuming this is a hollow-core door.)
          The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith

          1. User avater
            xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 05:09am | #16

            Solid - but that is still a good idea.  3/8" is a solid bearing area (vs. 1/8").  I can screw the dowel onto the stud, then press in the handle to the door with a little wood glue.

            Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

            Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

  2. WayneL5 | Mar 23, 2009 03:29am | #3

    If the hole is just barely the size of the stud, it will work fine.  It will be permanent, of course.

    1. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 03:48am | #6

      I was racking my brain trying to think of a reason why I'd want to remove the handle in the first place.

      Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

      Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

  3. Shep | Mar 23, 2009 03:32am | #4

    Titebond III and urethane glues aren't gap filling. You'd be better off using an epoxy for your application.

    1. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 03:47am | #5

      Gorilla Glue type urathane glues foam up and get very hard.

      Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

      Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

      1. User avater
        BillHartmann | Mar 23, 2009 03:49am | #7

        Yes, it does foam and fill spaces. But the foam does not have any strength.But in this case, if it is a tight fit to start with, it might work. The foam will sorta lock around the threads.But I would still use a filled expoxy..
        William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe

      2. User avater
        Sphere | Mar 23, 2009 03:51am | #8

        That and "THOSE TYPES" are POLY urethanes and while that foam gets hard, it is not intended as a gap filler, nor is it structual.

        Go with an epoxy if you can. Devcon 5 minute is all ya need. Or Billy Mays 'Mighty Putty'...Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

        Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations

         

        They kill Prophets, for Profits.

         

         

        1. CardiacPaul | Mar 23, 2009 07:08am | #21

          Would'nt that be

          BILLY MAYS  "MIGHTY PUTTY!!!" No one should regard themselve as "God's gift to man." But rather a mere man whos gifts are from God.

      3. Shep | Mar 23, 2009 05:05am | #15

        I was going to reply that the foam does get hard, but isn't structural, but I see others have beaten me to it. <G>

        Epoxy is still the way to go. You can get one of the 2-syringe tubes at a big box, and mix a little sawdust in it. Quick, easy, reasonably cheap.Just tape off the area so you're not cleaning up the epoxy squeeze out.

  4. DonCanDo | Mar 23, 2009 04:03am | #9

    It will work, especially if you use epoxy, but I really don't think it will endure.  As the door is repeadtedly pulled by that handle, the leverage against the small studs glued into the door will eventually cause them to loosen.  Once that happens, repairs may get ugly.

    I really think you need to go all the way through the door.  Maybe you could find a decorative cap to cover the bolt/screw head on the other side of the door.  I know I've seen these for door knockers.  The look sort of like blind nuts, but I don't know what they're called.  It's a screw head with threads on the outside onto which a threaded cap is screwed.

    1. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 04:09am | #10

      You have a point, as the doors are DF.  That soft wood will likely work a wider hole over time.

      I'm also thinking about sinking two black hex cap screws in.  The two black dots should be less noticable than a hacked plug.

      Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

      Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

      1. DonCanDo | Mar 23, 2009 04:34am | #12

        One more suggestion... consider those litlle plastic caps that snap into the head of a square drive screw.  McFeeley's calls them "snap caps" and they come in a wide variety of colors.

      2. wane | Mar 23, 2009 03:41pm | #23

        skip the glue & expoxy, get a screw/bolt, its a screw on one end, threaded for bolt on the other.

  5. clinkard | Mar 23, 2009 04:30am | #11

    What about screwing the studs into the door, and then drilling and tapping the handle for grub screws?

    1. User avater
      xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 05:11am | #17

      grub screws?

      Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

      Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

      1. clinkard | Mar 23, 2009 06:06am | #18

        A set screw?
        http://www.capitalhobbies.com/userfiles/products/trac4897_f.jpg
        tightens with an allen wrench. used on some of the architectural higher end door handles. and also older mortise style lock units.

        1. User avater
          xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 06:19am | #19

          Ahh - I see!  Unfortunatly I would be hard pressed to get tools inside that handle to accurately drill and tap.

           

          Man, I love this place - tons of ideas I didn't have!

           

           

          Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

          Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

          1. clinkard | Mar 23, 2009 07:05am | #20

            I don't think i am understanding you completely..Inside? What about just using a drill press? and a handheld tapping tool? What is the handle made of?
            You could probably just mark it with a nail punch and drill it with a handheld jobber if it were a softer metal.

          2. User avater
            xxPaulCPxx | Mar 23, 2009 08:07am | #22

            Since you are viewing the handle from 270 degrees, you have to drill and tap from underneith both the upper and lower handle ends.  The bottom one is easy, but when you do the top one, the bottom is in the way.

            Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!

            Look, just send me to my drawer.  This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.

  6. User avater
    IMERC | Mar 23, 2009 03:51pm | #24

    hanger bolt....

    View Image 

     

    Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

    WOW!!! What a Ride!


    Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

     

    "Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"

    1. RalphWicklund | Mar 23, 2009 04:17pm | #25

      Most doors - when you drill them for a standard lockset - have a built-in squash plate of solid wood or maybe OSB type material.

      You could mortise in a decorative or flat metal plate in this area to back the handle and attach the handle to the plate with friction fit keyholes. A pair of countersunk screws, hidden under the ends of the handle, would hold the plate in position.

      If you didn't like the look of a long plate, then two circles, with the keyholes cut in, like on the plate, could be fastened in the same manner under the handle attachment ends.

    2. wane | Mar 24, 2009 03:21pm | #33

      ya, that's it, a stud screw, or screw stud ..

  7. dovetail97128 | Mar 24, 2009 01:25am | #26

    Sex bolts

    Here is an example.

    http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0123336

    Drill your handle for a through bolt.

    They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
    1. User avater
      Dam_inspector | Mar 24, 2009 02:53am | #27

      You just like to say sex bolts.

      1. dovetail97128 | Mar 24, 2009 03:00am | #28

        You should have heard me explaining male and female fittings to an 80 year old woman the other night.
        They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.

    2. User avater
      IMERC | Mar 24, 2009 05:00am | #29

      sex bolt nut and stud the handle... 

      Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->

      WOW!!! What a Ride!

      Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

       

      "Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"

      1. dovetail97128 | Mar 24, 2009 05:09am | #30

        yep.
        They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.

  8. User avater
    Jeff_Clarke | Mar 24, 2009 05:20am | #31

    Bore two holes in the edge of the door enough to put short 8/32 hex head bolts into the handle (sideways) and box wrench them on - use face grain plugs to close the holes.

    Jeff

  9. BillBrennen | Mar 24, 2009 08:43am | #32

    Paul,

    Gluing in the 8-32 studs will work. Someone expressed concern that the hole in the soft wood would widen over time as people pull laterally on the handle. This is a valid concern. Here is how to solve that issue with glued in studs, and by the way, I join the chorus saying to use a filled epoxy.

    Drill a 3/8" diameter hole 7/8 of an inch deep, then a 5/32" hole a quarter inch more at the bottom of the larger hole, concentric to it. Do it again for the other end of your handle. Now use epoxy to fill the holes with door lying flat, and insert handle with studs protruding a hair under 1-1/8". Wipe off any excess epoxy immediately and then let it all cure.

    The small hole at the bottom will center the steel studs in the 3/8" cylinder of epoxy. The epoxy is much harder/stronger than the wood, so it acts to distribute the force (from reefing on the handle) over a wider area of the wood.

    Bill

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