Attaching 12mm pipe at right angles.

[BearTricks]

Hi,

I’m making cupboard handles for my kitchen. The ones we currently have are unusual sizes so the ones we want to replace them with don’t fit. I also just like the challenge of making my own for (almost) free rather than paying a few hundred quid when I have the materials lying around at home.

I’ve got some 12mm steel and aluminium pipe. I’ve managed to make a prototype out of the steel. The design is very basic, similar to this:

I don’t do much metal working so my initial idea was to punch where I want the arms to be, drill a 12mm hole on the drill press, press the arms in, then braze/solder. My thoughts were that the friction of the hole would provide more grip and more surface area for the solder. My prototype seems plenty strong enough for the amount of use it will get.

My process is hit and miss and is liable to grip the tube and chew it to bits no matter the speed or amount of coolant. I’ve tried working my way up through drill sizes but it doesn’t fix the problem. The tube is clamped but the drill wants to wander so getting the arms at the same angle is also a problem.

I’ve seen people make a jig for a hole saw, like a poor man’s tube notcher, but I can’t find a 12mm hole saw from a reputable brand. They all seem to be cheap Far Eastern Amazon jobs which I don’t trust. The smallest the likes of Starrett do are 14mm.

I suspect the answer is to compromise and size up to 14mm, notch the ends of the arms in a jig, and probably weld instead of solder, or do what I’m doing now but notch an offset hole through the pipe sideways (which I think will have the same profile as just drilling straight in to it) so I might be answering my own question here. Does anyone have any better tips on how to do this, or know where I can source a good quality 12mm hole saw?

 

[Inspector]

Try Annular Cutters. Example below.

https://www.cutwel.co.uk/12mm-diame...epth-of-cut-rapl-series-rotabroach-rb-rapl120

Pete

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Does anyone have any better tips on how to do this, or know where I can source a good quality 12mm hole saw?

@Inspector has the correct answer, annular cutters are the bees nees for the job. I recently got a magnetic held drill that takes Weldon shank cutters, the HSS cutters will give an excellent, accurate hole, while 12mm isn’t the smallest they can go, it is on the low end of normal.

 

[BearTricks]

Try Annular Cutters. Example below.

https://www.cutwel.co.uk/12mm-diame...epth-of-cut-rapl-series-rotabroach-rb-rapl120

Pete

Interesting cheers. Are these suitable for a drill press or do they need an adaptor?

 

[Daniel2]

Trying to achieve that, when both pieces are the same diameter, is going to tear
out the sides of the recieving piece.
In the image you have provided, I suspect the two stubs are an inferior diameter
to the handle.
With that, I would probably use a step drill.

 

[Daniel2]

Trying to achieve that, when both pieces are the same diameter, is going to tear
out the sides of the recieving piece.
In the image you have provided, I suspect the two stubs are an inferior diameter
to the handle.
With that, I would probably use a step drill.

Actually, forget the step drill suggestion.
I just tried it, and it came out the other side

 

[ChaiLatte]

Are these suitable for a drill press or do they need an adaptor?

A standard Rotabroach cutter has what is called a Weldon shank. It is 3/4" diameter, with a flat on it for a grubscrew.

If your drill press has a 2 or 3 Morse taper, you can buy a Morse to Weldon adaptor (they are expensive for what they are).

You can also buy an adaptor that can be gripped in a 1/2" Jacobs chuck:

https://toolingsuperstore.co.uk/products/1-2-cutter-adaptor

 

[ChaiLatte]

Trying to achieve that, when both pieces are the same diameter, is going to tear out the sides of the receiving piece.

You are correct, which is why commercial ones are not made that way.

Commercial ones are made from solid material. Using tube is just making hard work for yourself (moreover, the ends of a tubular long piece would need capping/blocking/bunging).

The long piece has two blind holes drilled in it that are tapped M4 for the fixing screws.

The short pieces (of, as you say, lesser diameter than the long piece) have their ends coped to fit around the long piece and a 4 mm clearance hole drilled along their axis.

No soldering, no rotabroach. You can make a sanding drum of the correct diameter to cope the ends of the short pieces. With a jig, you can drill them 4.5mm coaxial. With another jig, you can drill the long piece 3.3mm for tapping M4. It may need two taps, one with the end ground flat to get close to the bottom of the blind hole.

 

[Spectric]

If you are going to solder, then rather than use soft solder I would use silver solder as it is a stronger.

 

[ChaiLatte]

The long piece has two blind holes drilled in it that are tapped M4 for the fixing screws.

It is bad form to quote myself, I know.

It struck me overnight that this could be adapted to tubular material. Drill 4mm clearance holes in the long tube and find a barrel nut that goes inside the tube. Jiggle it into place and screw a stud into it. Short tubes same as above. Nuts on the inside of the door.

 

[highwood122]

if you are using steel, silver solder the ends after they have been scalloped. if you use aluminium , forget it

 

[stuart little]

Seems like a whole lot of 'self-inflicted' trouble / frustration to save a few 'squid'.

 

[niall Y]

I used to fit this style of handle to the kitchens I used to make. If you are using steel , I would stick to stainless . I would caution against using ordinary steel, which does not fare well in a kitchen environment. I've had to replace whole set because of corrosion.

There are lots of different ways this sort of handle are made. Early days they were solid stainless steel bars with separate uprights held on with the fixing screws - they were also quite pricey. Then, along came the hollow ones made in one piece, with the walls of the tubing getting thinner and thinner over the years. Now , there are metal-looking, plastic ones.

 

[Daniel2]

Seems like a whole lot of 'self-inflicted' trouble / frustration to save a few 'squid'.

I agree with you there Stuart.
Whilst the question posed is an interesting one, and inspired some
thought ; they are hardly worth the trouble of actually trying to make
outside of a dedicated production environment.
In reality, one will spend perhaps 1 or 2 hours to produce 1 piece,
which can be easily bought for +/- £1.50.
Life's too short

 

[Yojevol]

I too would go down the route of buying of the shelf items and find a way of covering the old holes. May be a large diameter stainless washer under each attachment.
Brian

 

[BearTricks]

Seems like a whole lot of 'self-inflicted' trouble / frustration to save a few 'squid'.

Like I said, it’s for the challenge as much as anything. I like the idea of figuring out and then having something I’ve made in the house for everyday use.

It does seem much more complicated than it seems on the surface though. I’ll get an annular cutter then have a bash at making another prototype.

Might skip the question of whether powder coating or enamel is more hard wearing though.

 

[TomGW]

I ‘get’ the desire to make it yourself but fully adjustable handles are available in a similar style, if you decide it’s not worth the effort.

https://www.dekkorinc.com/Adjustable-Handle--Stainless-Steel-8mm-_p_248.html

 

[Dabop]

Annular cutters or even hole saws will readily cut tubing, but for such small diameter stuff, simply rough cutting a V with a grinder and then 'rounding the cut end out' with a thin grinding wheel is the easiest (hell even a turnip (turnip??? apparently the 'proper name' for a rough/coarse rat-tail file isn't allowed here lol...) rat-tail file would only take a minute or so per pipe)- just do that to one end of the 'supports' ie short pipes, drill a hole in the 'handle' and slip a nut inside to screw through the door, support, and into the pipe 'handle'...

Use something like this inside the 'handle' and poking out through the hole drilled into it, so the 'thread' is sticking out into the 'supports'- feed a long enough screw through the hole in the door, through the support and screw into the thread sticking out of the handle...

If you didn't want to go to the hassle of finding such beasts online, then just grinding down a standard nut so it has a 'curved' face on one side and slipping it down the pipe 'handle' would do...
Alternatively use cut lengths of tube for the two supports, with one end cut with the curved end to fit the handle, and just drill and tap two holes into a length of solid 'round bar' for the handle- the holes don't have to be 'perfect' just 'close enough' as the securing bolts can move inside the hollow tube 'supports' and as they are out of sight inside the tube, it doesn't matter if they are 'slightly angled'
Much easier than faffing about with welders/torches and dealing with heat discoloration and the like...
So something like this could be made in a couple of minutes- with the 'bar' being the long handle- with two drilled and tapped blind holes in it, and the two 'supports' being hollow tubes with one flat cut end and one 'concave' cut end that the 'handle' sits in when tightened up...

Put the bolt through the door with a washer inside the door, slide the hollow 'support' over the bolt on the outside, and do the bolt up loosely to begin with, repeat with the other support, then tighten it all up, adjusting as required...

Probably take less time than driving to the hardware store lol
That's how I'd do it...

 

[toolsntat]

A 12 mm hole in the side of 12 mm pipe ?
Sounds like a job for a 12 mm end mill in an engineering quality boring machine, then you can attach the arms with a suitable solder/brazing.
Or as suggested above, side mill the ends of the tube with the appropriate 12 mm cutter then once again solder/brazing into position.
For creating a threaded fixing in the end of the arms ( you don't mention bore diameter ) soldering/brazing in an appropriately sized nut may work or make M4 threaded inserts on a lathe to fix in.
Cheers,Andy

 

[Richard_C]

Dabop (above) opens the door to fresh thinking. If you treat the short support tubes as spacers so the work is done by the through bolt/screw from inside the door to the handle most difficulties disappear. Developing that a bit, if your handles were rectangular tube, maybe you can get it with radiussed edges, all your problems disappear because your spacers can be square ended.

For a unique set of handles, make them all different lengths so they resonate at different frequencies, using a pair of soup spoons as mallets you have a combined kitchen and tuned percussion room. Or maybe not...