New knobs for old Welsh sideboard ?

[CHJ]

A friend has an old Welsh Oak sideboard with two draws in the base.
The draws are missing the pulls.
They have been missing for at least 70 years.
Oak draw carcases are lined with old ledger sheets pasted on and a rust stain can be seen on rear face of draw front at knob? position.
On the front of the draw there are visible and can be felt iron pins/screw remains dead central on knob/pull position.
The knob/pull positions have a complete circular wear mark about 25mm diameter that is black (with the fixing dead central)
The patina on the draw front is consistent across the whole of the front including inside the circle.

First thought were to make some shallow oak knobs and colour match but I'm intrigued by the dark circles, either the wood knobs must have had movement for many years or there was some form of ring pulls but the central fixing and complete ring stain does not match any hardware I can think of, but of course 70+ years of patina have been applied to the area.

Ring pulls would make sense as they would be less vulnerable to catching in this low down position.

Any Ideas before I fit inappropriate knobs.

 

[CHJ]

A bit of research suggests that the draws may have been fitted with ring pulls, and it was the backing disk that caused the dark rings on the oak.

Any suggestions on supplier of similar 25-30mm base plate diameter, steel or brass

 

[cedarwood]

Hi I have just dismantled a desk that had ring pulls I will pop out to the shed and take a pic and measure them for you to see if they are any good to you
roger

PS just had another look at your drawing and ring pulls don't fit that way the hole in the draw should be on the top side of any circle ie when you pull on the ring you are pulling directly on the fixing bolt oooh it's very difficult to explain lol

 

[cedarwood]

right been out to the shed and took these

 

[CHJ]

......PS just had another look at your drawing and ring pulls don't fit that way the hole in the draw should be on the top side of any circle ie when you pull on the ring you are pulling directly on the fixing bolt oooh it's very difficult to explain lol

That makes sense regarding pulling forces, but is obviously not the method/type used on this old unit if indeed they were ring pulls.

It looks like my sketch was incorrect judging by these.

 

[Tony Spear]

Possibly knobs with central screws from the inside?

Or even "screw on" knobs with single central screws?

 

[CHJ]

Yes I think I will have to retrieve one of the draws and carefully investigate what is under the pasted paper on the inside.
Would like someone in the future to remark that the pulls had been sympathetically replaced as opposed making or putting on something totally out of character.

 

[Matt@]

Optimum brass in Devon or Marshall brass in Norfolk for authentic copies...

 

[CHJ]

Optimum brass in Devon or Marshall brass in Norfolk for authentic copies...

Thank you Matt, will look into them

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Hi Chas, there are many different styles of drawer pulls for dressers of that age, some had turned wooden knobs which could be doweled or screwed in like Tony said, some had brass pulls like you have described and some had brass knobs with back plates or swan necks with various designs of back plates. If you can post a photo of the drawer front I may be able to point you in the right direction, but like Matt said Marshalls or Optimum would be the place to get your reproductions and you could ask around your local restorers to sell you originals which will probably be your cheapest bet.

 

[CHJ]

Hi Chas, there are many different styles of drawer pulls for dressers of that age, some had turned wooden knobs which could be doweled or screwed in like Tony said, some had brass pulls like you have described and some had brass knobs with back plates or swan necks with various designs of back plates. If you can post a photo of the drawer front I may be able to point you in the right direction, but like Matt said Marshalls or Optimum would be the place to get your reproductions and you could ask around your local restorers to sell you originals which will probably be your cheapest bet.

Thanks, I've got to call in and have a look at the inside face to check on what remains of the fixing under the lining I'll take a snap, the more I think about it they must have been as per or very similar to the ones in the picture above although probably iron as opposed to brass, and judging by the marking on the wood surface prone to rotational or at least some movement for years before the fixing finally gave up the ghost.

 

[CHJ]

OK had time to take a closer look at the draws today, some 'marks' are more pronounced than this:-

The inside Fixing reveals steel/iron split pin tails:-

And these are the lock executions, brass with steel fixing pins:-

The Split pin fixing explains the wear marks as obviously the backing disk was not held very tightly by a clenched split pin, mind you the tails and rusted shank of the pins are not going to come out without a fight from what I can see at the moment.