When we first saw Mike Korsak’s beautiful pulls (Fine Woodworking #280), it immediately got us thinking about all of the great pulls that have been featured in the magazine over the years. So we decided to pull together some of our favorites. Some of these pulls were part of a larger project, and some were complicated enough to merit an entire article about them. From simple to complex, there is room for all kinds around here.

I don’t own a lathe, so when Ben asked us editors to write about our favorite articles on door and drawer pulls, I went down a practical path for someone in my situation: “Turn Pulls without a Lathe,” by Chris Becksvoort (FWW #240). Recently I was working on a small wall shelf key holder, and I wanted a turned pull for the drawer. It was just one pull (certainly not worth buying a lathe for!), so I adapted Chris’s techniques on my benchtop drill press to craft a simple profile using files, rasps, and sandpaper. Chris did a lot of his shaping work freehand, but with this tiny walnut pull (pictured above) I wanted a bit of tool support, so I made a wood rest to keep the files steady as I worked. It took a few tries to get the shape I wanted, but I’m happy with the result, thanks to Chris.

-Tom McKenna