screwing knob onto drawer, bolt/shank-thing also turns; how to "fix"?

[David Combs]

Subject: screwing knob onto drawer, bolt/shank-thing also turns; how to "fix"?

("Fix" in both senses: make work, and not twist, stay stuck hard in the wood drawer-front-wall.)

(I use the term "bolt" because it has male screw-threads on its end, onto the tip of which the knob (female) gently fits herself over/onto, then rotating herself around and around, "screwing" herself down onto and over the stationary and passive "bolt".)

HOWEVER, in my case, the bolt/shank thing *isn't* stationary, fixed to the wood; it freely twists, and so the screwing not only never ends, it's hardly even begun! -- the knob still positioned just over, but not onto, the bolt/shank.

Would of course be trivial if the bolt/shank-thing extended all the way through the wood and out the back (where you could grab it) -- but no, it doesn't do that.

QUESTION: when the drawer-maker installed that bolt/shank-thing, how did they get it frozen fast, so that it didn't twist when they screwed-on the knob?

QUESTION: what should I do here?

QUESTION: if it involves first removing the bolt/shank from the wood, then *how* to do that?

Thanks,

David

[Jeff Wisnia]

Your allegorical description was not lost on me David....

Here's my take:

The drawer front is probably two pieces wood snuggling together side by side, and the head of the "bolt" is located on the parting line. Your using the description "wood drawer-front-wall" leads me to believe this to be the case.

Assuming that's it, and there's no obvious way to easily remove and replace the front piece, then if it were my project, I'd remove the drawer, do some carefull measuring and marking and then atack it anally by boring a hole from the backside to reach the bolt head, which is in all likelyhood will have a screwdriver slot or Phillips recess in it.

Some gentle poking away with a 3/8" twist drill in a drill motor should let you to remove enough the wood to gain the access you yearn for, without screwing up the screw head.

Good luck,

Jeff

[dadiOH]

Better asked, what did you do to make it loose? :)

Try setting the drawer so the face is up and put a couple of drops of cyanoacrylate glue ("instant" glue) in the hole. Don't put it on the part of the threads that will be going into the knob. And when you put the knob on snug it up but don't twist real hard.

-- dadiOH _____________________________

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[David Combs]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

Actually, what happened was that I was putting lock-washers on each drawer's knobs, and one of them was ceramic and I fumbled and it fell onto the hard-rock floor, and broke off a chip -- I screwed it back on, hoping no one would notice ...

Well, she did notice, and I caught hell, and posted this question here -- I suggested glue ("what a stupid idea!"), but next day noticed the knob was back on the drawer, somehow.

A little afraid to ask how she did it, like "did you finally use glue?"; anyway, that's why the short delay and getting back here (was already done).

Again, thanks to both, both with good, workable suggestions.

David

[spamfree]

You're making this all too complicated. When I do it, I just pull my KNOB out of my DRAWERS and start SCREWING. It really dont take any thought, just push your THING in, TURN it a few times, and when your done, BOLT, before she wants to get married. One thing to remember, be sure to wear a condom, unless you are FIXed.