Reshaping drawer pulls

[coleman10]

Not sure if this is in the correct forum, but....

My wife and I had been searching for almost two years for the perfect china hutch and finally found one second hand. It's just over 50 years and was (I'll say was) in just about perfect condition. Great craftsmanship, all solid wood and strong. Short on time and patience, we gave it to a local furniture tech on the recommendation of a friend who used him before. Needless to say, this guy turned out to be a total hack. Not only did he do a below amateur job, but he didn't even take the drawers out when he was transporting it back to us in his pickup. The drawers slid out going around a turn and they went bouncy, bouncy, bouncy all over the road. We actually had to get a real professional to replace missing wood, cracks, and other damage that this hack caused and basically restore the piece and redo all the work.

Anyway, one of the drawers took the blow right on the drawer pull and now it's bent. I need to bend this thing back into shape. Knowing that these things are just pot metal, I think I need to put a torch do it and bend it back slowly after lightly heating it. The metal has already been stressed from the the blow of hitting the road, so I want to take it slow, but if anyone has any advice in this area, I'd be glad to hear it. I've attached some pictures.

Basically, since it was screwed into the drawer front, in order for the front of the pull to get pushed in, the side rotated clockwise, so the left side has to be rotated slowly counterclockwise while the front is pulled out and back into shape.

I've already taken a piece of wood and mounted the pull onto it, the good side nice and tight, the bad side loose so it can rotate. Are there any special tools or techniques so I should use? I'm basically going to heat it slowly and then take a towel and slowly bend it out.

For the record, my wife wants me to leave it alone, but I just can't knowing that this piece was perfect. I've tried finding replacement hardware, but I can't find anything. If the hutch had a label, it's long gone now, so I have no idea who made the piece. I only know the age from the dates stamped on the undersides of the top and bottom pieces.

The first image is of the two pulls together so you can see the good next to the bad, the second is the good pull, an the third is the bent pull.

Thanks, guys.

 

[ChevyEFI]

It may be soft and quite malleable.

I would probably heat gun it, put gloves on and try. Moving on to wrapping it with thick rags and using pliers gently if needed.

 

[404]

Some alloys with aluminum are hot short, and will crack if bent when hot.
Annealing the part and then bending after it cools would be safer.

And I feel bad for you. That would piss me off big time.

 

[coleman10]

Great info. Thanks, guys.

Would a heat gun be good enough to anneal the bend that needs to be worked or should I go with a red flame? I guess I should heat/cool a couple times and then give it a shot. If I can't get it to move, then Plan B will be with a heat gun, towels, and couple prayers.

I have to tell you guys, I'm really nervous about this. I'll probably tackle this tomorrow after I get my courage up.

 

[tikitime]

Good luck, but if all else fails take a good one and find a brass foundry to recast it.

 

[coleman10]

Good luck, but if all else fails take a good one and find a brass foundry to recast it.

Good option, though I can't imagine what that would run to get a production run of one. Still, one must do what one must do.

I'll reply back to the thread after I fu... fix it up.

 

[PBCampbell]

Looks tough to fix, but if it's brass may be doable with care and caution. Worst case you break it but it could then be soldered or brazed. If "pot metal" I would be researching Zamak as that's the basic alloy used for casting alot of knobs, pulls, etc.. Best of luck.

 

[coleman10]

Looks tough to fix, but if it's brass may be doable with care and caution. Worst case you break it but it could then be soldered or brazed. If "pot metal" I would be researching Zamak as that's the basic alloy used for casting alot of knobs, pulls, etc.. Best of luck.

I =suspect= that it's pot metal. The material is actually kind of pliable. There were other parts that the fool bent slightly prying them off the doors and I was able to gently bend them back with my hands or with pliers. I think brass would be harder than that. I'll research Zamak and see what I find.

Thanks!

 

[Givl Reggin]

For the record, my wife wants me to leave it alone

Smart broad... I would listen to her this time.

And good luck finding a foundry/machine shop to make a replacement if you break it... maybe 30 years ago, but those place don't existing in America anymore.

 

[coleman10]

Smart broad... I would listen to her this time.



And good luck finding a foundry/machine shop to make a replacement if you break it... maybe 30 years ago, but those place don't existing in America anymore.

Oh, she's plenty smart. Problem is, I'm not.

Been reading up some more on it and the fact I can bend it by hand would mean that it's not really pot metal. I'm going to tread lightly here. If I feel that it's just not moving or if the heat is getting too high, I'll just resign myself to having one messed up drawer pull and will have to search the charities now and then in search of a replacement, even though I know the chances of finding one are next to zero.

 

[SweetD]

I think I would chalk it up to experience and leave it 'as is' - for character. My personal experience, every time I think I am going to make some great repair on some piece of bent metal, it breaks. Especially something like a pot-metal drawer pull. But then again, I'm not a pro. There are plenty here on GJ that know what they are doing with this stuff...the question is, can you transfer their knowledge to your project??



Dave

 

[coleman10]

...the question is, can you transfer their knowledge to your project??







Dave

Perhaps, perhaps not, but if you don't try, you never know.

 

[unslow1]

Smart broad... I would listen to her this time.

And good luck finding a foundry/machine shop to make a replacement if you break it... maybe 30 years ago, but those place don't existing in America anymore.

Personally I would leave it alone. If you do break it there is a foundry in Toledo,OH I used last year. It was $50 for the first one and $5 for each additional. They do brass or aluminum same price. They have to have a good one to make the mold.

 

[coleman10]

Personally I would leave it alone. If you do break it there is a foundry in Toledo,OH I used last year. It was $50 for the first one and $5 for each additional. They do brass or aluminum same price. They have to have a good one to make the mold.

That's awesome. Can you please PM me the contact info? I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[unslow1]

That's awesome. Can you please PM me the contact info? I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

PM sent.

 

[coleman10]

Well, I put it off for most of the day, but I finally figured I'd give it a shot. It turned out pretty well! I did use my heat gun, plus channel locks to turn, and a cold chisel for leverage and to pull with and after some work, I think it's pretty damned good. It's not 100% and it won't ever be, but it's miles ahead of what it was. I attached a couple pics.

It's actually much closer than the pic of the good one in my first post. In that one, the hardware is angled down so the grip looks farther than that it is. I just lined good and bad up and they're pretty close.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Cypherian]

Well, I put it off for most of the day, but I finally figured I'd give it a shot. It turned out pretty well! I did use my heat gun, plus channel locks to turn, and a cold chisel for leverage and to pull with and after some work, I think it's pretty damned good. It's not 100% and it won't ever be, but it's miles ahead of what it was. I attached a couple pics.

It's actually much closer than the pic of the good one in my first post. In that one, the hardware is angled down so the grip looks farther than that it is. I just lined good and bad up and they're pretty close.

Thanks for all the help!

Nice job see all that sweating of something easy .... :} Now the question is did the wife say "Nice Job Sweety" or well it looks better but it was ok the way it was ......:} Hopefully the first not the second statement:}

Cypher

 

[coleman10]

Nice job see all that sweating of something easy .... :} Now the question is did the wife say "Nice Job Sweety" or well it looks better but it was ok the way it was ......:} Hopefully the first not the second statement:}



Cypher

Thanks! Actually, she let out a loud "Woohoo!"

I installed the pull and you can't tell the difference between it and the one next to it looking head on. If you look at it from above, you can tell they're different only if you actually look for it. It's pretty close.

I definitely scored some brownie points with this one.