Shop-Made Hands-Free Cabinet Pull
You can find a store-bought drawer pull, but it's easy enough to make yourself from a piece of scrap steel.
Having my kitchen wastebasket located inside a base cabinet is very convenient, except for those times when I want to open the drawer when my hands are quite filthy. To prevent making a mess of the drawer face and knob, I made a device that allows me to pull the drawer open with my foot. These devices are available to buy, but mine was easy enough to make, and I had all the materials required. I modeled my foot pull somewhat after the shape of a strike plate for a door latch. I made it from a piece of scrap steel that was 1/8 in. thick, 2-1/2 in. wide, and 3-1/2 in. long. I bent the lower side using a vise and a few gentle raps from a ball-peen hammer and eased the edges with a mill file. I bored and counter-sunk two holes for the screws and applied the same finish as the color of the cabinets. The pull works great and is nearly invisible.
—Tom Smith, Gardnerville, Nev.
Illustration by Charles Miller.
From Fine Homebuilding #322
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