Cup pull (bin pull)

Overview

A cup pull (also called a bin pull or shell pull) is a one-piece grip: a curved or flat cup with a narrow lip at its top edge, usually riveted or cast to a rectangular backplate. You curl your fingers under the lip and pull. Reference sources group cup, shell and bin styles as the plate-shaped alternative to a U-shaped handle or a knob. It is the traditional grip for a deep drawer, an apothecary or file drawer, a tool chest and a wide kitchen drawer.

Types and sizes

• Backplate with cup: the common form, held by two screws through the plate.
• Flush or recessed cup: set into a mortise so the lip is almost level with the drawer front (modern designs).
• Typical sizes: 75 to 100 mm (3 to 4 in) wide; the screw centres are quoted as "centres" and run 64 to 76 mm (2-1/2 to 3 in).
• Metals: brass and bronze for period furniture, hammered or oil-rubbed finishes for the Arts and Crafts look, plain steel or black oxide for a utility look.

Where it is used

Craftsman and Mission furniture, and English Arts and Crafts furniture, used hammered metal pulls and handles as part of the design. Mid-century American casework used recessed and finger-scoop pulls, which a flush cup pull echoes. A cup pull is also the default choice when a drawer front is deep and a small knob would be hard to grip.

Choosing and sizing

Match the pull width to the drawer: about one-quarter to one-third of the drawer front width, with a 75 mm (3 in) pull on drawers up to about 600 mm (24 in) wide and a 100 mm (4 in) pull above that. Choose a lip that your finger can slip under, about 10 to 15 mm (3/8 to 5/8 in) deep. A heavy drawer wants two pulls or a bar pull.

Installation

1. Mark the vertical centre of the drawer front and the centre between the two screws.
2. Drill from the face through the front using the supplied screws as a guide; pull and screw lengths should leave 3 mm (1/8 in) of wood showing at the inside face of a 19 mm (3/4 in) front.
3. If you want a flush fit, rout a plate recess to the plate thickness (often 1.5 to 2 mm, 1/16 in) first.
4. Drive the screws by hand; brass screws shear in hardwood unless the pilot is the full size and a steel screw of the same thread has cut the path first.

Wood movement and species

A drawer front moves across its width with the seasons, so a plate fixed with two screws set along the grain direction will not crack the front. Do not use more than two fixings in a wide solid front. Pulls are rarely affected by species, but steel or plated screws can stain tannin-rich oak (see Wood screw) and soft pine can crush under a small plate, so use the screws that come with the pull, plus washers where the front is thin.

Common mistakes

• Pulls set too close to the top: the drawer tips as it opens; centre the pull in the upper third of a tall front.
• Screws too long: the point shows on the inside face of the front.
• Plate not square: use a block to hold the pull while the pilots are marked.

Related

• Bar pull: a single bar on two posts, for wider drawers.
• Knob: for lighter drawers and doors.
• Escutcheon (keyhole plate): when the drawer also locks.
• Wood screw: the fixing that holds the plate.