We recently got a short question in our DLH Friends hardware group about what size of screws is most common or should be used for installing fresh hardware in the kitchen or on furniture drawers so I thought I'd whip up a short article to help anyone else with the same question.
Truss Head Screw used for knobs and pulls
From Heike - Silly Question...Cabinet hardware often comes with only one size of screws for the doors, but they're too short for drawers (speaking of kitchen cabinet drawers). What length of screws do you order for the drawers without having to cut them?
We got many answers from the group, all from kitchen and furniture professionals but I'll start with my answer and then add a few more that were good tips from our members.
Derrick - Almost all hardware these days comes with 1" screws because most doors are 3/4" and that leaves 1/4" for screwing into the knob. So you will need to measure your door thickness and add 1/4" if you don't have a standard width. Don't go with a screw more than 3/8" longer or it likely won't screw in far enough. Some hardware will come with two sets of screws...
Heike follows up with - Derrick, what's the thread size I need? I'll just stick up on them all sizes been 1" - 2"
Derrick - 8-32 thread is about what everything is these days. Any hardware made in the last 20 years is almost surely 8-32.
And now a few responses from the group as a few of them might be helpful tips to newcomers...
Denise - It really varies from piece to piece. I just run to my local hardware store and pick up what I need for each project.
Sue - If you have old drawer pulls that you are replacing, use the screws from those.
Robin - If they’re too short I take them to the hardware store and buy something a little longer. You can bring the pull to make sure they are the right diameter.