Custom door pulls for my reloading room cabinets

[bigbossman]

I had some free time yesterday, so I decided to fool around with a project I've had on my mind for a little while. I'd been wanting to add some reloading themed pulls for the doors and drawers in my reloading room, and an internet search revealed that, while such things were being made, they were really, really expensive to purchase. Since I had a ton of the raw material on-hand, I tried to come up with an inexpensive way to make something that looked decent.

The results of my first iteration are below - a 12 gauge shell door pull. What I did was cut a piece of 3/4" dowel (sanded slightly to reduce the OD) to the appropriate length, inserted it into the empty hull, then ran it through the crimping stations of my press to close it up. To attach it to the door I used 3/8" nylon spacers as stand-offs, and used 1-1/2" pan head screws to screw firmly into the dowel inside the hull. Finger depth is perfect for me, and they are very solidly attached.

Comments and suggestions welcome - I need to make a bunch of these, so any thoughts on streaming the process would be helpful.

[Red-Osier]

Looks good, 10 gauge would be better for bigger mitts.

[JackEllis]

Clever. I'm a big fan of "recycling", whether it's materials, tools, brass, etc.

Might have to try a couple of those on the powder cabinet.

[Boarhuntor]

Instead of white plastic spacers, i'd use cut-offs of brass cases of 223 or such. Maybe even 22LR.
Would complete the "reloading" theme.
Also, i'd put them upside down. The brass surface on the top is more attractive than crimps IMO.

As a further, more high-tech upgrade you can put a fingerprint scanning device for the locks.
If it is you, it lets you open the door, if no, it exploded into the face of the intruder

[Revoman]

After removing the primer first, you could cut the hull in half, still use the dowel inside, but use the half hull to screw into the door so that the brass end part is facing you. Then you could screw it through the primer hole, then fill the primer hole with a half of a primer glued back in to hide the screwhead.
That way you're only using a single screw without the nylon spacers. Much faster?

[MongooseV8]

Nice!

[bigbossman]

Looks good, 10 gauge would be better for bigger mitts.

I'm making them for my mitts, not Sasquatch.

Instead of white plastic spacers, i'd use cut-offs of brass cases of 223 or such. Maybe even 22LR.
Would complete the "reloading" theme.
Also, i'd put them upside down. The brass surface on the top is more attractive than crimps IMO.

Two good suggestions. Actually, I was thinking about .22 casings, or maybe .38spl..... Hmmmm - maybe I'll mock one up. Cut off 30-30 or 30-06 might look good too, with the taper and all.

As far as having the brass up- I agree, and considered it. But, if I did that then the writing on the hull would be upside down. In the end, that pushed me to decide on the "crimp up" position. Also - the doors are high enough that the crimps aren't really noticeable.

After removing the primer first, you could cut the hull in half, still use the dowel inside, but use the half hull to screw into the door so that the brass end part is facing you. Then you could screw it through the primer hole, then fill the primer hole with a half of a primer glued back in to hide the screwhead.
That way you're only using a single screw without the nylon spacers. Much faster?

Another good suggestion, and one I considered. I Googled around a bit, and there are a lot of what you describe for sale. I made a mock-up, but wasn't satisfied with how it felt on my fingertips.

Thanks, guys!!

[SonofWWIIDI]

Those look nice OP.

[Boarhuntor]

As far as having the brass up- I agree, and considered it. But, if I did that then the writing on the hull would be upside down. In the end, that pushed me to decide on the "crimp up" position. Also - the doors are high enough that the crimps aren't really noticeable.

There are two notes from my side if the classroom,
1. Writing would disappear with time
2. You are not using it to learn to read, no one is going to notice if it is upside down or not.
3. I'd remove the writing myself first unless it is something special.

But again, everyone is using the hand he prefers, anyways, you are doing it for yourself, so, it is only one person you have to please.

Did you give your thought to 50BMG? It would be dandy....Especially with a bullet still inside.

[reverser]

Some good ideas here. I hadn’t considered doing something like this but I like this a lot.

[Mr. Helio]

I like the 12 Ga. shell idea. Looks vintage yet utilitarian at the same time. Way to be creative!

[Revoman]

Okay....how about the original idea of using the brass and as described above, only cut the hull enough to where a wad is exposed. Splay the wad fingers out against the door and proceed to screw the assembly to the door as described through the primer hole. That'd make it appear to have been fired into the door with the wad open?
Or....you can use two hulls, screwed together (using your dowel method), laying one over the other as if they were overlapping laying on the ground at an angle to one another. Then screw the 'straight one' onto the door leaving the angled one as the finger hold.
I suppose that over time the plastic will eventually crack from your light source, but you can easily replace them.

[sbo80]

I like the 12 Ga. shell idea. Looks vintage yet utilitarian at the same time. Way to be creative!

full brass 10gauge shells would look fantastic as a pull.

[sealocan]

Very cool bigbossman!

[JagerDog]

Retired boomer with too much time on his hands.

Besides, in CA we need camouflage. Maybe some simulated tofu pulls.