Timber Cabinet Handles

Timber Cabinet Handles Buying Guide

You touch a timber handle every day, so the species, the finish and the shape decide whether it still looks good in a year. This page holds timber cabinet handles, also searched as wooden cabinet handles, wooden cupboard handles, timber kitchen handles and timber wardrobe handles. They suit kitchens, bathroom vanities, laundries and wardrobes. The range starts with short D handles and ends with pulls over a metre long, in walnut, oak, blackbutt and reclaimed Tasmanian oak, plus a few that pair timber with solid brass. Below you will find the species, the finishes, each shape with its measurements, how to choose a size and how to look after the wood. For handles in every material, start at cabinet handles.

Why choose timber

One retailer calls timber warm, tactile and quiet against painted joinery, and says it softens a kitchen in a way metal cannot. It recommends wood for Japandi, coastal and Scandinavian rooms. That matches what wood does. A metal handle shows a finish, while a timber handle shows grain, so a run of drawers reads as a material and not as a colour. It also works in a room that already has hard surfaces such as stone, tile and glass.

The catch is variation. No two pieces share a grain, and the colour of a handle shifts with light and handling. If you want every handle identical, buy metal, for example black cabinet handles. If you want some character, buy timber.

The timbers on this page

Four timbers appear here: walnut, American oak, blackbutt and reclaimed Tasmanian oak. The listings name the timber and the finish only, so the facts below come from national and state timber guides.

Walnut is the darkest. A national wood industry guide gives American black walnut heartwood as golden to rich chocolate brown, sometimes with narrow purplish-brown streaks and a fine, generally straight grain that can run wavy or curly. Seasoned, it has a density of about 615 kilograms per cubic metre, which makes it moderately hard. The heartwood lightens with age, especially in UV light, so a walnut handle by a sunny window will pale over the years. The same guide says walnut polishes to a high finish and goes into high-end cabinetry and furniture. See walnut timber handles.

American oak is paler, with a more open grain. The guide describes American white oak heartwood as pale yellow-brown to mid-brown, sometimes with a pink tinge, mostly straight grained, with a medium to coarse texture and visible growth rings and rays. Seasoned, it weighs about 750 kilograms per cubic metre. That makes it hard and heavy with good overall strength. It takes stain and polishes to a good finish. See American oak timber handles.

Blackbutt is an Australian hardwood and the lightest of the three in colour. The guide gives the heartwood as golden yellow to pale brown, sometimes with a slight pink tint, an even texture and generally straight grain, at about 900 kilograms per cubic metre seasoned. A Queensland government timber guide rates it Class 1 above ground, with a life expectancy of more than 40 years. Know one thing before you buy: its tannins can wash out when the timber gets wet. See blackbutt timber handles.

Tasmanian oak is a trade name, not one tree. According to the Queensland guide it covers three almost identical eucalypts, Eucalyptus regnans, delegatensis and obliqua. The heartwood is pale brown to white-brown with pink tints, the grain is even and straight, and the density runs from 675 to 770 kilograms per cubic metre at 12 per cent moisture. The guide rates the wood firm to moderately hard and says it takes stain, polish and paint. The Castella Tullah here is reclaimed Tasmanian oak, and its listing says the timber is sourced from Pieman Lake. A reclaimed timber supplier says it recovers logs from beneath Tasmania's hydro lakes.

In practice: pick walnut for contrast against white, pale timber and stone. Pick oak or blackbutt for a light, natural look that sits quietly on painted doors. Pick Tasmanian oak when the reclaimed story matters to you.

What the finish means

Most of the Momo Handles timber on this page is lacquered. Lacquer seals the surface and keeps water and oils out of the grain, which makes it the practical choice for kitchens, vanities and laundries. The Luv Wood listing calls its finish a sealed finish. The Hinoki and Hako listings give lacquer as the finish and a cabinet thickness of 16 to 25mm. The Castella Tundra and Tullah listings give a natural wood finish, which leaves the timber closer to bare, so keep those away from constant water.

The Kimberley, Airlie and Fitzroy pulls come raw or oiled. Raw means bare timber with no added coating. Oiled means a natural oil soaked into the grain. The wood industry guides list blackbutt, American oak and walnut as woods that take oil, stain and polish. If you are unsure, choose a sealed or oiled handle for a wet room and keep raw for a dry room, where you can accept that the wood will change.

Timber handle shapes and measurements

Every figure below comes from the product listing. Hole centres are the distance between the two screw holes. Overall length is the whole handle, and projection is how far it stands off the door.

• The Momo Handles Hinoki D handle is 220mm overall on 160mm centres, 35mm wide, with a 36mm projection. The Hinoki big handle is 500mm or 916mm overall with a 51mm projection. A 60mm Hinoki T knob completes the set.
• The Momo Handles Hako D handle has a square profile. It measures 188, 348 or 998mm overall on 160, 320 or double 480mm centres, 14mm wide, with a 37mm projection. The Hako big handle is 525 or 1005mm overall with a 55mm projection, and the Hako T knob is 76mm.
• The Momo Handles Luv Wood D handle is 183mm overall on 160mm centres with a 30mm projection. Its big D handle is 418 or 1026mm overall with a 48.6mm projection. The listing says screws are included. A 51mm angled knob is also available.
• The Momo Sydney is an elliptical timber pull, 200 or 400mm overall on 128 or 256mm centres, 15mm wide, with a 28mm projection.
• The Momo Handles Flapp is a slim pull in brushed walnut or oak, 70, 200 or 1100mm overall on 32, 160 or 1056mm centres, 22mm wide, with a 23.2mm projection. That is the lowest projection on the page.
• The Momo Handles Kimberley curve pull measures 120, 200 or 400mm overall on 64, 128 or 256mm centres. The Airlie teardrop pull is 150 or 300mm on 96 or 192mm centres, and the Fitzroy arch pull is 100 or 150mm on 32 or 64mm centres.
• The Castella Tundra pairs walnut with solid brass. The handle is 154 or 218mm overall on 128 or 192mm centres with a 37mm projection, and the knob is 30mm with a 28mm projection.
• The Castella Tullah is reclaimed Tasmanian oak in two shapes, a round knob and a semi-circle lip pull. Each comes in 90mm and 140mm sizes with a 25mm projection.

Two things stand out. The long pulls, the Flapp at 1100mm, the Hako at 1005mm and the Luv Wood big D at 1026mm, are wardrobe and tall-door handles, and they also appear at wardrobe handles. And projection runs from 23mm to 55mm, so a Flapp sits close to the door while a Hako big handle stands proud. In a tight walkway, take the lower figure. Width matters too. The Hako D handle is the slimmest section on the page at 14mm, while the Hinoki is 35mm wide, so the two read very differently in the hand and on the door. The Luv Wood big D at 1026mm is also more than twice the length of the Hinoki big handle at 500mm, which is worth picturing against the height of the door it will sit on.

Shape also sets the job. A D handle is a curved bar fixed at two points and suits drawers and doors; the full range is at D shaped cabinet handles. A bar or curve pull takes several fingers, and you will find those at cabinet pull handles. A T knob or round knob sits on one hole and suits a small door or a light drawer (cabinet knobs). A lip pull sits on the edge of a front for a handle-free look, at lip pull handles.

What the market offers

Other timber ranges sold in Australia use oak, walnut, beech, jarrah, mahogany and maple, and some add metal feet, rings or end caps. One range lists handles from 56mm to 400mm and knobs from 26mm to 74mm across. Another offers Tasmanian oak and charred oak, and pairs timber with matt black, polished chrome or satin brass. A third makes handles from American oak saved from the bin. Timber handles are a small, crafted category everywhere. This page covers the same ground, from small knobs to long tall-door pulls, and it adds the Momo shapes with their listed figures so you can compare them without opening each product.

Pairing timber with other finishes

A hardware retailer groups finishes by style. Brushed brass suits white or navy cabinetry, matte black is bold and modern, and satin nickel is versatile. Gunmetal and antique bronze suit moody, industrial or heritage rooms, and white is clean and minimal. The same retailer says to use one finish through the home, keep to one or two handle styles, and limit each room to two metal finishes.

For timber, that makes the wood one of the materials and lets one metal finish carry the taps, hinges and any knobs. The Tundra shows the idea in one piece: walnut with solid brass end caps. For a warm second metal, see brushed brass cabinet handles. For a pale partner, see white cabinet handles. The retailer also says to match handles to other fixtures or contrast them on purpose. Timber is the contrast. It makes no attempt to match the taps, so keep the rest of the room calm.

In a bathroom, a timber handle on a vanity drawer gives a hard room of ceramic and tile one natural material. Choose a sealed or lacquered handle there. The cabinets are at bathroom vanities. For a handle on a room door and not a cabinet, see interior door handles.

Choosing the size

Length is described by hole centres, not overall length. A sizing guide says a pull is commonly about one third of the drawer or door width, as a guide and not a strict rule. A second retailer gives the same rule. It adds that pot drawers and pantry doors take longer handles of 250mm or more, while smaller handles or knobs suit upper cabinets.

The sizing guide then works through widths. A drawer up to about 400mm wide looks balanced with a knob, a short pull or a compact bar. Fronts of about 450 to 700mm are frequently right with 128, 160 or 224mm centres. Wider fronts take 256 or 320mm centres, or two pulls placed symmetrically. Knob diameter follows the same logic: 25 to 38mm suits standard doors, and 40 to 50mm or more suits pantry doors and deep drawer fronts. For placement, a typical starting point is 40 to 60mm from the door edge to the centre of the fixing.

Against this page, the Hinoki D handle and the Luv Wood D handle on 160mm centres suit a drawer front of 450 to 700mm. The Sydney on 128mm centres suits a narrower front, and on 256mm a wider drawer or pot drawer. The Kimberley on 64mm, or the Fitzroy on 32mm and 64mm, suits a small door. The big D handles on 384 to 992mm centres are for pantry doors, wardrobes and tall panels.

When replacing handles, measure the centres of the holes you already have. The placement guide on this site says a 128mm handle will not fit 160mm holes without new holes, which can leave marks on a painted or veneered front. A retailer says to match the existing centres unless you plan to fill the old holes. Many handles ship with screws for 16 to 18mm cabinet boards, and the Momo timber listings give a cabinet thickness of 16 to 25mm, so check your door thickness. Several Momo listings say the screws are not included, so confirm that on the listing.

Where to put the handle

Centre the handle on a drawer front. On a base door, set it near the top corner on the side opposite the hinges, and on a wall door near the bottom corner. A long vertical pull on a pantry door sits at hand height, not at the exact middle. A retailer's rule of thumb is horizontal handles on pull-out drawers and vertical handles on doors. It notes that horizontal handles on doors look streamlined but may not open as naturally, and it says to make sure handles do not hit each other when cabinets open.

Test before you drill. One retailer suggests putting painter's tape where the handle will go, to compare sizes and check that fingers have room to grip and that the shape will not catch on clothing. Another says to hold a handle against the cabinet and check the grip, and to choose one that suits everyone who will use the kitchen, including larger hands or arthritic fingers.

How to care for timber handles

Timber wants gentler care than metal. A cabinet maker's care guide says to dust with a microfibre cloth and wash high-touch areas with mild dish soap in warm water. Bleach, ammonia, steel wool and scouring pads are out. Cleaner goes on the cloth, never straight onto the cabinets. Spills get wiped at once, wet towels stay off cabinet doors, and steam needs ventilating so humidity stays steady through the year.

For an oiled or natural finish, the same guide says to polish every few months with a natural oil-based product, applied lightly and along the grain. It warns against silicone sprays, which leave a residue, and says to use the maker's recommended product for the finish. It also says to limit strong sunlight to reduce fading, which matters most for walnut, since the heartwood lightens with UV. Check the product's own care note, because the right product depends on what the maker used. A lacquered handle needs only the cleaning steps.

A short checklist before you order

• Pick the species for the colour: walnut for the darkest, oak and blackbutt for the lightest.
• Choose a lacquered, sealed or oiled handle for kitchens, vanities and laundries.
• Measure the centres of your existing holes, and aim for a handle about one third of the drawer width.
• Check the projection and cabinet thickness on the listing, and whether screws are included.
• Keep one metal finish in the room and let the timber be the second material.

For the full range of handle styles, return to cabinet handles, or see the Momo Handles range at Momo Handles premium cabinet handles and the Castella cabinet handles range.