The Drawer Ring

The criteria for the project was to create a handle for a product. After much deliberation, I decided to create a handle for my drawer because I felt that the current handle was too small, and not stylish enough. I stayed in Spain over the winter for about two weeks, and over there the drawer I was using had circles on the end. I very much liked the design, as I thought the design was classy and more sophisticated.

The first step of my design process including sketching out the design of the model. I realized that the shape I desired closely matched the design of brass knuckles. I looked up different types of brass knuckles and used their shape as the top of my design. I then incorporated a flat back rim to allow the handle to be attached to the front of the drawer. 

Once the top view was drawn, I followed up and drew the isometric view of both the handle by itself and the handle attached to a cabinet.

After the design was fully sketched out, the next step was to design it on CAD. The CAD design was difficult but after many iterations, the design was finalized as follows:

After the design was fully modeled on CAD, the design was laser cut onto cardboard to see the how different sizes would look in relation to my cabinet and how it felt to use. 

Through the three iterations, it became apparent to me that the middle size was the best to use. It was big enough that the user could only use two rings at any time to open the drawer which was very important to me, and the design was not so big that it looked awkward. After finalizing the design on cardboard, the same design was cut into 3/4 inch plywood so that the design could withstand the force of a human pulling out a drawer without deforming.

Next, clay was added around to wood to give it a nice texture and finish. The clay was first applied with my hands, and then spread out to give it an even finish. After that, a spoon and knife were also used to brush the excess clay off the design. The final design seen on the cabinet drawer was also pictured.