How to Use a Cabinet Hardware Jig | Consistent Pull Placement

Installing cabinet hardware across a full kitchen or bathroom run is one of those jobs where one wrong measurement multiplies into a dozen crooked pulls. A hardware jig solves this by acting as a reusable drilling guide that locks your chosen screw spacing and reference distances. Instead of measuring each door individually, you set the jig once, drill, and move on—with every pull landing in the exact same spot.

Setting Up Your Cabinet Hardware Jig for Your Pulls

Before you drill into a single door, you need to match the jig’s guide holes to the screw spacing on your actual hardware. Most pulls have two screw holes with a standard center-to-center distance—common sizes include 3 inches (76mm), 5 inches, and 8 inches.

• Align the sliding drill guides by loosening the adjustment knobs on the jig and moving each guide so its hole lines up under your hardware’s screw holes. Kreg, Milescraft, and True Position jigs all use this same sliding-block mechanism.
• Tighten the sliders once the spacing matches. A loose slider during drilling is the fastest way to get misaligned holes, so lock them down firmly.
• Check the range—standard jigs handle up to about 12 inches of pull spacing. If your pulls are longer, you may need extensions or a jig with a wider track. The True Position TP-34 covers this range with its included bit setup.

Setting Reference Stops for Edge Distance and Height

The stops are what make the jig accurate across multiple doors. Two adjustments matter: the distance from the cabinet edge and the vertical center height.

• Edge distance: Set the horizontal stop to how far you want the pull from the outer edge of the door or drawer. A common choice for kitchen drawers is 1.5 to 2 inches. Slide the stop bar until it reads your number, then lock it.
• Center height: For drawers, the standard is the vertical center of the face. A 6-inch-tall drawer gets a vertical stop set at 3 inches. For cabinet doors, height placement varies—some align pulls with hinges, others use top to bottom center. Choose one rule and stick with it across all doors.
• Set the vertical stop the same way, ensuring it rests flush against the top or bottom edge of the door surface.

Positioning, Marking, and Drilling

With the stops set, the physical work is straightforward:

1. Press the jig against the door so both stops contact their reference edges. Hold it flat and square—any tilt will throw the holes off.
2. Mark the hole centers with a center punch through the guide holes. This step prevents your drill bit from walking on glossy or laminate surfaces and keeps the hole exactly where it belongs.
3. If you prefer to drill directly with the jig clamped in place, make sure the clamp doesn’t shift the jig. A quick clamp with rubber pads works well on painted or laminate finishes.
4. Drill using the correct bit size. For the Kreg KHI-PULL, that’s a 3/16-inch bit. Using a bit larger than the guide hole can damage the jig and ruin accuracy. The Milescraft HardwareJig accepts standard bits matching your screw size.
5. Install the hardware and repeat the process for every door opening in the same direction.

When you encounter doors that open the opposite way, you’ll need to flip your reference. For standard jigs, slide the stops off, move the horizontal slider to the opposite side while keeping vertical height the same, and position the jig on the new reference edge. Dual-sided jigs like the True Position TP-34 simplify this—you flip the jig over and it centers automatically. For a complete rundown of recommended models with pros and real pricing, check our tested roundup of the best cabinet hardware jigs.

Common Mistakes That Throw Off Your Holes

A few errors separate pro results from hardware you’ll live to regret. Skipping the center punch is the most common—on glossy doors, the bit skates across the surface before biting. Loose sliders shift under drill pressure, and setting the edge distance from the wrong side of the door guarantees misplaced pulls. If your jig comes with an adjustable stop collar bit, as the True Position unit does, use it—it prevents drilling too deep and blowing out the back side of the door.

For glossy or slippery cabinet surfaces, a strip of painter’s tape under the jig gives the stops and clamps much better grip. And if you’re tackling only a single pull, a scrap plywood template with 1-inch strips glued to two edges as stops costs almost nothing and works fine for one job.