How to Select the Correct Knob or Handle It's really quick and easy to replace or update furniture hardware. There are 3 basic methods utilized to attach furniture drawer pulls and knobs: 1. A screw that goes all the way through the wood into the back of the hardware. 2. A screw incorporated into the hardware attached by screwing the hardware into the front of the furniture. In this method, the screw generally has a shorter length and does not go all the way through the drawer or door. 3. Small screws (or nails) into the front of the hardware. We will use a drawer as our example. To determine which attachment method you have, start by looking on the inside of the drawer. Do you see the head of a screw? If you do, your hardware has a screw that goes all the way through the wood as described as type 1 above. This is very common and the strongest way to attach your hardware. If you did not see a screw on the inside of your drawer look at the front of the drawer hardware, look closely. Do you see tiny screws or nail heads? If not, then your hardware probably has a screw incorporated into the back of the knob or pull. This type is attached to the drawer by turning the knob (and the attached screw) into the front of the drawer. Turning the hardware to tighten is OK for this type of hardware. This design is described above as type 2. A quick soapbox note: Use a tool on the screw head to tighten this type of hardware when it gets loose. DO NOT TURN THIS TYPE OF HARDWARE FROM THE FRONT TO TIGHTEN IT! This type of hardware may have cleats on the end that contacts the wood, to keep it from turning. If you turn this type of hardware to tighten it, you will damage the wood, even to the point of tearing a hole into the front of your furniture. Then, the hardware will be recessed into the wood causing the screw will be too long and the hardware to become loose. OK, enough of my soap box speech tighten it from the back with a tool.