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You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Create Your Decor » Bolt Cutting Made Easy

Bolt Cutting Made Easy

by Lindsay Ballard on May 13, 2013 10 Comments

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

Since I’m working on redoing my kids’ bathroom, I’ve been in the market for some really fun knobs for their shared vanity cabinet doors.  I considered painting the vanity, but it is in fabulous shape and is stained a gorgeous, deep color so I decided to leave it as is.  So, the pulls needed to bring some much needed character to the doors.

I was at Hobby Lobby last week and found these cuties.  They were $2.50 a piece (after the 50% off discount), so I bought four of them.

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

Like most knobs from Hobby Lobby, these are easy to install with just a bolt and nut.  The bolts are really long so that you can install them pretty much anywhere, but I was worried that they would stick out too far on the back of the cabinet door and be a hazard to my kiddos.  Here’s the difference in what was previously on the cabinets and the new, yellow owl knobs.

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

Luckily, this is a really easy fix that I wanted to share with you.  Bolt cutting is simple if you have the right tools.  Because this bolt was on the smaller side, I was able to use our electrician’s multi tool. This is a tool that I recommend you having in your tool box, especially if you light to change out your hardwired light fixtures.  You can use it to strip, cut and crimp wire, but today I’m going to show you how to use it to cut a bolt.

Do you see the holes labeled 5-40, 10-24, 4-40, etc. in the photo below?  Those holes are sized for standard sized bolts.  The bolt from my owl knobs fit into the 10-32 hole, so I screwed them into the open multi tool.  I screwed it through enough so that the part that I wanted to cut off came came out of the back.

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

Then, I closed my multi tool and it lopped off the end of the bolt.  The thicker the bolt is, the harder you have to push to get the tool to close.

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

If your bolt is too thick to fit into the multi tool, you’re going to want to use a hacksaw or a Dremel to cut off the bolt.  One of my knobs had bent threads and wouldn’t fit into the tool, so I put it in the vice and used the hacksaw to cut off the end.

Once installed, the bolts are the perfect length!  I’m going to get acorn nuts to put on the end of the bolts so that there isn’t a sharp end, but I’ll have to do that the next time I run to the hardware store.

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

This simple change added some personality to an otherwise boring vanity cabinet.  Aren’t they a hoot?  Ba-dum-bum.

How to Easily Cut a Too Long Bolt via MakelyHome.com

I made some progress in the kids’ bathroom this weekend – a new light fixture location wired, the room got completely primed, and two coats of Lindsay White painted on the ceiling.  All that, and it’s not really enough to show you!  We are in the “living in a construction zone” phase of this bathroom redo. More coming soon!

Have you ever needed to cut down the length of a bolt?  What kind of tool did you use to do it?

Linking To: Home Stories A to Z

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

« Shared Kids Bathroom Ideas and a Mother’s Day Family Project
From Nursery to an {Almost} Big Girl Room »

Comments

  1. Julia @cuckoo4design says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    I totally have to get one of those since this really bugs me about the Hobby Lobby knobs. Yay!

    Reply
  2. Miss Charming says

    May 14, 2013 at 10:13 am

    Yes, Hobby Lobby has such cute knobs but the bolts are way too long. (Cutting them shorter. It’s one of those, “Why didn’t I think of that?”)
    Cute owls, Lindsay! I’m looking forward to the full reveal!

    Reply
  3. Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl says

    May 14, 2013 at 9:28 pm

    You just taught me something new today! Ahhh, so excited, can’t wait to try cutting bolts now ;-).

    Reply
  4. Home furnishing products says

    May 15, 2013 at 2:49 am

    A set of bedding usually consists of a flat or fitted sheet which covers the mattress,
    a flat top sheet, either a blanket, quilt, or duvet, sometimes with a duvet cover which
    can replace or be used in addition to the top sheet;
    and a number of pillows with pillowcases, also referred to as pillow shams. Additional blankets, etc.

    Reply
  5. Kaci says

    May 15, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    You have no idea how long I have been trying to find a way to do this! I bought crazy cute knobs for my desk drawers that must have been meant to go into a 6 inch board because they stick so far into the interior of the drawers. Thanks so much for posting this!

    Reply
  6. Anna says

    August 19, 2013 at 6:35 am

    I bought 30+ Hobby Lobby knobs for my kitchen redo … the sales person assured me cutting the screws was easy with bolt cutters. No really. I have been searching for info on how to cut screws. Thanks for your post. Great knobs at great prices, but who wants this hassle!

    Reply
  7. Dan says

    November 3, 2016 at 10:51 am

    I didn’t know I could cut bolts with electrician’s pliers – I thought it was just for wire. Thanks for your post

    Reply
  8. Mucky says

    May 16, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    Thank you for mentioning acorn bolts!! Like you, the knobs I want to replace have the screwhead on the exposed portion and the new ones don’t. Why do they make them like this? So unsafe. I thought I was going to have to countersink them into the wood, because I totally forgot acorn bolts were a thing. Thanks again!

    Reply
  9. Anna says

    July 21, 2017 at 12:13 am

    Thanks so much! I though I would have to get a professional to do this for me but your instructions were right on the money. And acorn nuts! Totally forgot about those!

    Reply
  10. Michele Schroeder says

    August 11, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    OMG!!! You’re a genius! I have had Hobby Lobby knobs for 3 yrs and now I can finally put these little knobs in TONIGHT! God bless you and the internet!!!

    Reply

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About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.


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