Brian wrote:

I am in the final stages of refacing my cabinets. Now I am
attempting to install new cabinet pulls/handles. Problem is
no matter how much I seem to measure I can't seem to get the
holes to line up properly. Some of this has to do with how
straight (or NOT straight) the holes I drill end up being
since I am using a handheld drill. I do not have access to a
drill press. I know that building a jig would be a great help
also (haven't really gotten that far yet).

Brian...

It's time to get that far now. A piece of plywood with two strips
of wood to position it repeatably at a corner of the panels to be
drilled is sufficient.

Lay out the holes on piece of paper and fit that paper into the
right angle formed by the two wood strips and transfer the hole
locations through the paper to the plywood rectangle.

Carefully drill the plywood from the side with the wood strips.
Test your new jig on a piece of scrap. If the result is what you
want, then use this jig to drill for the pulls from the face
side of the drawers/doors.

If it's not what you wanted, try again until you /are/ satisfied.

Note that with this job, hole placement is more important than
hole straightness. If the holes are properly placed on the face
of the cabinet, the handles will line up properly.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA