Repairing my brand new tool cabinet..

[GrifterGuru]

Some have already seen my thread "A quick peek into my new tool cabinet" (<<< LINK) but may not have noticed that one of the door panels was missing from the base cabinet.

When it arrived, one of the doors was damaged, well, broken actually, but meh, it happens, thats life, it sucks sometimes.

Yes, I took a refund that should cover a professional repair and yes, I have made a temporary repair until such time as I can find someone that can make and fit a new oak lower rail for it for me.

A fully trained carpenter I may not be, but I was taught many a trick by my late step father who was a carpenter for over 30 years as his main profession.

Here is how it arived with the broken cabinet door...

Lower rail broken



Missing Hinge pin, I suspect this was the beginning of the trouble!




To start with, I glued the lower rail back into position and clamped it overnight... Thos clamps sure held a bit of pressure!!



Whilst the glue was curing, I made up a new pin for the hinge.

The original pin had sheered and gone walkabouts to who knows where, leaving an open hole from where it had once been "mounted" to the hinge plate. That hole was opened up with a unibit drill, then finished to size with a swiss rat-tail.

For those curious, I used an old "Kitchen cabinet shelf pin", which was ""turned down" in the chuck of my cordless drill using a file*. I kept the shoulder, but again, filed it down so it was thin enough to trap between the hinge plate and the side of the door rail.

* - I know, I know, I have a lathe, but this was faster, old habits die hard, it was 3AM when I did it and I have neighbours on all sides within 8 feet.

Here is the new pin with the hinge plate, showing the origins of the new pin alongside.




And here it is in position, re-fitted to the cabinet.







Overall, a small victory. The hinges are a nice idea, but on this cabinet, the implementation sucks. There is far too much "free movement".

I will, eventually, make a sleeve for all the hinge pins to take the pin diameter up in size as well as add a little length to keep the darn doors central. As it is, they have too much "float" side to side and the pins are somewhat undersized in comparison to the rebates / grooves they ride in.

 

[talvare]

Nice repair job, but I think I'm most impressed with how you used those clamps. I've used that style as well as the similar pipe clamps many times and I don't think I ever considered using two short ones to make a long one. Very ingenious.

Ted

 

[GrifterGuru]

Nice repair job, but I think I'm most impressed with how you used those clamps. I've used that style as well as the similar pipe clamps many times and I don't think I ever considered using two short ones to make a long one. Very ingenious.

Ted

@talvare Thanks, the joint is almost invisible, but not quite. Did what I could with what I have to hand and it came out better than expected. Was going to use my oak-stain pen on the joint area on the front where I hit it with some 1500 paper but the darn thing has gone dry on me.

Regarding the clamps, sometimes it is not what you have but how you use it and the need to think laterally rather than conventionally.

Hooked clamps, providing they are hooked properly, can exert plenty of force and grip, yet also allow adjustment from either end. It is a trick I have used from the first moment I ever used one over 30 years ago. It also means I don't have to store large clamps that I will only use once in a blue moon, whereas these 12" (300mm) clamps get used regularly for various odd jobs.

 

[brino]

The hinges are a nice idea, but on this cabinet, the implementation sucks. There is far too much "free movement".

....also because of the angle of the grain from the screw hole:


Excellent repair.
I have also NOT seen clamps used like this, but will try to remember.

Thanks for posting!

Brian

 

[GrifterGuru]

....also because of the angle of the grain from the screw hole:
View attachment 496284

Excellent repair.
I have also NOT seen clamps used like this, but will try to remember.

Thanks for posting!

Brian

Yup, grain angle got me scratching my head a bit too.... Still, can't have it all ways, there has to be some compromise somewhere and that was it.

I also noted that there was no pilot hole, just the screw run straight into the material. I was taught to always pilot to avoid things like this and it has saved me many times over. Late step father was a carpenter by trade so he knew a few tricks and passed some along.