Door stop retainer

[Doug Donnell]

My wife's butler's pantry cabinets are my first "in the house" cabinet project (as opposed to shop cabinets) and I am using it as skills practice. If they don't turn out well, they will still be better than the industrial steel shelving in use now, plus we can keep the pantry doors closed! However, they look like they are going to be a fair first effort.

I am doing inset doors and left the cabinet edge banded bottoms half exposed by the face frame to act as a door stop. I have not settled on a method to keep the doors closed, however. My plan is to use no-mortice hinges and I don't think they make those with a door retention function (or do they?). I was considering simple magnetic stops at the tops of the doors, but they tend to suck the door closed, make a pretty loud click, and seem to not release very easily, at least the ones I am familiar with. While these are just paint grade cabinets, I would not mind employing a technique that I may use on higher quality work later.

What are some of you favorite ways to keep your cabinet doors closed? Thanks!

Doug

[Greg Portland]

Is there a reason that you're avoiding Euro hinges? IMO they are ideal for 1st cabinet projects because there is a good deal of adjustment in the hinge mechanism which allows you to cover some mistakes. Euro-hinges also spring the cabinet closed which would solve your door closing problem (you would just use rubber bumpers for noise reduction).

Oh yes, if you go with Euro-hinges be sure to spring for the correct (35mm) Forstner bit. A clean, properly sized hole makes a big difference in the fit of these hinges.

[Doug Donnell]

I used euro hinges on my shop cabinets, thought it would be good to try traditional hinges on this project. You are absolutely correct about the adjustability, and I am not looking forward to the installation, but that was my thought process. Also, I wanted to do inset doors in a face frame cabinet since I had not done any yet. Another issue is that at least two of the cabinets will have pull out shelves behind doors, I did that in my shop cabinets and like the functionality, but the euro hinges tend to drag on things since they protrude into the cabinet a bit. Finally, my wife said she liked the traditional look of exposed hinges. After she decided that, all the other considerations were pretty much a moot point!

Can you use euro hinges on inset doors?

[Erik France]

A neat and easy way I've seen to keep doors in place is with a couple small rare earth magnets; one recessed into the bottom or top of the door and the other in the cabinet with a thin plug or veneer hiding it.

Be sure to take into account your door thickness and/or full opening angle. If your door can't swing out of the way of a full width sliding shelf because it is against a wall you'll be redoing the shelf. I should have realized it before I put them in... ;)

[Doug Donnell]

Yep, Eric, learned that one myself! Fortunately a few filler strips on the cabinet insides and a quick trim on the table saw solved the problem! Being shop cabinets, the lesson was a cheap one....

[glenn bradley]

I use these (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=40483&cat=3,41419,41454) and these (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=40618&cat=3,41399,41405) a fair amount. The double ball are less fussy to install but the bullets are less intrusive into your opening. The 8mm double ball keeps a 14" by 24" cabinet door in place that has been used several times a day for a few years.

[Peter Quinn]

I use these (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=40483&cat=3,41419,41454) and these (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=40618&cat=3,41399,41405) a fair amount. The double ball are less fussy to install but the bullets are less intrusive into your opening. The 8mm double ball keeps a 14" by 24" cabinet door in place that has been used several times a day for a few years.

Uhh, what he said. Brass bullets or balls both work well and you can adjust the amount of tension to your needs with a screw/spring arrangement that is built into them. I just did a small thin (5/8") door on a medicine cabinet with rare earth magnets hidden behind thin plugs, and it just barely holds closed a fairly light door. Not sure its a good fit for larger doors. Honestly, for a regular use cabinet, particularly one that may hold glasses, I like blum clip hinges with blumotion soft close. I have them on my bathroom linen closet cabs and I love them.

[Doug Donnell]

Thanks guys. Great tips.

Doug

[Jim Rimmer]

I have an antique armoire that a devilish nephew broke the latch on while no one was looking. Not wanting to make any modifications to the hardware or exterior, I got a magnetic catch (from Rockler, I think) that doesn't "suck" the door closed nor does it click. to open, you push on the door in the area of the latch and it releases.
Like this http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=135&filter=magnetic%20latch