Help with door repair please...

[Clisby Clark]

A friend has asked me to repair an entertainment center door that was pulled off its hinges. This job will be a NOT FOR PROFIT. Finish is dark cherry/faux cherry dull satin or matte. Hinges are 35mm with 5mm plugs.

Here's the situation: The 5mm plug holes tore out enough so the hinge doesn't secure to the door well anymore. My fix for that is to bore out the holes to 3/8 and plug it with a tapered plug, then use screws instead of the plugs...UNLESS there is a way someone can tell me about to make the plugs tight again.

Problem 2 is the hinge stile is cracked along its length-some of the crack is on the cope/stick joint, some is in fresh wood. My question on this is what would be the best glue and method of gluing to get the door back together again? I've got the 2P10 kit as well as Titebone 2/3 available. Should I tape off the finished areas to keep from getting glue on the finish?

Problem 3 is there are some small scratched places that show up horribly against the finished wood. I'm thinking about using dye to get the color right, but what should I do for a topcoat. The piece is probably around 15 years old so the finish is probably lacquer-which I don't have. Would shellac be ok for the topcoat on the scratches? Dye tinted shellac for a one-and-done perhaps?

As always, thanks for any and all help.

[Lee Schierer]

Rather than dowels, use cross grain plugs as screws don't hold well in end grain. The tite bond 2 or 3 should work just fine. You'll need to work it into the crack, sometimes using a vacuum or compressed air will suck/blow the glue in deeper. Before you glue, make sure you know how to effectively clamp it so that the gaps close up. Don't try to figure this out once the glue is on the crack and the curing clock is ticking. Make sure your clamps allow you access to the finished surfaces so you can wipe off any excess glue with a clean damp cloth.

[Jeff Duncan]

Plug the hole using the wood plugs as you described. Then drill a hole the correct size for the plugs....likely 10mm, but obviously measure first. Titebond should be fine to get the cracked piece back whole again. Finally unless your experienced with touching up furniture I wouldn't do too much here. Maybe use a dye to get the scratches less visible, but you have to know what finish is on the cabinet in order to repair it. It's likely a production finish that may not be easy to coat over.

good luck,
jeffD