Help, Doors won't close

[earl wojciechowski]

Hello,
I am building a nightstand with two doors on the front bottom. I have used SOSS hidden hinges for the doors. One of the door closes almost perfectly, the other is about 1/2 inch proud. These hinges are mortised into the door frame and the cabinet side. I suspect that the problem is with the hinge installation, but not sure what to do to correct. Both hinges are flush with the surrounding wood.

I have included 3 pictures; one of the overall cabinet and the second a close-up of the problem, and a third a closeup of the hinge installation.

Thanks for the help.

If this should be in another forum, please advise and I will move this posting.

Earl

[Darius Ferlas]

Based solely on the pictures I see little indication of faulty hinge installation.
Are you sure the door is flat?

[Peter J Lee]

Do the hinges sit flush in their mortises?

[earl wojciechowski]

The door is flat. The hinges are flush in their mortise.

Thanks for asking.

Earl

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Earl.....Use some tape or a stick on label. Mark the doors and hinges where they are installed now. Then remove the doors, swap hinges from one door to the other and reinstall the doors in their current position. If the symptoms move to the other door, the most likely cause is bad hinges.

[earl wojciechowski]

Thanks. Will give it a try.

[peter gagliardi]

Hard to tell, but it looks like the hinges might be 1/64, or1/32" too deep in the carcase side? These can be very finicky to get just right, and have a tendency to wear and sag in high volume use, so keep your eye on them.
Are the mortises full width for their whole depth- could be rubbing on the sidewall of the mortise.
Peter

[Lee Schierer]

I suspect that the mortices are not square to the surface on either the door or the side of the cabinet. Once you determine which mortices are out of square, then you will need to pare down the side of the mortice until it is square.

You should be able to lay a straight edge across the exposed metal on the hinge to determine which one is out of square.

[Jim Matthews]

I haven't used these hinges, yet.

Two things I can't see from the pictures :

If the doors are removed from the cabinet, do they lay flat or exhibit twist?
(I know your post says they're flat, but twist can be subtle and still throw off a small reveal like this.)

Does the left door strike the inside of the cabinet, when closed?

Presuming the photo of the hinges shown is from the left door (is that the case) - the reveal looks constant.

If those two factors are ruled out, the hinge on the left may not be rotating through it's full range.
Do the metal leaves need play in the bottom of the mortise, to close fully?

[earl wojciechowski]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I finally got the door to close flush. One of the mortises was a hair deeper. I used a pair of #6 washers to fill the mortise and that did the trick.

Earl

[Ellen Benkin]

and a huge sigh of relief was given!!