Help needed - Filling in pin holes in melamine carcass?

[Jay Yoder]

Greetings all, I just uncovered an error made 6 years ago in my melamine miter station cabinets...I drilled 1/4" shelf pins exactly where I need to place the mounting plate for the Blum hinges! And even worse, the front edge of the hole lines up with where i need to drill the hinge mounting holes. Not sure what I can do...was toying with the idea of drilling the melamine sidewalls with a forstener bit for a 1/2" dia oak dowel section (which I have laying around). My question is would the 1/2" dia be enough to support 1/2 the weight of the door (I am using 2 hinges)? In other words, how strong of a bond will I get between the melamine (particleboard) and the dowel? I am thinking that the larger diameter dowel I use, the stronger it will be.

[Peter Quinn]

i would just fill the 1/4" holes with 1/4" dowels and be done with it. They will hold the screws well, disappear behind the hinge plates, you already have the 1/4" holes drilled....

[Jay Yoder]

Thanks for the response. I thought about using a 1/4" dowel, but that may not work because the center point of the screw would end up right on the joint between the melamine and the dowel; That is why I was thinking of using the larger diameter dowel rod. The entire screw would end up in the dowel rod and hopefully it would be enough to support the door. I hope that description makes sense.

[Martin Wasner]

Move the hinge. Even remaking the doors sounds way simpler than monkeying around filling the holes.

[Peter Quinn]

Thanks for the response. I thought about using a 1/4" dowel, but that may not work because the center point of the screw would end up right on the joint between the melamine and the dowel; That is why I was thinking of using the larger diameter dowel rod. The entire screw would end up in the dowel rod and hopefully it would be enough to support the door. I hope that description makes sense.

I doubt it will matter. If the dowels are glued in, they will hole the screws. I suppose the larger plugs will certainly work, i just don't see the need for a standard sized cabinet door. Perhaps use a solid dowel such as cut from a dowel rod, not a spiral or fluted dowel, that would maximize glue surface.

[Jay Yoder]

I was going to use the typical dowel rod available in length at the big box stores. I don't have any 1/4" at house. I would guess that regardless of dia, the glued joint should be strong enough between the dowel and particle board. Just will make sure I use plenty of glue :)

[Jeff Duncan]

Or….if it's close enough to being centered on 37mm you can simply drill them larger so that you can use press in hinges! I forget the size of the dowels, (maybe 7mm?), but pretty sure they're a bit bigger than 1/4". If you used a standard drilling jig your at 32mm centers and probably at the right set back already.

god luck,
JeffD

[Myk Rian]

Fill the holes and start over. Bondo or JB weld will do it.