Cabinet door won't stay closed..

[Mark Vaughn]

I know this is simple and i should really know this by now, but i installed an inset cabinet door and it doesn't want to stay shut... I put the hinge mortise on the door and no mortise on the frame. Is this happening because the mortise is too deep, too shallow, or supposed to be on the frame instead of door, or not supposed to have a mortise at all. thank you guys you have helped me so much, i plan to start tithing to this site, hehe

[Mark Vaughn]

anyone know??

[Jamie Buxton]

You've got the likely source: the door is hitting the frame at the hinge side. Depending on your hinges, there may be several fixes. One could be to put shims between the hinges and the frame, or the hinges and the door. Examine the fit closely to what should work.

[Danny Thompson]

Check your screwheads. May have a burr or one may not be seated well.

[Paul Girouard]

It depend on the type hinge , they are "no Mortise" hinges , could you have those ?

http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/28670-th.gif (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=247)
Non-Mortise Hinges (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=247)

If they are "regular" hinges , both leafs should be let in flush with the wood to allow them to work W/O binding. So go check out those issues and report back.

BTW there is no hinge made , that I know of / can think of , that requires only one mortise, it's either both or none.

[Mark Vaughn]

it is a full mortise hinge

[Paul Girouard]

it is a full mortise hinge



Then you should have bothe leafs let in for proper operation, or your rail is cocked / beveled wrong / not straight / square.

If it's a double let in / full mortise hinge both leafs should be let in or your door gaps will be overly wide / large.


If you can't figure out here it's binding use carbon paper , or regular paper to find where it's binding, or on what is hitting.

Good luck .

Also a standrad hinge has no "hold close / open " feature , you may need a ball catch (if you don't want to see the catch ) or a magnetic catch , touch latch , etc . Something to hold it closed in other words. If the cabinet , or door is not plumb and is not held by a catch of some kind , and is NOT self closing it will swing open.

So is it binding , or just swinging open?

[Mark Vaughn]

ok, i'll try putting a mortise on the frame too, thanks for the help!

[Al Willits]

Prob missing something here, but wouldn't a set of the rare earth magnets work to keep it closed?

Al

[Mark Vaughn]

well its not that it is just swinging open, it feels like it is binding