We have built an inset store cupboard into an alcove, but have problems making the gaps even around the two doors and two drawers. Oh and can I apologise for speaking British English,,,, being a Scot I am somewhere between American and English English !!
The door frames are in pine as are the uprights (cost dictated that over hardwoods sadly). The doors are frame and panel. The walls next to the cupboard have just been plastered so dont want to start making a mess of them. Basically what we need to know is….is there a relatively fool proof way to equalise the gaps without making things worse. Open to all ideas 🙂
Replies
What hinges are you using? Are the doors inset? Overlay?
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
The doors are inset with regular butt hinges
The way our shop usually adjusts these is to produce the doors with no gap at all, that is, a tad oversize. Mount them on their hinges, and mark them in place where they need to be trimmed. Take them off the hinges, trim with plane or tablesaw, and remount them to check. If your doors are already cut to final size, all you can do is shim under the hinges (carton, veneer, whatever) to get it as acceptable as possible.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Masueuk,
When really stuck with undersized doors I've added (glued) a couple of beads onto either the doors or the hinge sides.
I only do inset doors and they are fussy, however the look is worth the fuss. You need doors that are sized very tight and then work from there. Mount them on the hinges leaving slight gaps all around, and then mark and trim them. Shimming at the hinges might help but it really just messes up the gaps on the hinge side. Once the gaps are set you must mark the hardware as to it's location and after finishing is done put all hardware back where it was when you fit them. Most people think because hinges are a manufactured item that they are identical. This is not true. I know I learned this lesson the hard way.
Ron
masueuk,
As an alternative to others' posts, I fit the door to the opening first, then hinge it. Either way, I believe a methodical approach is the best. I also size the door to be same size as the opening. By holding it to the opening, you can see if it and the opening match as to squareness; if not, then you can see which corners are "tight", and which are "slack", so you can begin to take stock off where it needs be removed. You may want to establish either the hinge side of the door, or the bottom of the door, as a reference, early on. Butt this side tightly to its mating surface in the opening, and make adjustmants to the rest of the door, til it will slip into position. A pair of shims of the thickness as your desired gap may be put in place then, and the door pressed against them, and the gap adjusted on the other three sides.
Some things to be aware of: If the opening (or the door) is way out of square, it's a good idea to taper both the stile and the rail at the tight corners. If you make all the adjustment just on the top and bottom of the door, the gap at top and bottom may be more than you'd like, the amount of taper may be visible to the eye, and the door will look crooked, even tho it is a good fit in the opening. Of course, if you've already inletted the hinges, you may be reluctant to taper the hinge stile, which is why I prefer to hinge the door after fitting.
It is often easier to cut the hinge seats in the case stile, before assembling the case, especially if the door is a small one. A trial run with the hinge you are going to use, on scrap, will help you determine how deep to inlet the hinge (to set the gap), and how far you want the barrel of the hinge to protrude.
After fitting the door, if the hinge seats are cut in the stiles already, attach the hinges, put the door in the opening, shim the gap at the bottom, and mark the tops and bottoms of the hinges with a "tick" using a knife blade. Then use these marks to locate the hinge seats on the door. Alternatively, you can hinge the door, then locate the seats on the case in the same fashion.
Regards,
Ray Pine
Not sure if I should do this but: http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesPDF.aspx?id=24132
nice having a membership to this site. well at least I'm plugging the site no? I've used this method twice and has worked flawlessly both times and I'm just a hobbist.
Go buy yourself a cheap deck of cards and use them for the shims works great less filling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.drawingwithlight.smugmug.com
Edited 2/8/2007 11:53 am by Scarecrow
Edited 2/8/2007 11:53 am by Scarecrow
Business cards work great too, the good ones are about .010-inches, handy and plentiful.
They're also good for spreading glue, mixing small amounts of epoxy and of course flossing before that first customer meeting just after lunch.
David C.
Edited 2/8/2007 3:13 pm ET by DCarr10760
Thanks for all the tips... much appreciated and we will be sure to put them into practice.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled