Can't get this cabinet door to close

[Jason White]

I recently built this jelly cabinet (pictures attached) and I'm having trouble getting the door to close all the way.

I used non-mortise hinges for the door and Zinnser (waxed) shellac for the finish. The problem I'm having is that the vertical stiles on the inside of the door seem to be rubbing on the edge of the fixed shelves on the hinge side, which is preventing me from pushing the door all the way closed on the knob side.

If I push on the door hard enough I can get it to close, but not without a loud squeaking sound and causing the door to flex. I'm worried the door will break if I keep pushing on it too hard.

The door closed just fine before I applied the shellac, so I'm thinking maybe I put it on too thick?? I tried removing some of it from the edges of the shelves and a little from the door stiles with alcohol, but it still won't close all the way. I've also tried loosening the screws on the hinges and pulling the door "out" a little bit, but it didn't help. The hinges don't appear to be binding anywhere. Also, I left a 1/8" gap all the way around between the door and face frame to give it plenty of clearance.

Any idea what I did wrong? If so, how do I fix it?

Thanks!

- Jason

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Jason
Could you apply some wax to front right hand edge of each shelve and see if that lets the door close completely with out the squeaking sound? Tom

[John TenEyck]

If the door is the same thickness as the stile it shouldn't be rubbing on the shelf if the front faces are flush. Are you sure it's rubbing, or could it be that the stile or edge of the door is not 90 deg and that's preventing the hinge from closing? A 1 or 2 deg taper on the hinge edge of the door would give the hinge more space to close w/o changing the reveals. If it really is rubbing on the shelves then the door must not be flush with the front of the cabinet.

John

[Frederick Skelly]

Jason, I only have 2 ideas and neither is better than a "last resort".
1. You might be able to use a bullnose hand plane to shave the shelves to be just a bit more narrow on that side (basically, shave it a bit to make a small gap). If you were careful and your plane was sharp, it wouldnt be obvious to most people after you reapplied the shellac to the edge of the shelves.
2. Find a way to shift your hinges forward (toward the front of cabinet) about 1/16". It looks like youre already very far forward already, so you may not have the option to plug the existing holes and drill new ones slightly further forward. In that case, the only idea Id have is to file the holes in the hinge so the screws stay put but the door still moves forward. Thats going to be unsightly though and may not hold the door as well. (Like I said, this ones awful.)

How bad is the gap on the left side if you just move the magnetic catch far enough forward to hold the door closed without torquing (sp?) it?

With luck, someone else will have an easier/better idea.
Fred

[Dave Zellers]

Even before I got to picture #3 I was thinking the back of the door is rubbing on the front of the shelves. It's always a good idea to stop the shelves at least 1/16" shy of the door space to allow for movement later on even if everything works OK at first.

The easiest fix might be to fill the screw holes in the stile (with wood) and remount the door 1/32" away (forward) from the shelves. Any more and it will stick out too much. The door can still stop against the shelves at the latch side.

[Keith Westfall]

Make sure the screw heads on the hinges aren't too proud. DAMHIKT

[Jason White]

The screws are flush; the hinges are not binding.

Make sure the screw heads on the hinges aren't too proud. DAMHIKT

[Jason White]

That's a great idea! I'll be sure to make the shelves a hair less deep next time.

Even before I got to picture #3 I was thinking the back of the door is rubbing on the front of the shelves. It's always a good idea to stop the shelves at least 1/16" shy of the door space to allow for movement later on even if everything works OK at first.

The easiest fix might be to fill the screw holes in the stile (with wood) and remount the door 1/32" away (forward) from the shelves. Any more and it will stick out too much. The door can still stop against the shelves at the latch side.

[Jason White]

With the magnetic catch engaged, the door sits about 3/16"-1/4" proud of the face frame on the catch side.

I might try your idea of taking a little bit of material off the front of the shelves. Could probably do that pretty easily using a card scraper and my block plane.

Jason, I only have 2 ideas and neither is better than a "last resort".
1. You might be able to use a bullnose hand plane to shave the shelves to be just a bit more narrow on that side (basically, shave it a bit to make a small gap). If you were careful and your plane was sharp, it wouldnt be obvious to most people after you reapplied the shellac to the edge of the shelves.
2. Find a way to shift your hinges forward (toward the front of cabinet) about 1/16". It looks like youre already very far forward already, so you may not have the option to plug the existing holes and drill new ones slightly further forward. In that case, the only idea Id have is to file the holes in the hinge so the screws stay put but the door still moves forward. Thats going to be unsightly though and may not hold the door as well. (Like I said, this ones awful.)

How bad is the gap on the left side if you just move the magnetic catch far enough forward to hold the door closed without torquing (sp?) it?

With luck, someone else will have an easier/better idea.
Fred

[Mel Fulks]

I would try putting a piece of paper at the top , then closing the door with the paper in every position to find the obstruction.

[johnny means]

Is the offending rail bowed or bowing when the door is swung?

[Jason White]

No, all of the door's rails and stiles are 5/4 quartersawn straight-grained fir, jointed and planed. It's straight as an arrow.

Is the offending rail bowed or bowing when the door is swung?

[Ronald Blue]

If you have a drum sander you could demount the door and run it through the drum sander on the inside face to thin it and then refinish and remount in existing holes. Minor inconvenience but a possibility.

[johnny means]

If all is straight, true, and properly dimensioned, the only possibility is improper mounting. I would pull the door and figure out why it's sitting inside the cabinet. Then mount it properly. Easiest and best fix.

[George Bokros]

Since the door closed fine before you applied the shellac then your clearances are very tight and the thickness of the shellac has caused the issue or else something changed in attaching the door after applying the shellac.

George