Posted: 5/21/2024 9:46:19 PM EDT
Before I get harassed too bad, I'm a geek for a living. I took wood shop back in middle school and haven't really gotten heavily into the wood working in a long time. Framing stuff and even "course" fabrication hasn't been a problem. This one I'm sort of stumped on. The crews were ripped out of my cabinet door because there is a low profile drawer for a trashcan under the counter. Kids keep leaving the drawer partially out and closing the cabinet door on it. They did it one time to many and now the bottom is completely stripped out.  One solution is to swap the hinges from top to bottom because the style would allow me to use all new holes in the door. There is a chunk of wood missing, it has been missing for a while and I'm sure that didn't help. I would rather "repair" the lower hinge mount though if for no other reason then these kids aren't going anywhere anytime soon and I'd rather save swapping hinges for the next time it happens.  I can put longer screws in since the current ones are only a hair under 1/2" of thread. The door face is about 3/4" thick. Conceivably I would be able to get away with a 3/4" thread screw given the hinge plate is 1/8" or so. What should I do to make this work as it is, or is it really just best to swap the hinges at this point? Someone suggested I stuff the holes with toothpicks and wood glue. I've heard of that before, but never looked at actually doing something like that. |
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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Fill the holes with sawdust and then soak it with super glue on it You'll be able to drill it and put the screws back in. Fix wood with sawdust and superglue. EBR |
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Thanks for the tips y'all. I'm going to look at these for real. I love the idea of sawdust and super glue to fill the holes. I've never worked with epoxy before so I have to admit I'm a little hesitant to try on something that everyone will likely see my "handiwork" as my first test case. I do have a drill press though so plugging with hardwood is a viable option. I do lack most of the fine woodworking tools though. Like I said, I am good with coarse/rough wood working, just not done any real finishing work. |
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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Originally Posted By turtle2472: Thanks for the tips y'all. I'm going to look at these for real. I love the idea of sawdust and super glue to fill the holes. I've never worked with epoxy before so I have to admit I'm a little hesitant to try on something that everyone will likely see my "handiwork" as my first test case. I do have a drill press though so plugging with hardwood is a viable option. I do lack most of the fine woodworking tools though. Like I said, I am good with coarse/rough wood working, just not done any real finishing work. Blue tape as close to the hole being filled in as you can stick it. Then spatula in/pour the epoxy. You can make a dam out of the blue tap too on the vertical edge - to keep it from draining out |
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How close are you to Charlotte? If you’re close bring it over and I’ll fix it for you. Wouldn’t use toothpicks but I’d sharpen a wood dowel and glue it in place. Then redrill the holes for your screws Be an easy job in my woodshop. |
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Thank you all for the tips so far. I really do appreciate it. If I were closer to you, Covertness, I would certainly swing by to let you help out as long as you taught me what you were doing while you were doing it. One day I intend to set up a nice wood shop in my basement. I'm just not there yet. Let me run this by y'all: The current screws are 1/2" long but the door is just over 3/4" thick. I have some slightly smaller diameter wood screws that are 3/4" long. There is plenty of original wood that hasn't been touched yet in the door.   So my thought is, combine what most have suggested. Toothpicks and wood glue to fill the holes. Then tape off and epoxy the missing chunk (with something like this). Sand flat and then drill tiny pilot holes. Use new screws 3/4" screws. I've also got to flatten out the hinge plate, I noticed it was bent today too. My thought it by going this route I leave myself open to cutting another notch and moving the hinge down the door 1/2" next time. Thanks for that tip that it was just a table saw that cut the grove, wildearp. I had no idea.  . Another thought I had was to use screw inserts if I'm gonna drill it out. They would be harder to strip out in my mind.
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Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
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Originally Posted By turtle2472: Thank you all for the tips so far. I really do appreciate it. If I were closer to you, Covertness, I would certainly swing by to let you help out as long as you taught me what you were doing while you were doing it. One day I intend to set up a nice wood shop in my basement. I'm just not there yet. Let me run this by y'all: The current screws are 1/2" long but the door is just over 3/4" thick. I have some slightly smaller diameter wood screws that are 3/4" long. There is plenty of original wood that hasn't been touched yet in the door. https://turtle2472.com/ar15/IMG_2103.jpeg https://turtle2472.com/ar15/IMG_2104.jpeg So my thought is, combine what most have suggested. Toothpicks and wood glue to fill the holes. Then tape off and epoxy the missing chunk (with something like this). Sand flat and then drill tiny pilot holes. Use new screws 3/4" screws. I've also got to flatten out the hinge plate, I noticed it was bent today too. My thought it by going this route I leave myself open to cutting another notch and moving the hinge down the door 1/2" next time. Thanks for that tip that it was just a table saw that cut the grove, wildearp. I had no idea. . Another thought I had was to use screw inserts if I'm gonna drill it out. They would be harder to strip out in my mind.I have whittled bits of wood and glued them in the screw holes A stainable wood putty would work just fine for the missing chunk. They also have color match wood putty. Slap some on, sand it smooth. E.g. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Minwax-Color-Matched-6-oz-Natural-Wood-Filler/1000573693 I like this stuff because it dries fast. https://www.lowes.com/pd/DAP-Plastic-Wood-4-oz-Natural-Wood-Filler/4013497 |
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Originally Posted By FrozInAK: I have whittled bits of wood and glued them in the screw holes A stainable wood putty would work just fine for the missing chunk. They also have color match wood putty. Slap some on, sand it smooth. E.g. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Minwax-Color-Matched-6-oz-Natural-Wood-Filler/1000573693 I like this stuff because it dries fast. https://www.lowes.com/pd/DAP-Plastic-Wood-4-oz-Natural-Wood-Filler/4013497 Do those fillers hold as strong as epoxy would? I've always had the concept that those wood fillers shrink, gap and can't hold anything pulling on them. If they can hold then I'm good with that over plain clear epoxy. Conceptually, the chunk wouldn't hold much because the holes being filled with wood/glue should be where all the retention is. |
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
