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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/Antique armoire door hinge replacement (part II)

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Expert: - 1/7/2009


Question

hinge pics, both pin a
Hi Eileen - thanks for the quick response. I've attached some photos of the socket type receptical found on the top and bottom of the frame (picture only shows the bottom socket, but they are identical), and two pics of the hinge pin found on the top and bottom edge of the door itself (picture only shows the pin from the top of the door, but again, its identical to the one found on the bottom). Let me know if the picture quality is sufficient, if not I can take more (and better) ones.
Many thanks!
John

Answer
Hi Again John
Just for referance here is your first question

Hello Eileen. We have an old armoire on which the door regularly falls off its hinges, endangering toes, children and pets. The metal hinges are the type that are mounted along the top and bottom horizontal part of the door and have a pin that protrudes into a hole in the hardware mounted to the frame and then into the underlying wood as well. The pins are pretty short and hold the door well enough in spring and summer, but in fall and winter the dry air drys the wood and the door once again routinely hits the floor.I've tried to repair the existing hinges, shimming up the sockets for the pins with no luck. Any suggestions on what type of hinge is best used to replace the current ones? The armoire has been well used, so maintaining antique integrity isn't important, but the repair can't be too unsightly either. Thanks! John

The pictures are great and exactly show the type of hinge.
This looks like a pretty old armoire.
You say you shimmed up the sockets for the pins with no result.
Did this involve just shimmimg in the holes or did you remove the plates and add shimming to them?
John this armoire is softwood. Softwood is more prone to this shrinkage than hardwood.
I note a couple of things that may make new hinges a bit tricky.
First I see a beading on the exterior case around the door frame. This pretty much rules out installing face mounted hinges.
In order to mount hinges on the inside you would have to beef up the interior of the frame on the inside then you would install hinges that are exactly like, and installed the same, as are on all the doors in your home.
While certainly not a hard job in experienced hands, it can be tricky if you don't have the tools and a bit of experience.
But once installed there would never be another worry about the doors falling off. And you can get some really nice iron looking hinges that would look great on this armoire.
Best of luck with this
Regards
Eileen  

Eileen Cronk

Expertise

Hi..I can answer most questions about the repairing,stripping and refinishing of all your old furniture and wood items(the things we call antiques)I can give advice about what to buy/avoid at auctions/flea markets. I do not give appraisals on antiques.

Experience

I have been refinishing antiques for the past 30yrs. While I have taken several courses over the years,I have found that "hands on" learning is the best teacher. Perhaps I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I made while learning.

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