Securing cabinet doors?

[Diesel Dan]

Okay, I'd like to get folks to weigh in on cabinet door fasteners. I've heard that the continuous vibration tends to destroy certain types of fasteners, and others just don't work. So please chime in and tell us what has stood up to the test of time, and what has failed to do so.

To start things off, I'll say that I used small barrel bolts to hold the doors of my house battery compartment. Those are pretty hearty and I've not had any problems. Those work fine in this utilitarian area in the far back part of my bus, but I don't think I'd want to use them for my upper cabinets in the front just because they require a bit of effort open and so aren't ideal for a frequently accessed cabinet. Plus, I think there is a chance they would rattle if I didn't get a tight enough fit. I'm getting ready to make doors for my upper cabinets so would like to get ideas from other bus owners before I make the fastener decision.

[MikeyBskunk]

Hey DD sorry to here about the head bumps haha heres a simple way i secured my cabinet doors

[Ob1]

I have magnetic keepers on my cabinets. They only failed to keep the doors closed once, when all eight studs sheared off of the right rear dualie at 60mph...

[gbstewart]

my cabinet overhead doors open upwards, it seems to give a bit more room when walking around the bus, in the down postion I have a magnet that keeps them closed, dont really need it , but on rough roads they can rattle. when I get the other cabinets done ill use a turn handle that has a little arm that swings down into a clip, cottage type

gbstewart

[Diesel Dan]

Thanks for the ideas everyone! Lorna also posted her idea in my conversion thread here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4959&start=270. Lorna, your idea is probably the highest quality solution, and certainly RV-specific, but at $8-$10 a pop, it would add up to like $100 in hardware for all my doors.

gbstewart's idea got me thinking about window latches like this: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... ogId=10053

It offers a strong and secure latch, no rattles, and cheap. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[lornaschinske]

The sash latch that you linked to is cheap and will not hold up well under heavy use. I know, I have two of them on our Bus. I needed a way to keep the emergency windows closed yet still be able to open them in an emergency. The weakness is in the pivot (like in all sash latches). The pivot will be subjected to stresses it was not intended for. They also take up a lot of room.

I know of a way to make a CHEAP latch to keep the cabinet doors shut. It will depend on your cabinets as to whether or not it will work for you. I'm not sure it will work on an insert door style and a 3/4 inset door is a PITA to use this method with (I hate the 3/4 inset doors on the Class C)....

Buy a small "loose pin" hinge (pack of 2). These hinges will let you remove the pin that holds the two halves of the hinge together. Buy a package of "bobby" hair pins You will be replacing the hinge pin with the bobby pins. Mount the hinge on the door and frame (opposite the door hinges on the handle side) so that when the door is closed the knuckle is exposed on the outside. How you mount them will depend on your cabinets. You may have to mount them folded together or open. What you need is the knuckle exposed to where you can slide the pin in. Using the bobby pin is cheap and if you loose it (and you will) you can easily replace it. I have also used short sections of copper wire as well as steel insulation wires (bent into an "L" shape). Steel rusts. If you use wire, use a metal file or sand paper to round the cut edges to prevent scratches. I have positive latches like I linked to in the Class C. They came with the RV. I also ended up putting hinges as locks on the doors/drawers. Mine are very old and are starting to fail. They are 30 yo after all. The springs inside the positive latches are loosing their spring.


What you are looking for is a "narrow loose pin hinge" or "narrow removable pin hinge". About 1-1/2 inches high. You will find them in the hardware section of Lowes/Home Depot (or even ACE or WalMart) in with the small zinc hinges and small mending plates. My computer is acting up and will not allow me to copy an image location so I can't post a picture except from photobucket.

This is how we locked out refrigerator door shut. The strap hinge is screwed into one of the screw holes for the reversible ref hinge. I used a cut down aluminum tent stake. Lock your refrigerator doors closed! TRUST ME! Mayonnaise is nasty to clean up. It's not a thing I want to repeat.
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...V/PIC_3180.jpg
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...V/PIC_3182.jpg

[Diesel Dan]

Aw man, Lorna you're raining on my parade! I really liked the window latch idea.

Ah well, the search for a good latch goes on. My cabinet doors will hinge from the top, so I think there will be less stress than if they were hinged on the bottom. I'd prefer to have something made of metal rather than plastic for durability. Lorna, I'd rather not have any loose parts, so I'm going to nix your loose hinge idea for my bus (though it is an interesting idea). Now I'm back to my barrel slide bolt solution: I think I could make it a tight enough fit that it wouldn't rattle, but it would be a bit of a hassle to open and close. But then again, when parked I could just leave it unlatched since it hinges from the top and the doors would just hang loosely shut for easy access (assuming relatively flat parking area). I suppose I could add a simple magnet keeper too. Maybe the cheap plastic magnet keeper would survive since the slide bolt would keep the door stabilized during motion. Hmmm... now I think I may be onto something.

So it would be this: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... Id=10053...

plus this: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... ogId=10053.

Comes in at $4.00 per cabinet door.

[lornaschinske]

If you use a barrel bolt, you could get a piece of hard poly tubing (like what is used on icemakers) for the bolt to slide into. It would "self-lubricate" and keep it from rattling. Just a thought. We've used the stuff for sleeves on bolts to keep the bolt from wallering out the holes that the bolt goes thru in soft wood.