kingofnobbys
BD.org Sicko
Learnt this lesson the hard way.
My kitchen was revamped in 1995, and the doors and drawers all have vacuum formed laminate fronts and backs and timber trim on the edges.
The most frequently used under bench door is a bifold corner door. Fancy Hafele hinges hold it to the cabinet. The screws that hold the top Hafele hinge to the back the back the door pulled out , left the door supported only by the bottom Hafele hinge.
So to avoid more damage or the bottom Hafele hinge failing (not designed for lateral stresses) I unscrewed the 2 screws that hold the bottom hinge to back of the door and took the door off the hinges.
Called who I thought was a cabinet maker (who I thought would know how to fix the door properly) , I didn't want to risk ruining the door if I tried to do the repair myself ( high risk I'd drill through the door , which would create a large and expensive repair , likely requiring all the doors and drawer fronts replaced with new - I don't fancy doing that at this time).
He suggested drilling out the holes , filling with BUILDERS' BOG which he assured me would dry rock hard and be as good timber , this I agreed to , $65 later door is back on the hinges and 4 days later , the same screws have pulled out under the weight of the door that was left open while my wife was putting washed dishes and plates away …. NOT IMPRESSED , the bog had little or no thread shear resistance and the screws had simply pulled out with bog in the threads ( very crumbly ).
So back where we were , door off , and I've asked him to come back , this time I've done my homework and instructed him I want the bog drilled out , and timber flutted dowels coated in HIGH STRENGTH 2 part ARELDITE ( epoxy ) NOT WOOD GLUE ( that stuff requires clamping to achieve strong bonds ) inserted , and allowed to set for 3 days before returning to reattach the hinges to the door.
I can't find a better solution , other then replacing a block of MDF in the door core with timber or replacing the door entirely .
I know high strength ARELDITE works , as I've used in before in other projects ( ie bonding winch mounts , sandspikes to fishing rods , literally have to destroy the rod to remove them once the glue hardens ).
So my advise is if you must use MDF, don't rely on screws to fix to the MDF , THE SCREW HOLES WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL , insert dowels into the end of the MDF and glue these in place with HIGH STRENGTH ( not quick set ) ARELDITE and not with wood glue if you want a strong fitting.
Also don't screw into BULDERS' BOG if there is likely to shearing stresses applied to the screw (threads) , the BOG will fail.
I espect nailing into BUILDERS' BOG will have the same effect. IT IS NOT AS GOOD AS TIMBER.
My kitchen was revamped in 1995, and the doors and drawers all have vacuum formed laminate fronts and backs and timber trim on the edges.
The most frequently used under bench door is a bifold corner door. Fancy Hafele hinges hold it to the cabinet. The screws that hold the top Hafele hinge to the back the back the door pulled out , left the door supported only by the bottom Hafele hinge.
So to avoid more damage or the bottom Hafele hinge failing (not designed for lateral stresses) I unscrewed the 2 screws that hold the bottom hinge to back of the door and took the door off the hinges.
Called who I thought was a cabinet maker (who I thought would know how to fix the door properly) , I didn't want to risk ruining the door if I tried to do the repair myself ( high risk I'd drill through the door , which would create a large and expensive repair , likely requiring all the doors and drawer fronts replaced with new - I don't fancy doing that at this time).
He suggested drilling out the holes , filling with BUILDERS' BOG which he assured me would dry rock hard and be as good timber , this I agreed to , $65 later door is back on the hinges and 4 days later , the same screws have pulled out under the weight of the door that was left open while my wife was putting washed dishes and plates away …. NOT IMPRESSED , the bog had little or no thread shear resistance and the screws had simply pulled out with bog in the threads ( very crumbly ).
So back where we were , door off , and I've asked him to come back , this time I've done my homework and instructed him I want the bog drilled out , and timber flutted dowels coated in HIGH STRENGTH 2 part ARELDITE ( epoxy ) NOT WOOD GLUE ( that stuff requires clamping to achieve strong bonds ) inserted , and allowed to set for 3 days before returning to reattach the hinges to the door.
I can't find a better solution , other then replacing a block of MDF in the door core with timber or replacing the door entirely .
I know high strength ARELDITE works , as I've used in before in other projects ( ie bonding winch mounts , sandspikes to fishing rods , literally have to destroy the rod to remove them once the glue hardens ).
So my advise is if you must use MDF, don't rely on screws to fix to the MDF , THE SCREW HOLES WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL , insert dowels into the end of the MDF and glue these in place with HIGH STRENGTH ( not quick set ) ARELDITE and not with wood glue if you want a strong fitting.
Also don't screw into BULDERS' BOG if there is likely to shearing stresses applied to the screw (threads) , the BOG will fail.
I espect nailing into BUILDERS' BOG will have the same effect. IT IS NOT AS GOOD AS TIMBER.