If I’m using a bullet catch on a small cabinet I generally put the catch on the bottom of the door. I’ve also seen them put on the top rather than the bottom of the door. Just curious, but which way do you prefer to place the catch and why?
Chip Tam
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
As close as possible to the pull is where they should go. Top, bottom or side with side being the first choice since that's usually closest to the pull.
Lee
I agree with Lee.
Closer to the handle will give a much more solid feel to the door. Less torque as it is opened and closed. The trade off is that the catch and latch are seen when the door is open, but that is why they make "fancy" hardware, no?
I put it on the side or top so the cup can't get grit in it. I'd not use a bullet catch on any door large enough to factor in torque.
I'll give you another really hot tip on these things. Buy adjustable bullet catches such as KV 903 Bullet Catch. Adjustables let you screw the bullet into it's sleeve making it easier to open and close the door. On small doors I replace the spring with a lighter one, it's very easy to do and necessary to make the catch do it's jobs, holding the door fully closed and opening and latching easily. Bullet catches used to be a great option for high end furniture and cabinets but manufacturers don't pay much attention to them anymore because few cabinetmakers use them. If you just need a couple send me an email, I buy them in lots of 50 and I'm not sure good ones are availavle in singles.
Lee
Lee, Andy E, and splintergroupie,
Thank you for your replies to my question. You know I never considered putting the bullet catch on the side and, in fact, I don't think I've ever seen it done that way. However, all of you suggested a side application and the logic rings true. Having it close to the pull makes sense. However, I won't be able to mount the catches on the side for my currrent project since the cabinets involve overlay doors. I'm finishing off a small run of decorative walnut wall-hung cabinets.
Lee, I'll check out those KV 903 bullet catches. Having them adjustable would certainly simplify installation. I generally use Brusso bullet catches. They look very elegant but they can also be tricky to install just right. Thanks to all of you again.
Chip Tam
Chip,
Consider using a magnet and a screw. If you use one of the small button magnets and a steel screw, NOT brass or stainless, you could counter bore the magnet into the door stile, and the screw into the frame. Cover both in a thin veneer shaved from where you are installing them. They will be invisible even when the door is open. The magnet should provide enough force to hold the door closed, and with the veneer in-between, you won't get the tell tale 'click' of a mechanical device.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=40076&cat=1,42363,42348
Andy
Andy,
Have you actually tried this technique? I was considering doing something very similar a couple of years ago but the thought of screwing up a very nice cabinet at the end of the project gave me pause. I was afraid that the hold might be too strong or too weak and that I wouldn't be able to adjust it after installation.
Chip Tam
Chip,Yes I have. Overlay doors are easy. Drill the magnet into the backside of the door with a forstner bit. Be careful not to go too deep so you don't come through the front. Drill for the screw into the side of the stile of the opening. Because the screw is horizontal in the frame and parallel to the door panel you only need to be careful of the vertical alignment of the pieces. The magnet will catch anywhere along the length of the screw. A section of 1/8" steel rod works as well. The holes can be plugged or pare away a thin layer from the wood to glue back over the hole when you are done. Invisible. The magnets are fairly cheap and you can get them in all different sizes.Andy
Andy,
Many thanks for your reply. I think I get most of your reply but I've re-read your instructions for drilling the hole for the screw several times and I'm not sure I understand that portion of your message. Why wouldn't you just nail a small brad centered on the edge of the carcase, nip the top of the brad, and then close the door? That should align magnet and screw perfectly. You could then drill the hole for the screw on the edge of the case where the brad left a tiny hole.
How deep do you place magnet and screw? About 1/16" below the surface? Do you find that depth applies the proper amount of force to hold the door shut? I was concerned that too deep or too shallow would affect the amount of hold significantly. Sorry to trouble you about this again.
Chip Tam
Chip, No trouble. Depth will make a difference. Try to keep the space between the two no more than 3/16" if you can. Stronger/larger magnets will have more leeway and the mass of the screw/nail will have an effect also. I am having trouble visualizing what you mean with the brad. The medicine is causing me confusion. No matter. I will try to get a photo posted of a muck-up for you when I get a chance. Look for it Thursday some time. That will be the first chance I get.Andy
Thanks Andy,
It seems to me that the magnet face and the head of the screw should face each other. Now, the brad is just a convenient way to mark the holes for the magnet and screw. It's just a simple way to align the two. Here' my confusion. From your description, it sounded like the screw was drilled into the side of the case not into the edge of the case. Oooooh, my kingdom for a diagram! We may be talking about the same thing and the words are just getting in the way.
I'll look forward to your next message. I'm going to be out of the house most of Thursday and Friday so I may not reply until the weekend. Thanks again.
Chip Tam
Chip,
Sorry, busy week and now I seem to be an hour behind for some reason. I haven't forgotten. Tomorrow is my day off and I will post up something to look at then.
Thanks Andy. I've also been very busy with work and find I'm now here at Knots only on the weekends. No rush. When you get a chance, I'll look forward to your post.
All the best,
Chip
Chip,
Sorry it is taking me so long to get the explanatory picture posted. I haven't had 5 minutes to myself when I have been home lately.I have been trying to ready my shop for the arrival of a new lathe. That has involved a much needed cleaning and organizing of the shop to make a suitable space, removing the stairs to be able to lower the lathe down, gently, through the Bilco, and dry-vac-ing the water that found its way in from all the snowmelt last week. I had the guy from the RubberWall company out on Friday to look at the problem and give me a solution.I am expecting the lathe to show up sometime Tuesday, hopefully before I have to leave for work, so I will spend most of Monday clearing the 14" of snow and ice we just got and assembling the gantry and chainfall. Then I need to make a sled (better snow than mud, I guess) to get a half ton pallet of tool around to the side of the house.Some where in there I need to finish clearing the driveway so the delivery truck can get in and at some point I bet the kids will want to go sledding.I would do all that today, but being Sunday, I will be at work 'til 10 tonight.I haven't forgotten.Andy
Chip, At long last, here is a photo I hope will help explain thing better. The magnet shown on the face of the cabinet would be epoxied in a shallow hole in the back of the door. I just stuck it to the face for clarity. You can see the hole in the side of the cabinet stile where the screw is located. the screw sits horizontal, parallel to the closed door. When locating the magnet you only need be concerned about the vertical height of the magnet because it will work any where along the length of the screw.Now, I know I keep saying "screw" but a piece of 1/8" or 3/16" steel rod works better, more mass = better attraction. And rare earth magnets work much better than plain old common (?) earth magnets. Keep the magnet and the rod as close as you can to the surface of each piece. I find this method enough to keep a door from floating open, but obviously this is not as strong as a mechanical catch.I hope this helps, and works, for you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a thousand pound box of lathe sitting in my driveway and need to figure out how to get it through a foot of melting snow, around to the side of the house and down into the basement, all without scratching the paint.Andy
Edited 3/20/2007 11:04 am ET by AndyE
Andy,
Many thanks for taking the time to send me that last post. With all that you have on your plate this week I really appreciate it. I think I now understand what you're doing. I think that our confusion arose from the fact that you have a real face frame on a larger cabinet. My small wall-hung cabinets don't have a face frame. Hence, the door on my cabinet just overlaps the front edge of the cabinet. So, my instalation may be a little different from your's. In any case, I'm going to experiment using those rare earth magnets on some scrap wood and, if everything goes OK, I'll install them on my small cabinets. I've purchased some 1/4" and 3/8" rare earth magnets from Lee Valley along with the steel cups, washers, and friction discs. I doubt I'll use all that stuff but, for the price, I just had them send it. It should all arrive by the end of the week. Did you get your's from Lee Valley, as well? Anyway, thanks again and good luck with that lathe. I've got a pretty well-equiped shop but I've never had a lathe so I'm a bit jealous.
All the best,
Chip
Chip, I think the magnets I have came from Garrett Wade. They closed their store here in NYC last spring and had some pretty good deals on a bunch of stuff. Cheaper to sell than move to Ohio. I picked up a couple of pack of magnets, some spoon bits, a few saw blades, router bits, that sort of thing. Spent way too much on tools I have yet to use for the most part, but hey, the prices were good.I have been drooling over the lathe for years and finally got myself together to order it. Seems every project has some part that makes me think, "if I had a lathe I could make that myself..."I'll post up some pics in a separate thread once I get it down to the basement. Should be quite the feat of modern homemade engineering. Just me and my mechanical advantage... Now where did I put that?Andy
Hi Andy,
Those magnets arrived from Lee Valley yesterday and I now have a couple of days of free time. I'll experiment with them and let you know how it worked out. Hope the last few feet of the lathe's journey was uneventful.
All the best,
Chip
The majority of the lathe is sitting tarped in its crate in front of the garage still. Monday, I should have an extra set of hands or two to help with the heavy parts. All the tooling is sitting on the dining room floor, where it looks oh so nice. Of course it will look so much better next to the lathe in shop. Any day now.Good luck with the magnets.Andy
For the last few summers my wife and I have been restoring a 125 year-old fisherman's home in Canada. We'll use it as a vacation/retirement home. Anyway, last summer, I finished off a small shop next to the house with the understanding that my unisaw would finally vacate the dining room. It's still there and my wife is not real happy about it. It must be a guy thing. Most of my buddies look at the unisaw and say "cool" while my wife's friends usually say, "oh, my god."
Chip
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled