Re: New latches for old kitchen cabinets

On 11/27/2009 11:33 AM dadiOH spake thus:

I think I've seen these; did the receivers have two metal prongs that held the screw between them?

Even so, have no idea where I'd find these.

Something like this?

Magnets

I find that at least the ones made for furniture to be nothing but a PITA. They work for a month, maybe. Magnets don't like shock and that's exactly what they get as a door catch.

There are lots of quality magnetic latches and closers that work for decades

How about magnetic fridge gaskets and weatherstipping? They handle the shock of closing just fine. Yes there are some real cheap magnetic closers/latches sold for cabnetry etc that are pretty useless - but if you look and mabee pay a bit more there are some that WILL last.

I have never seen one, on any furniture.

Different beast. The magnet isn't a solid object striking another solid object and there is far more surface area.

Again, I've never seen one. ...and I have looked. I'll not buy any furniture that uses the things anymore. There are far better solutions.

On 11/27/2009 2:32 PM Dave Balderstone spake thus:

No, but those are interesting. Except that they look a little wimpy. If I could pick some of those up locally I might try them 'cause they're cheap.

Where in Canada are you looking?

You haven't looked very far. The stanley and Amerock type (Stanley

They WORK

On 11/28/2009 7:16 AM snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca spake thus:

The Bay province. You know: San Francisco.

Yeah. The prongs were maybe 3/8 - 1/2 wide, had plastic tips and were spring loaded in some fashion, took a fair amount of push/pull to open/close the door. ____________

Nor do I. I browsed Stanley, Amerock and WoodWorkers Supply without luck. Best I can say is that they had to have been very low price because the cabinets were cheap, cheap, CHEAP. Did I mention they were cheaply made?

The impact problem is a matter of physics. Magnets do not like to be struck. They *will* lose their magnetism.

I have cabinets with magnets that have been working just fine for decades. Multiple uses per day, every day. I'll get back to you in another 40 years with an update.

Have you looked at the latch referenced? I just got rid of a stereo cabinet that had one for over 20 years - as good as the day it was made.

What should I *look* for?

I just know my experience with them and the material properties of the magnets. I also know that there are better solutions.

On Nov 29, 8:26=A0am, krw wrote: [dislike of magnetic latches]

The simple bullet catches, with metal or plastic springs, are wear- prone and have to be well aligned. The magnet catches are better because alignment is 'automatic' as long as the poles don't miss the plate. The magnet sits between two floating pole pieces, it never strikes anything. They last forever.

There are also hook-capture-the-rod catches that always latch in a particular plane but which have less alignment sensitivity than the bullet catches. These are like the latch on your car trunk. They look complex; I probably can't afford those.