Hinges
Stiff. If pin is removable, tap it out with a nail and scrape off paint. Scrape paint from hinge leaves, too. Coat pin with light oil and replace. If pin is not removable, scrape off paint around it and the joints and squeeze powdered graphite into the joints.Leaves bent. Place on a hard surface and hammer straight.
Shift position. Screw down tight. If screws don't hold, take them out and fill holes with plastic wood. Then reset screws. Note that some hinges have elongated screw holes to permit the position of a cabinet door to be changed. With these, if door is accidentally knocked out of place, simply position door properly and tighten hinges.
Screws tear through hole in hinge. This happens sometimes in cigar-box hinges, piano hinges and others made of light metal. If the leaves do not come together when the hinge is shut, you can make a washer out of thin aluminum sheet or a tin can, place over screw hole and drive in a round-headed screw. Then file top of screw flat. If the hinge leaves do come together when shut, drive screw almost all the way through the enlarged hole in the hinge, then coat edges of hole with epoxy glue and turn screw tight.
May 23, 2012