Shopmade Catches and Latches

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when closed yet fit completely within thedoor stile when in the fully opened position.Begin by drilling the knob holethrough the stile. Then make a cardboardcutout of the spinner, sized so that it won’treach into the door-panel groove. Locatethe mortise by swinging the cutout in a 90°arc around the door-knob hole. The widthof the mortise should be about a third thethickness of the door frame—usually 1 ⁄4 in.for a 3 ⁄4-in.-thick frame.Once the mortise is complete, shape anddrill the spinner and check the fit with theknob attached. If all works well, pin it inplace with a small brad or brass escutcheonpin. The spinner should not beglued, because there’s a great risk of gluegetting onto the knob shaft, which willmuck up the works.I aim for close tolerances between theknob shaft and matching hole. For mostcabinet doors I use knobs with 1 ⁄2-in.-dia.shafts ( 3 ⁄8 in. dia. for very small doors). Tomake life easier, I shape all knob tenonswith a plug cutter, chuck them into thelathe and turn the knob proper. If you thinkabout it, the knob shaft is the only criticalpart of the process. The 1 ⁄2-in.-dia. shaftmust fit precisely in the matching holebored into the door. The plug cutter eliminatesthe most difficult portion of the task.For a 1 ⁄2-in.-dia. knob shaft, drill a 33 ⁄64-in.-dia. hole through the door stile and a 1 ⁄2-in.-dia. hole through the spinner. Now theknob will spin freely in the door frame yethold the spinner securely. Next, with thespinner in the closed position, align thegrain of the knob with the grain of the doorframe. Then turn the spinner into the openposition and pin it. This detail makes it easyto tell whether the spinner is in the open orclosed position.After 30 years as a woodworker, I wassome proud of myself for coming up withthis idea of installing the spinner in thedoor frame. Then in 1996, while shootingphotos for The Shaker Legacy (TheTaunton Press, 1998), I came across a smallchest with drawers and doors at the ArtComplex Museum in Duxbury, Mass., inwhich the door knob passed through amortise in the edge of the door. Althoughthe spinner itself was missing, it was clearthat the Shakers had the same bright idea160 years ago. Chris Becksvoort is a contributing editor.Chop out the mortise. Becksvoort chiselsout the mortise by hand.Predrill for the pin. Toavoid splitting the spinner,drill a hole for the escutcheonpin.The knob should slide in with a little pressure.The spinner must swing freely andshould be hidden when the latch is open.Secure the spinner and knob with a pin. Instead of glue, use a small brad or escutcheon pinand drive it in using a nailset.MARCH/APRIL 2002 47
FlipperCatchAn all-wood solutionto keeping doorsclosedBY DOUG NOYESIdiscovered flipper catches in one ofJames Krenov’s books on cabinetmaking.I like these catches because they areeasy to make and allow me to utilize exotichardwood scraps. The one I frequentlyuse is basically an L-shaped wood flipperthat is recessed into a mortise in the casebottom. A small spring provides the neces-Cut therampedmortises.Use a plungerouter tomake a slopingmortisefor the catch.WoodscrewFlippercatchSlopedmortiseSpringDoorNotchsary resistance to keep the flipper engagedwith the bottom edge of the door.I make the catch out of a contrastinghardwood, such as ebony, because it resistswear. Although I make the catch to fit,the catch for a 3 ⁄4-in.-thick door typicallymeasures approximately 1 ⁄4 in. thick by3⁄8 in. wide by 1 1 ⁄2 in. long.Sketch the profile on a blank, cut it outwith a handsaw, then shape the catch witha file or knife. Drill a slightly oversized holefor the attachment screw to allow the catchto pivot. Countersink the hole so that thescrew is flush with the top of the catch.Next, cut the sloped mortise, which al-lows the catch to recede when the dooris closed. Use a plunge router with a fenceto make the mortise. It is a short mortise(only 1 1 ⁄2 in. long), so be careful not to cuttoo deep too fast.Square up the mortise with a chisel. Drilla hole in the deeper part of the mortise tohold the spring. The hole should be about1⁄8 in. deep and the same diameter as thespring. I use 1 ⁄8-in.-dia. springs from ballpointpens trimmed to 1 ⁄4 in. long, but youcan also get springs from a hardware store.Put the catch into the mortise to test thefit. It should be snug but not overly tight. Ifit fits, place the spring in its hole, put thecatch in place and secure the assemblywith a small wood screw.I usually make a shallow notch ( 1 ⁄16 in.) inthe bottom of the door to engage the catch.If the door is made of very soft wood, suchas redwood or pine, it’s not a bad idea toinsert a piece of hardwood in the bottomof the door to prevent excessive wear.To determine the location of the notch,first close the door several times on thecatch, which will create a shiny spot wherethe catch is rubbing. At the end of thisshiny spot make the notch for the door tocatch. If this shiny spot does not appear,rub the top of the catch with a pencil andthen close the door. The pencil mark indicatesthe location of the notch.A variation on this catch is to include apositive stop. By shaping a shoulder ontothe catch itself, I can control the closed positionof the door. I use this variation oninset-door applications or on double doorsthat can be opened individually.A little trimming here and filing there,and you’ll have a good catch that makes asubtle “click” when the door is closed. Doug Noyes is a furniture designer andwoodworker in Guilford, Conn.Pare the mortise to the length of the catch using the catch as a guide. Pare less vigorouslyas you come close to the desired width.Assemble the catch. The spring sits in a holebored in the deep end of the mortise.48 FINE WOODWORKING
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Shopmade Catches and Latches

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