[Doublej]

I have a very old cabinet where the doors will not stay shut. Before I go off and do a home job repair with putting and tiny magnet on the top of the door and and a screw in the top rectangular door stop, I thought it best to consult the experts for advice.

How would you remedy the situation?

[Craig B]

It's a little hard to tell from the photos, but I'd guess those are old ball catches that aren't functioning any longer. I have no idea whether they can be repaired, but they're still being made and, if that's what they are, they can certainly be replaced.

[Big Red Machine]

Any chance there is a source of resistance or FOD inside the mating surfaces when closed (ie the left edge of the door and the inside edge of the cabinet)?

Any warpage? Worn out hinges? Is the gap between doors even up and down when you force them into the closed position?

As Craig said there are sites that sell hardware for older cabinets.

[Big Red Machine]

https://www.dkhardware.com/cabinet-hardware-and-accessories_ZC54M0P1.html

[JDoyle]

IMHO, the old worn out hardware is part of the charm… you just need to get it to work.
Try to unscrew the bottom left hinge from the frame and hopefully it will release without difficulty. Insert a small piece of paper board (cereal box, shoe box) behind it and re-screw it into the frame.  Hopefully this will “Skew” the door enough upward on the right top to catch the worn ball catch.  Be careful that the door doesn’t rub on the top rail.

I hope that it works, post back with more pics if you have any questions.

[jules]

Does the cabinet have a slight forward tilt  ?

[Big Red Machine]

Does the cabinet have a slight forward tilt  ?

Ah, yes. Is it a liquor cabinet?

[Doublej]

Thanks everyone for all your input. Great suggestions. It's just a cabinet of stuff.

As best I can tell it looks like some type of ancient ball catch was used to keep the door closed. The ball has no spring to it but I can't tell if it ever did. The oval catch is a hollow piece of metal inset into an oval hole in the bottom on the door. Perhaps it was designed to work by simply by having the leading edge of the oval inset slide over the ball. After decades the alignment of the frame has wandered and/or the inset and ball have worn down.

I could raise the front of the cabinet slightly and see if that helps the door to stay closed.

The right door stays shut because the bottom of the door scrapes a bit against the frame. So I can see if I can make the left door do the same by adding a bit of paper board to one of the hinges to create a friction between the top or bottom of the door and the frame.

Otherwise I was thinking about adding a 1/4" diameter 1/16" deep button magnet to the door and a screw to the wooden door stop inside the cabinet. But to me this a hack that is only a small step above using a rubber band around the door knobs to keep them closed.

[Ice10]

Seeing that cabinet door ajar brought back memories of my parents old liquor cabinet.  Dad used to wedge a piece of matchbook cover between the top of the door and the bottom of the cabinet opening to keep the door closed.  By the age of 18 years old my friends and I got pretty good at replacing that piece of paper to cover our tracks!   

Sorry I’m no help, but thanks for bringing back the memories.

[avta]

I like to use small velcro discs for cabinet doors that won't close. They come in various sizes and are inexpensive.

[Doublej]

I went with the paper board under the hinge technique because I had it on hand. Problem solved, onto the next house related issue.

[dpatters]

Duct tape fixes everything 😎

[JDoyle]

I went with the paper board under the hinge technique because I had it on hand. Problem solved, onto the next house related issue.

Glad that it worked out for you