When I got home from work yesterday SWIMBO informed me that a shelf in
one of the kitchen cabinets had fallen down because two of those little
plastic brackets the shelf rests on had broken off, leaving their stems
in the holes in the sidewall of the cabinet.

The first time I ran into this situation maybe thirty years ago my first
thought was to drill out the broken off stems so I could shove new
brackets into the holes.

That didn't work out very well, the drill wandered off and enlarged the
holes and in one case broke through the outside surface of a cabinet
wall requiring some patching and refinishing.

That's when it dawned on me there was a better way to remove those
broken off bracket stems. I've used this method several times over the
ensuing years with success every time. I'll share it here for those who
haven't figured it out themselves already.

I take a Number 8 sheet metal screw about 1-1/4 inches long, hold it by
the head with a pair of pliers and heat the pointed end of the screw
with our small kitchen torch until it's just short of red hot.

Then I just press the screw into the plastic stem as far as it will go
and wait a couple of minutes for the screw to cool off. When I can touch
the screw without searing my fingers I grab it with the pliers and pull
it and the plastic stub out, leaving the hole in the wood in unscathed
shape. Try it, you'll like it.

Jeff

www.wkrp.org/jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Exactly what I have done, it just requires a steady hand to center the hot screw in the plastic stub.

On Saturday, September 2, 2017 at 3:46:50 PM UTC-5, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
When I got home from work yesterday SWIMBO informed me that a shelf in
one of the kitchen cabinets had fallen down because two of those little
plastic brackets the shelf rests on had broken off, leaving their stems
in the holes in the sidewall of the cabinet.

The first time I ran into this situation maybe thirty years ago my first
thought was to drill out the broken off stems so I could shove new
brackets into the holes.

That didn't work out very well, the drill wandered off and enlarged the
holes and in one case broke through the outside surface of a cabinet
wall requiring some patching and refinishing.

That's when it dawned on me there was a better way to remove those
broken off bracket stems. I've used this method several times over the
ensuing years with success every time. I'll share it here for those who
haven't figured it out themselves already.

I take a Number 8 sheet metal screw about 1-1/4 inches long, hold it by
the head with a pair of pliers and heat the pointed end of the screw
with our small kitchen torch until it's just short of red hot.

Then I just press the screw into the plastic stem as far as it will go
and wait a couple of minutes for the screw to cool off. When I can touch
the screw without searing my fingers I grab it with the pliers and pull
it and the plastic stub out, leaving the hole in the wood in unscathed
shape. Try it, you'll like it.

Jeff



Whenever I had to remove those broken plastic studs, I used a 1/8" or smaller drill bit to carefully drill into the center of the stud, screw in a small sheet metal or preferably a wood screw then use a small claw hammer or pry bar to pull the screw with the plastic on it out of the hole. If you size the drill bit a screw properly, you can pull it out with your fingers. If the screw is much larger than the diameter of the drill bit, it will make the plastic stud tighter in the hole requiring the claw hammer or pry bar to remove it. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

[8~{} Uncle Plastic Monster

On Saturday, September 2, 2017 at 4:46:50 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
When I got home from work yesterday SWIMBO informed me that a shelf in
one of the kitchen cabinets had fallen down because two of those little
plastic brackets the shelf rests on had broken off, leaving their stems
in the holes in the sidewall of the cabinet.

The first time I ran into this situation maybe thirty years ago my first
thought was to drill out the broken off stems so I could shove new
brackets into the holes.

That didn't work out very well, the drill wandered off and enlarged the
holes and in one case broke through the outside surface of a cabinet
wall requiring some patching and refinishing.


That's when it dawned on me there was a better way to remove those
broken off bracket stems. I've used this method several times over the
ensuing years with success every time. I'll share it here for those who
haven't figured it out themselves already.

I take a Number 8 sheet metal screw about 1-1/4 inches long, hold it by
the head with a pair of pliers and heat the pointed end of the screw
with our small kitchen torch until it's just short of red hot.

Then I just press the screw into the plastic stem as far as it will go
and wait a couple of minutes for the screw to cool off. When I can touch
the screw without searing my fingers I grab it with the pliers and pull
it and the plastic stub out, leaving the hole in the wood in unscathed
shape. Try it, you'll like it.

Jeff


....then replace with metal supports.

DerbyDad03 wrote:

...then replace with metal supports.


True enough, but It would take me all day to replace every plastic one
in our kitchen with metal ones given every shelf would have to be
emptied of what's sitting on it.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Uncle Monster wrote:

Whenever I had to remove those broken plastic studs, I used a 1/8" or smaller drill bit to carefully drill into the center of the stud, screw in a small sheet metal or preferably a wood screw then use a small claw hammer or pry bar to pull the screw with the plastic on it out of the hole. If you size the drill bit a screw properly, you can pull it out with your fingers. If the screw is much larger than the diameter of the drill bit, it will make the plastic stud tighter in the hole requiring the claw hammer or pry bar to remove it. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

[8~{} Uncle Plastic Monster


That was the first thing I tried years ago, but given the cramped
conditions in those cabinets plus some of the supports on longer shelves
facing into the cabinets I just couldn't hold a drill steady enough to
do what you describe, so I got the idea of melting the heated screw into
the broken plastic stud.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Sunday, September 3, 2017 at 9:38:46 AM UTC-5, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Uncle Monster wrote:

Whenever I had to remove those broken plastic studs, I used a 1/8" or smaller drill bit to carefully drill into the center of the stud, screw in a small sheet metal or preferably a wood screw then use a small claw hammer or pry bar to pull the screw with the plastic on it out of the hole. If you size the drill bit a screw properly, you can pull it out with your fingers.. If the screw is much larger than the diameter of the drill bit, it will make the plastic stud tighter in the hole requiring the claw hammer or pry bar to remove it. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

[8~{} Uncle Plastic Monster


That was the first thing I tried years ago, but given the cramped
conditions in those cabinets plus some of the supports on longer shelves
facing into the cabinets I just couldn't hold a drill steady enough to
do what you describe, so I got the idea of melting the heated screw into
the broken plastic stud.

Jeff
--


I had a Milwaukee electric screwdriver and a small Jacobs chuck that plugged into it. The combination fit into really tight spaces which allowed me to drill holes in those plastic studs. I'd switch to a screwdriver bit and drive the screw into the stud. I have an even smaller B&D screwdriver that fits in the palm of your hand and responds to the movement of your wrist as to the direction it will turn. It even has an LED light. ヽ(ヅ)ノ

http://www.blackanddecker.com/produc...driver/bdcs40g

https://tinyurl.com/yba8ouvt

[8~{} Uncle Screwy Monster

Jeff Wisnia wrote in
:

When I got home from work yesterday SWIMBO informed me that a shelf in
one of the kitchen cabinets had fallen down because two of those
little plastic brackets the shelf rests on had broken off, leaving
their stems in the holes in the sidewall of the cabinet.

The first time I ran into this situation maybe thirty years ago my
first thought was to drill out the broken off stems so I could shove
new brackets into the holes.

That didn't work out very well, the drill wandered off and enlarged
the holes and in one case broke through the outside surface of a
cabinet wall requiring some patching and refinishing.

That's when it dawned on me there was a better way to remove those
broken off bracket stems. I've used this method several times over the
ensuing years with success every time. I'll share it here for those
who haven't figured it out themselves already.

I take a Number 8 sheet metal screw about 1-1/4 inches long, hold it
by the head with a pair of pliers and heat the pointed end of the
screw with our small kitchen torch until it's just short of red hot.

Then I just press the screw into the plastic stem as far as it will go
and wait a couple of minutes for the screw to cool off. When I can
touch the screw without searing my fingers I grab it with the pliers
and pull it and the plastic stub out, leaving the hole in the wood in
unscathed shape. Try it, you'll like it.

Jeff

www.wkrp.org/jeff


I had never thought of applying the 'hot screw' method to this problem,
but I like it.

Alternatively, abandon the old hole, and drill a new hole.

On Sunday, September 3, 2017 at 10:30:31 AM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:

...then replace with metal supports.


True enough, but It would take me all day to replace every plastic one
in our kitchen with metal ones given every shelf would have to be
emptied of what's sitting on it.


All day? Empty every shelf? I question both of those assertions.

Heck, in less than a day (yesterday, in fact) I emptied the shelves in two 16€� base cabinets,
took off the doors, cut out the center stile, built two 31" x 22" drawers, installed 2 pairs of
undermount slides (PITA), test fitted the drawers, took them out and put the stuff back on
the shelves. (just until the finish on the drawers dries)

All day? How many cabinets do you have? How many shelves could simply be lifted on
one end while the supports are replaced? I've done it, so I know it can be done.

DerbyDad03 wrote:
All day? How many cabinets do you have? How many shelves could simply be lifted on
one end while the supports are replaced? I've done it, so I know it can be done.

OK, you got me there. But at my age:

A Dozen, a Gross and a Score,
Plus three times the square root of four,
Divided by seven,
Plus five times eleven,
Equals my age plus zero, no more.

I find that lately I'm not as anxious to take on more projects than I
have to. Plus, I find it's getting harder for me to get back on my feet
when I'm sitting on the floor as I would have to do the supports for the
shelves in the the lower cabinets.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On 9/4/2017 12:38 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sunday, September 3, 2017 at 10:30:31 AM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:

...then replace with metal supports.


True enough, but It would take me all day to replace every plastic one
in our kitchen with metal ones given every shelf would have to be
emptied of what's sitting on it.


All day? Empty every shelf? I question both of those assertions.

I had to replace mine after two shelves emptied themselves spontaneously
all over me. Broken dishes all over, that was fun, too bad I didn't
learn after the first one. I actually had hunted down plastic
replacements.

nancy

On Monday, September 4, 2017 at 4:18:35 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:
All day? How many cabinets do you have? How many shelves could simply be lifted on
one end while the supports are replaced? I've done it, so I know it can be done.

OK, you got me there. But at my age:

A Dozen, a Gross and a Score,
Plus three times the square root of four,
Divided by seven,
Plus five times eleven,
Equals my age plus zero, no more.

Your poem works for my age with the exception of 1 of the constants. Hint: The
game is tied, 0-0. ;-)


I find that lately I'm not as anxious to take on more projects than I
have to. Plus, I find it's getting harder for me to get back on my feet
when I'm sitting on the floor as I would have to do the supports for the
shelves in the the lower cabinets.


Trust me, I hear you about getting up from the floor. The next time I work
on base cabinets, I'm going to raise them up about 4 feet first. ;-)

Nancy Young wrote:

I had to replace mine after two shelves emptied themselves spontaneously
all over me. Broken dishes all over, that was fun, too bad I didn't
learn after the first one. I actually had hunted down plastic
replacements.

nancy


All we lost last week was a nice quite heavy clear glass water pitcher.

One of my chemically knowledgeable friends told me that the plasticizer
evaporates out of the plastic over a period of years leaving it more
brittle and subject to cracking. I'm not a chemist, but that sort of
makes sense to me. Most of the plastic shelf brackets in our kitchen,
save for the few I've already replaced have been there since we bought
the home new 34 years ago.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On 9/5/2017 3:13 PM, Jeff Wisnia wrote:


Nancy Young wrote:

I had to replace mine after two shelves emptied themselves spontaneously
all over me.Â* Broken dishes all over, that was fun, too bad I didn't
learn after the first one.Â* I actually had hunted down plastic
replacements.

nancy


All we lost last week was a nice quite heavy clear glass water pitcher.

One of my chemically knowledgeable friends told me that the plasticizer
evaporates out of the plastic over a period of years leaving it more
brittle and subject to cracking. I'm not a chemist, but that sort of
makes sense to me. Most of the plastic shelf brackets in our kitchen,
save for the few I've already replaced have been there since we bought
the home new 34 years ago.

Jeff

I am a retired chemist and it is true that plascitizers can bleed out
but I doubt if they are used in transparent refrigerator shelves.
Plastics usually degrade by oxidation accelerated by heat and sunlight.
Sometimes solvents can cause crazing. You don't put chemical solvents
in your refrigerator but oils and things like alcohol at high levers can
be detrimental. I worked for a while on automotive resins and we tested
samples with all the crap that can fall on a plastic part like oil, gas,
windshield washer fluid, brake fluid etc. Plastics are fine for many
uses but I have seen a lot of badly designed ones.

Frank wrote:

I am a retired chemist and it is true that plascitizers can bleed out
but I doubt if they are used in transparent refrigerator shelves.
Plastics usually degrade by oxidation accelerated by heat and sunlight.
Sometimes solvents can cause crazing. You don't put chemical solvents
in your refrigerator but oils and things like alcohol at high levers can
be detrimental. I worked for a while on automotive resins and we tested
samples with all the crap that can fall on a plastic part like oil, gas,
windshield washer fluid, brake fluid etc. Plastics are fine for many
uses but I have seen a lot of badly designed ones.

Frank:

This thread (Which I started) isn't about transparent refrigerator
shelves, it is about little plastic shelf support pegs like these:

http://tinyurl.com/y9cvkwta

The bracket part snaps off the peg, leaving the peg in the hole in the
cabinet wall with nothing projecting to pull it out by.

This type is better:

http://tinyurl.com/ybsaj5fn

Because it uses a steel peg which extends out into the clear plastic
support and it can take a much higher load without failing.

Nuff said,

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 4:54:40 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Frank wrote:

I am a retired chemist and it is true that plascitizers can bleed out
but I doubt if they are used in transparent refrigerator shelves.
Plastics usually degrade by oxidation accelerated by heat and sunlight.
Sometimes solvents can cause crazing. You don't put chemical solvents
in your refrigerator but oils and things like alcohol at high levers can
be detrimental. I worked for a while on automotive resins and we tested
samples with all the crap that can fall on a plastic part like oil, gas,
windshield washer fluid, brake fluid etc. Plastics are fine for many
uses but I have seen a lot of badly designed ones.

Frank:

This thread (Which I started) isn't about transparent refrigerator
shelves, it is about little plastic shelf support pegs like these:

http://tinyurl.com/y9cvkwta

The bracket part snaps off the peg, leaving the peg in the hole in the
cabinet wall with nothing projecting to pull it out by.

This type is better:

http://tinyurl.com/ybsaj5fn

Because it uses a steel peg which extends out into the clear plastic
support and it can take a much higher load without failing.

Nuff said,


Better still are pins that are all metal. Lots of choices available.

On 9/6/2017 6:50 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 4:54:40 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Frank wrote:

I am a retired chemist and it is true that plascitizers can bleed out
but I doubt if they are used in transparent refrigerator shelves.
Plastics usually degrade by oxidation accelerated by heat and sunlight.
Sometimes solvents can cause crazing. You don't put chemical solvents
in your refrigerator but oils and things like alcohol at high levers can
be detrimental. I worked for a while on automotive resins and we tested
samples with all the crap that can fall on a plastic part like oil, gas,
windshield washer fluid, brake fluid etc. Plastics are fine for many
uses but I have seen a lot of badly designed ones.

Frank:

This thread (Which I started) isn't about transparent refrigerator
shelves, it is about little plastic shelf support pegs like these:

http://tinyurl.com/y9cvkwta

The bracket part snaps off the peg, leaving the peg in the hole in the
cabinet wall with nothing projecting to pull it out by.

This type is better:

http://tinyurl.com/ybsaj5fn

Because it uses a steel peg which extends out into the clear plastic
support and it can take a much higher load without failing.

Nuff said,


Better still are pins that are all metal. Lots of choices available.


Metal better for shear strength.

On 9/5/2017 3:13 PM, Jeff Wisnia wrote:


Nancy Young wrote:

I had to replace mine after two shelves emptied themselves spontaneously
all over me.Â* Broken dishes all over, that was fun, too bad I didn't
learn after the first one.Â* I actually had hunted down plastic
replacements.

All we lost last week was a nice quite heavy clear glass water pitcher.

One of my chemically knowledgeable friends told me that the plasticizer
evaporates out of the plastic over a period of years leaving it more
brittle and subject to cracking. I'm not a chemist, but that sort of
makes sense to me. Most of the plastic shelf brackets in our kitchen,
save for the few I've already replaced have been there since we bought
the home new 34 years ago.

Probably a different type of plastic, mine didn't make 20 years.
Came crashing down at the least little bump. Hope you didn't get
hurt with that heavy pitcher falling.

nancy

replying to Jeff Wisnia, Georgina wrote:
say if the plug bit is made of metal, what do I do?


--
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