Roll up cabinets

[coolbabe]

I have a 1976 Argosy 26' with the roll up cabinets. Most of the are hard to push up. Others will not stay up. The one under the sink that goes sideway s is almost impossible to move. Does anyone have any experience repairing these? Any advice would help.

[adonh]

Originally Posted by coolbabe

I have a 1976 Argosy 26' with the roll up cabinets. Most of the are hard to push up. Others will not stay up. The one under the sink that goes sideway s is almost impossible to move. Does anyone have any experience repairing these? Any advice would help.

Those are Tambour doors that over time become very hard to open and close due to the door material deteriorating and hanging up in the door track. Ther are many threads on the subject of repairing, refurbishing and replacing the old Tambour doors. It is a project any way you go for sure. On my 1976 Sovereign I tried several methods to repair the old Tambour on the the door below the kitchen sink, Microwave compartment next to fridge and the TV cabinet. None worked and all looked bad. I was able to refurbish the Tambour overhead cabinet doors since they were made with a different Tambour material and after paining they look and work fine. I completely redid the other cabinets and replaced the old Tambour with new custom oak doors and a custom made oak roll top door for the old Microwave compartment. I also redid the counter top and other things as well over the years. Pictures are included in the attached pdf file. Good luck. Post some pics we would like to see what you have and your progress.

[thesignlady]

Hi, In my End cap rejuvenation thread I touched on how I repaired my stuck and stiff tambours. Silicon spray will be very helpful to get them moving but most likely your problem is likely a combo of dirt in the tracks and the threads from the fabric backing on the tambours jamming the movement. (Think of when a thread gets caught in a zipper) If you get them out give the fabric backing a shaving with a razor knife it clear off any loose threads.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f39/...ly-124989.html

[Argonaut20]

Lift up on the front edge of the under sink tambour as you try to open it. The tambour gets more flexible with age and tends to bind on those long doors. I've found that lifting up as I pull the door back (or push it forward to close it) makes it work well when the tracks are clear. There should be some 'slop' in the fit of these doors to the track so the door should be able to move up a little as you lift it. If it doesn't lift up a little, there may be dirt in the track or the track may have shifted. Lifting up as you open may free it enough to make it easy to open. Same with lifting as you close it. As for the not staying up, the tracks get old and the catches get rounded or broken. I have not found a source for new tracks for the upper cabinets, at least for the cabinets that are rounded in front.

[Del Gurney]

I like the look of those period Tambours so much that I ordered enough to make
3ea of 2 door model from Airstream Parts but be warned it was stupid
expensive for just the lower handle aluminum handle, the plastic end caps and roller mechanism...but the worst was the actual wood and fabric backing pcs. Even though
they claimed I would get the upper and lower 1/4 round aluminum extrusion they
never came through with it and now I'll have to make them out of wood.

ADNOH: love your interior.

[coolbabe]

That is superior. Gave me several ideas. Thank you

[Argonaut20]

VTS had tracks for the overhead tambours for a while. The tracks crack and split so new ones make the doors work MUCH better. They stay up and open smoothly.