XL Shelf pin

[ajaacnr]

Hello. I have kitchen cabinets that have large plastic shelf pins. They keep breaking and I would like to switch to metal pins but I can't seem to find any that will fit. The plastic ones measure 7.9mm. The largest metal ones I found are 7mm and they don't fit.  Am I stuck with having to keep buying plastic replacements? Is there something else I can use? Thanks. 

[Tpt life]

Do they need to have flat supports? If not, you can source 8mm dowel stock that is already cut to short lengths. 

[Minnesota Steve]

I've only ever seen 5mm and 1/4" shelf pins, and I always thought that was confusing enough.  Is there a brand for these cabinets?   Where are you buying the replacement pins?

It could be your plastic pins are a bit oversized for a 1/4" hole.   5/16" would be about 7.9mm... I've seen them where they have little ridges and they're designed to bite into the wood.  They're always a pain to get in new, have to pound them in.  It could be that your holes have become wallowed out and the pins aren't going in solidly and that's why they're breaking on you.

They do make shelf pin sleeves.   You'd have to look at what size those require.   If they don't fit snuggly, you might be able to glue the sleeves in place with epoxy, although you may have to use a drill bit to clear out the hole after the epoxy is cured.

One thing I did find while searching amazon were metric dowel pins... An M8 size would be 8mm... maybe that's what you are looking for?

Still is seems strange they aren't one of the standard 5mm or 1/4".

 

 

[BillyJack]

IF they are too small you may have to put tape around the 5mm metal clips. This would make it tighter to the hole..

 

I think the hole is waddled out...