Hinges For Cabinet Door

I'm building a hi-fi cabinet in oak. The cabinet includes two small doors which are set in about 25mm from the front edge of two upright pieces (cheeks? Sides?). Each door is only about 300mm X 300mm X 25mm, so they aren't heavy.

My question is - what sort of hinges should I use? I'm guessing that my father would have used brass butt hinges (but does the fact that the doors are set in between the uprights make this difficult?). The cheapo commercial cabinet, which I'm replacing, also has two small doors hinged with European style concealed hinges (same as used on kitchen units). Are these appropriate (very adjustable) or totally naff?

Thanks,

Steve

Reply to
Steve Almond
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A parliament hinge might do the trick ) I'm not sure what sizes they are available in . Isaac Lords should be able to help.

Euro hinges would have to be selected to suit the application. The standard one available usually has a little throw to it which may make the door fouls as it opens.

I had a similar problem once . I fixed a partial frame inside the cabinet, set in sufficiently to give the required depth, in my case I only wanted a flush door. The euro hinge was then used as normal by setting it on this internal frame.

Paul Mc Cann

Reply to
Paul Mc Cann

The trick with the old fashioned method was to make the door exactly the right size for the opening then fit the hinge. Put a leading edge all around the door then remove as much of the door as was reqired to stop hinge bind.

The depth of the housing for the hinges was measured from the middle of the pin to the outer edge of the leaf. The visible edge of the hinge is flush with the work.

The aim was to be left with an overall gap of a millimeter or so. The reason brass is used with oak is more that aesthetic. Oak contains acids that react with iron or steel. It creates a blue black salt that bleeds into the wood.

Reply to
Michael McNeil

Paul Mc Cann wrote

Newsgroups: uk.d-i-y Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 6:31 AM Subject: Re: Hinges For Cabinet Door

The problem with parliament hinges is the door swing will have a degree of sideways movement as it begins to open, meaning it will need a wider gap between the two doors. Is it necessary to offset the pivot? An ordinary butt hinge would do wouldn't it, only it would not be at the edge of the cheek in the normal way? Euro hinges - OK for MDF but for a handmade Oak cabinet I'm not so sure I would want them.

I was wondering if pivotting the door might be an idea, rather than using hinges. You could use brass dowel pins set in the top and bottom edges of the doors near the hinge edge (like a miniature set of floor springs on swing doors), set in a holes in the top and bottom of the cabinet. You would need some washers for spacing. The drawback with this is that the hinge stile would need to be rounded slightly and this would also create a wider gap (unless you form a sinking in the cabinet cheek). Still, it's a thought.

Funny you mentioning Isaac Lord. I live near High Wycombe and I'm just off to see them now, to get a couple of long casement stays :o)

Peter

Reply to
Peter Taylor

Another problem with parliament hinges is that the only ones available are _enormous_ (about 12cmx12cm IIRC).

I think Woodfit have quite a large selection of the Eurohinges, with some explanation of what type is needed under different circumstances. Not sure if there is one that fits your needs.

David (secretly hoping someone will come up with a small parliament hinge as a counter-example....)

Reply to
David Micklem

How about a dark(bronze?) piano hinge and a slight chamfer on the opening edge of the door. 25mm is rather thick for a 300mm square door. I have done this on a oak cabinet with similar sized doors but only about 15mm thick.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

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