Paul Mc Cann wrote

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

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 00:01:52 -0000, "Steve Almond"
wrote:

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


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.

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 )

Peter