Thread: How to fit hinges to these doors

I'm not sure, but whatever you do, if you use a 'normal' hinge, you have to make the pins line up with each other.

But of course you knew that...

I'm not sure what they are called, but might be pin hinges? Whatever they are, they use a couple of plates that you screw to frame and door, and use a large pin to join them to each other for the hinge mechanism. Often seen on glass doors but they work top and bottom, not the side.

Any chance you can make your own hinges here?

Not sure if it will help but if the doors arent too heavy you might be able to get away with one big a$$ hinge in the middle, near where you have marked "leg"?

Just had another look and you might be able to put a vertical peice inside the cabinet where the top front cross peice meets the leg and hinge into it. If the hinge went on the outside of the vertical (inside the cabinet) then the part of the door on the other side of the hinge could swing inside the cabinet. The bottom outside of the door will give you issues with the current design though as it will hit inside the cabinet.

Well theres two thoughts, way too early for me in the morning... I need coffee

Corbs

Arron,
a pin top and bottom won't work because the bottom left corner of the door will bind as it tries to swing inwards.

Other alternatives, but probably not desireable:
Swing the doors from the centre, either by hanging them off a centre mullion and using standard butt hinges or having a mullion concealed behind the centre of the two doors and using euro cup hinges (half overlay ona 16mm min thickness by 70mm depth mullion). Otherwise pins set top and bottom of each door as pivots.

If you really have to have them swinging from where you've indicated you'll have to fabricate some hinges yourself or have someone do it for you. Have a look at the hinges on the boot of an older car. The pivot point is inside but has a large "C" shaped bracket attached to it on which the door is mounted. This allows the door to swing clear. It will all look really neat when closed but may look rather industrial when opened (unless you have someone with jewellery skills make it for you in brass and then polish it up).

Good luck and keep us posted,

Mick

If you're going to use two or more hinges, they have to pivot about parallel axes or the door will bind.

That being so, if the angles at the top and bottom of the doors are the same, would knife hinges work?

A small change to the design and all is well... check the attachment!

Red lines are the pivot point

Originally Posted by Harry72

A small change to the design and all is well... check the attachment!

Red lines are the pivot point

Won't that cause another problem, in that door edge will swing INTO the cabinet. So any shelves will need to be further back.

Arron
I'm pretty sure that Hefele or Hettich will be able to solve your problem. They have cupboard hinges in a miriad of designs and I seem to recall a model that draws the hinge edge inwards as it moves the meeting edge forwards as it's initial action. The trouble is that they are a bit "kitchen" and may not suite the design you are looking at.
A second option is to use a long throw butt hinge whti the hinge set forward of the face of the door. As long as you make the distance from the face of the door greater than the "depth" of the curve (ie draw a straight line from top hinge side corner to bottom hinge side corner and measure out from the line to the curve) the door should clear when opening. It will mean that the middle gap between the doors will have to be a tad larger but that may be OK with what you are trying to do

Of course there is the option of providing a concealed pivot pin top and bottom within the width of the door. If this is places inwards from the hinge edge then when the door is opened the hinge edge will move backwards and this would have to be accounted for in any reveal or shelf. If it is set half the door thickness from the edge then the swing of the outer corner should be catered for by the gap between door and frame.
Good luck
HarcX

Originally Posted by zymurgy

Won't that cause another problem, in that door edge will swing INTO the cabinet. So any shelves will need to be further back.

Yes it will intrude into the shelf area, but you can just cut the front corners enough to allow the doors to swing open and still have a full depth shelf.

Originally Posted by Arron

Hi, I'm planning a project which is like a dresser but will have two doors at the front. These will swing outwards in the conventional manner. The problem which I have is how to hinge them. The legs will be curved and therefore so will the hinged edge of each door. The top and bottom of each door is also curved. I cannot put hinges in the conventional places because of the curves, or the door will likely bind or slump downwards when opening.

I have provided a photo showing the problem. I want to hinge the door on the side marked with the A's. I have also indicated the real world horizontal and vertical.

Are there any special hinges available to do this ? Otherwise any clever ideas ?

thanks
Arron

Have you considered using SOSS hinges (they are a barrel type hinge), they can be installed easily and because they are small can be arranged to suit just about any application.Mark