Choosing a Continuous (Piano) Hinge

[Bill Adamsen]

Built very traditional looking open face frame cabinets with the lower units just 13" deep and designed to hold tip out garbage bins. Design wise, they match the kitchen cabinets in this same kitchen (opposite wall). There was a space issue and the wall was an empty 2x6 cavity so I built the cabinets to fit into the cavity. I've built the doors but not yet mounted. I was about to fit the hinges. Intent was to use a stainless piano hinge on the bottom of the 1" thick door. But as I look at the hinges I purchased, they just seem like overkill. The butt thickness is .4" (12 gauge) which just seems very ... visible. On the positive side, I was thinking of welding each leaf to the hinge (under tension) to make the hinge a spring. And the size of this hinge would make that possible.

Have any of you experience sourcing continuous hinges for this sort of application and have a recommendation?

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[Jamie Buxton]

Nice cabinet.

I've never been very impressed with piano hinges. They're good at holding a floppy thing in continuous alignment with something solid -- like the lid covering the keys on a piano. But really, the hinge itself isn't very strong. The common ones are made from sheet metal that is only as thick as a credit card, and held in place with tiny #4 screws. In your cabinet, I'd use real butt hinges. The leaf thickness is more substantial, and the screws are bigger. I like ones from Horton Brass, but I substitute steel screws for the brass ones they supply.

[Jim Becker]

I generally agree with Jamie, but it sounds like you have heavier, quality piano hinges. If the thickness bothers you visually...mortise for them like you would for a butt hinge. For your application, heavy hardware is a good idea because of the nature of the use long-term.

[Brian Holcombe]

Unless you want to see the hinge specifically, I would probably just use cup hinges.

[Paul Girouard]

How about SOSS invisible hinge ? Sounds like you have 1” thick door style and rails , a SOSS hinge might be perfect for your use.

[Charles Lent]

I make quite a few special purpose tool boxes and use brass piano hinges mortised into the box and lid. Wherever possible I use longer screws than what comes with the piano hinges. I always buy the longest hinges available and then cut them to length as needed. I've never had a hinge failure, and they have been on boxes that have weighed up to about 70 lbs full. YMMV.

Charley

[Bill Adamsen]

Attached find a drawing with the section and elevation. With the exception of mounting, the door-mounted bins will have very limited motion (less than 30°). That's why I thought a traditional or a piano hinge would work most effectively. I just ordered some thinner piano hinges and hope these allow a less visually impactful install.

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[Paul Girouard]

I’m sure a panio hinge would work , you just mentioned not wanting to see the hinge pin , a SOSS hinge is completely hidden , so that takes the visual aspect of the panio hinge out of play.

Looks like a nice project!

[Jamie Buxton]

I don’t understand why folks work so hard to conceal cabinet hinges. Most people seem comfortable with seeing metal knobs and pulls, so what’s the problem with seeing metal hinges?

[Bill Adamsen]

I don’t understand why folks work so hard to conceal cabinet hinges. Most people seem comfortable with seeing metal knobs and pulls, so what’s the problem with seeing metal hinges?

I agree. For all the swing cabinet doors in that kitchen I used very simple solid brass liftoff (but mortised) pin hinges. Besides being traditional I think they look great! Today I probably would choose something either very primitive (hand wrought) or stainless bright. I am very jealous of a friend whose most recent client actually paid for him to hand make all the hardware.

[Bill Orbine]

You can hide the piano hinge! The exception is the bottom frame rail. You'll need to work with that issue in some way. But it can be done.

A couple ideas. Eliminate the frame rail and extend door panel downwards. Or integrate a length of frame rail the same as width of door panel on to the bottom of panel to keep with the frame look. Either of the ideas would allow you to install the himge onto back of panel without binding.

The are several other ways to do this. It just takes some thinking and a few quit mock ups.

[Bill Adamsen]

You can hide the piano hinge! The exception is the bottom frame rail. You'll need to work with that issue in some way. But it can be done.

A couple ideas. Eliminate the frame rail and extend door panel downwards. Or integrate a length of frame rail the same as width of door panel on to the bottom of panel to keep with the frame look. Either of the ideas would allow you to install the himge onto back of panel without binding.

The are several other ways to do this. It just takes some thinking and a few quit mock ups.

After conversations with some friends over the weekend I started working on mockups tonight. The current thought is to rabbet the hinge into the bottom of the door. In the attached mockup A has an "unrabbeted" reveal of 1/4" and rabetted (as shown) of ~1/8". Issue would be getting the rotation angle necessary to attach with the rabbet as shown. Perhaps something in between will work. 1/8" or a bit more would be pretty acceptable. With the original hinge (B) the reveal would be either ~3/8" or with the rabbet about 1/4". Either of those is simply too much.

I completely understand your recommendation of "losing" the bottom frame ... but that "ship has sailed" I'm afraid.

Another solution would be knife hinges and that remains a possibility. The Brussos offset knife hinges are nice but pricey. I don't have experience with other brands.

Best best per Jamie's advice is perhaps just good quality mortised butt hinges. That is likely the best way to go.

HingeMockup.jpg

[Jacob Mac]

How about SOSS invisible hinge ? Sounds like you have 1” thick door style and rails , a SOSS hinge might be perfect for your use.

This is a very viable idea. Installation is pretty easy, too. The soss hinge is pretty pricey. But they work well.