Flipper Door hinges

[Ted Baca]

I am starting the final design stage for a cabinet that I want to build and the one stumbling block I need to overcome calculating the clearance requirements for the doors. I want use flipper style door hinges and want the door to be completely stored in the cabinet. To clarify I want the edge of the door to be flush with the face frame when the door is open. As the use of this cabinet will have it open most of the time and only be closed on rare occasions to keep children and child-like adults from playing with the equipment it will house.
So my questions are:
What brand has yeilded the most satisfactory results?

I see in some of the different hinge mfgs. instructions, that I need about 2-2 1/2" of side clearance depening on door thickness. So what is the minimum width of the stile I can use when using the euro hinges? I will be using raised panel doors.

Also they provide: e.g. a 24" hinge for a 24" door but the seems to leave about 3-3 1/2" of the door sticking out of the cabinet. So what do I get a 28" hinge to assure it will slide all the way into the cabinet?

Also I see some with cables and some with cogged wheels to maintain an equal travel speed top and bottom, and some with neither. Any preference to which design workes best? My doors should be about 24 x 46".

And lastly any suggestions on other hinges or designs?

Thank You

[Quinn McCarthy]

Both KV and Schock made good flipper door hardware. I am not sure if they meet the set back requirements that you need but you can check online.

Both offer a model that can be tied together from top and bottom with a metal bar.

Hope that helps.

Quinn

[Harold Burrell]

"They call him Flipper, Flipper
Faster than lightning
No one, you see
Is smarter than he..."

Sorry, but your thread title put that song in my head. I am just returning the favor.

Good day.

;)

[Doug Wolf]

My answers are:
What brand has yeilded the most satisfactory results?
I'm very happy with Knape & Vogt KV8091 18" slides. We have open/closed them 3 or 4 times a day for the last 2 years and they are still in adjustment.
I see in some of the different hinge mfgs. instructions, that I need about 2-2 1/2" of side clearance depening on door thickness. So what is the minimum width of the stile I can use when using the euro hinges?
I have raised panel door frames are 3/4" x 2 5/16" wide. My side clearance is 2 5/16" but I have a hinged door. A single door looks like it could be as little as 1 3/8" side clearance. Also they provide: e.g. a 24" hinge for a 24" door but the seems to leave about 3-3 1/2" of the door sticking out of the cabinet. So what do I get a 28" hinge to assure it will slide all the way into the cabinet? That's correct. My cabinet is 18 5/8" inside face frame to inside of back and my doors are 13 9/16" each connected with a piano hinge for a total width when closed of 27 1/4". Cabinet opening is 54 3/4" x 37 1/4".
Also I see some with cables and some with cogged wheels to maintain an equal travel speed top and bottom, and some with neither. Any preference to which design workes best? Cogged wheels are my preference. And lastly any suggestions on other hinges or designs? Buy the best hinge you can afford, you won't be sorry. I spent about six months trying to research info for my TV cabinet and draw up my plans but it was worth
it. I wanted the doors to disappear in the cabinet but didn't want it to be 30" deep so went with the hinged in the middle doors. PM me if you want details.

[Neal Clayton]

I am starting the final design stage for a cabinet that I want to build and the one stumbling block I need to overcome calculating the clearance requirements for the doors. I want use flipper style door hinges and want the door to be completely stored in the cabinet. To clarify I want the edge of the door to be flush with the face frame when the door is open. As the use of this cabinet will have it open most of the time and only be closed on rare occasions to keep children and child-like adults from playing with the equipment it will house.
So my questions are:
What brand has yeilded the most satisfactory results?

I see in some of the different hinge mfgs. instructions, that I need about 2-2 1/2" of side clearance depening on door thickness. So what is the minimum width of the stile I can use when using the euro hinges? I will be using raised panel doors.

Also they provide: e.g. a 24" hinge for a 24" door but the seems to leave about 3-3 1/2" of the door sticking out of the cabinet. So what do I get a 28" hinge to assure it will slide all the way into the cabinet?

Also I see some with cables and some with cogged wheels to maintain an equal travel speed top and bottom, and some with neither. Any preference to which design workes best? My doors should be about 24 x 46".

And lastly any suggestions on other hinges or designs?

Thank You

have you considered using soss hinges instead? they are very thin, and recess very nicely, so that you won't have as much visible hinge when the door is open.

you can get them as narrow as 3/8 and put them in as narrow a face as 1/2.

as for the doors themselves you can get them to have as little as 1/16 clearance with those hinges.

[Jamie Buxton]

Flipper doors strike me as rather Rube Goldberg. They bang and rattle, and they don't look like the other doors in the cabinet. They have odd gaps around them, and generally don't look quite right. Where the style of the piece allows, and I have room to swing the doors, I prefer 270 degree hinges. The doors stow along the outside of the walls of the cabinet.

Here's a source with a fair selection of them: http://www.hardwaresource.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=466

[Ted Baca]

Thanks for the replys. Neal,I looked at the Soss hinge and I don't see how it store in the cabinet? Jamie, are you saying that these flipper style hinges bang and don't store quietly? That does create an issue, as it will be a AV Cabinet. I really want to store the doors inside as mentioned it will be mostly used with the doors open. Doug and Quinn, your answers have given me some more positive direction, I thought the type with the cables would be a problem the shaft seemed more positive. But as Jamie mentions, have you had rattleing problems? And Harold, I was disapoint that you didn't include a sound byte:)

[Doug Wolf]

Ted
We have ours open only when using the AV equipment, so end up opening and closing several times a day. I installed cassette rollers to guide the doors when storing them and don't understand the comment on "rattling and banging". When I built it, and before installing the guide rollers, the doors flopped around on the hinges, maybe that prompted the comment. Here is a couple of pictures of my cabinet. It was built in two sections, upper and lower. The lower right hand opening has a double drawer for storing CD's, DVD's, etc. and when it's closed looks just like the other 3 folding doors. It's cherry with solid cherry bookmarked panels.

[Ted Baca]

Doug, beautiful cabinet! I think I am more clear on the "banging" thought that popped into my mind. My concern was any resonance that might be generated when playing loud movie passages where the subwoofer gets loud. I see the rollers that you refer to and understand how they must help. I will be using single door and leaving the TV exposed. I will have the cabinet open 95% of the time and only close them when as mentioned in my original thread, when kids or kid like adults want to play with the equipment. I think from what i have gleened here I just need to figure about 2-2.5" for the bays with flipper doors and I should be OK. I also think that if I buy the hinge/flipper set for a door 4" wider than it will actually be, I can fully slide the door back into the cabinet. Hopefully. Thanks.

[Dave MacArthur]

Doug--wow, very nice av cabinet! I really like it, showing the wife to see if that's the design she wants...