what hinges to use (inset doors)

[Bob Cooper]

i'm building some doors and wondering what type of hinges to use. The doors will be inset. One thing that concerns me is that the doors are only 5/8" thick. I could probably rebuild these and get close to 3/4" if i had to.

(i'm building this out of left over tigerwood decking that's 3/4" thick so the rails and stiles finished down to 5/8"...but i probably have some that may finish closer to 3/4").

Drawers will sit behind these doors so i need to open the doors and be able to pull drawers out...thus the hinges cannot interfere with the drawers.

[glenn bradley]

If you want minimal show, offset knife hinges: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2000999/6007/Brusso-516-x-138-Offset-Hinge.aspx

More showy would be a no-mortise hinge: http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/25495-01-500.jpg

The main requirement sounds like it is to assure the barrel (or whatever) is out of the path of the drawer.

[Peter Quinn]

Butt hinges work well for inset doors. Cup hinges might work also, blum has them for inset doors that should work for 5/8" thickness.

[Roger Jensen]

I purchased my butt hinges from Horton Brasses. I think they would work with 5/8 inch thickness doors if you want to cut the mortise all the way through.

I'd drop them a note to check. I think they also monitor this site, so they may post a reply. They'll also take them back in return if they won't fit. I was happy with their customer support.

Roger

[Lex Boegen]

If you choose to use butt hinges, you may have interference with the drawers unless you cut the mortises for the butt hinges at a slight angle. A Euro-style hinge for inset doors that opens for full-clearance would work, but they are quite bulky so you'd need to check that they won't hit the drawers when the doors are closed. Also, the Euro-style inset hinges often pull the door slightly beyond flush, so you'll probably want a door stop of some sort to prevent that. OTOH, if you go with Blum's cup hinges, you have the option of a soft-closing mechanism that prevents slamming. Blum calls this option "Blumotion".

[Craig D Peltier]

I would just use cup hinges from blum for thinner doors and build out my sides for the slides so they dont interfere with doors and call it a day if time is an issue.

[Erik Christensen]

I also saw a recent ad that had a shim kit from blum that let you use their blumotion cup hinges on door stock < 3/4"

[Neal Clayton]

soss hinges work well for inset doors, and they make them as narrow as 3/8, so a 5/8 thick stile would be plenty.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=268

[Peter Quinn]

After staring at those pics, and thinking about the way the case sides jut out beyond the FF, I really don't see how cup hinges would work on that application. Maybe, but they usually run some pretty tight set backs on inset doors, and your set back is going to be a monster.

I am curious why you built your case that way? Your options may be limited to butt hinges or some type of knife hinge (soss, brusso, etc.). With that step back in the FF you will have to be little more creative with a hinge template, and you may have to back bevel the outside edges of the doors to clear the sides of the case depending on the exact type of hinges you choose. You can definitely get narrow butt hinges for 5/8 doors or use a similar non mortise hinge.