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Stephen Sebed
06-06-2011, 10:02 PM
I'm refacing my kitchen cabinets with oak faceframes and doors. the frames will be 1 1/2" wide. the doors will overlay the frames 1/4" on all sides. Am I looking for 1/2" overlay hinges? I'm looking at using Blum compact 38 hinges, but I'm wondering if the 105 degree opening is enough? should I use a hinge that opens farther?

Thanks,
Stephen

Greg Moore
06-06-2011, 11:36 PM
I have used the blum compact 38's on several projects. 105* opening works in most situations. I use the 107* clip on hinges on most of my frameless cabinets.

The cheapest source I've found is http://wwhardware.com/index.cfm?pageid=2

Good luck with your project.

Paul Girouard
06-07-2011, 12:02 AM
I say stay away from the compact unless they are all that will work, they have less adjustment, are "harder" (relative term) to install. I'd only use them where no other Euro hinge will work.

Good luck.

Bill Leonard
06-07-2011, 7:20 AM
I say stay away from the compact unless they are all that will work, they have less adjustment, are "harder" (relative term) to install. I'd only use them where no other Euro hinge will work.

Good luck.

I concur with Paul. I've used both and prefer the Blum 1/2 in overlay on 2 inch face frames. I believe a 1 1/2 inch FF looks flimsy, and 1/4 inch overlay does not provide for much adjustment and alignment.

Ed Edwards
06-07-2011, 10:05 AM
No matter which Blum hinge you choose, look at the "A&H Turf" website for some really great prices. The people there are great too.

No affiliation with A&H, but always pleased

Ed :)

Stephen Sebed
06-07-2011, 6:34 PM
If the doors overlay the frames by 1/4" on all sides, do I need 1/4" or 1/2" overlay hinges? For faceframe applications are there any options other than compact hinges? Standard euro hinges would hang off the back of the frame by a couple inches.

Stephen

Paul Girouard
06-07-2011, 10:35 PM
[QUOTE=Stephen Sebed;1717647]


If the doors overlay the frames by 1/4" on all sides, do I need 1/4" or 1/2" overlay hinges?

They aren't sold as such, the over lay they are sold under are given in MM , a general way to look at it is , 1/2 over lay = 3/8" , full over lay = 3/4". Although there are at least 3 plates , a high plate = the least over lay which is really a bit less than 3/8" as you can mount two doors hinged off one partion , a middle sized plate / medium , used for a 3/16" ish gap off a finished end panel , and a low plate , used if two "normal" euro cabinet set-up is used , two 3/4" partions screwed to each other.




For faceframe applications are there any options other than compact hinges?

Yes a face frame mounted plate , Rockler sells them , the come the same way three sizes, high, medium , low. The hinge clips into the plate the plate screws to the side / inner edge of the FF.


Standard euro hinges would hang off the back of the frame by a couple inches.

/QUOTE]

Yes the hinge arm "hangs off the back" / sticks into the cabinet box.


http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2281

The one thing you CAN do with a compact hinge is get a GREATER over lay than any other hinge as the mounting plate nests into the cup on the hinge. So say you wanted for some reason , a gag , to have a door mounted on a flat panel , you COULD with a compact hinge hang a door that when you opened it would be a flat panel , or cabinet side.

So like I said in my first post here if you had a special situation , say a wide inside corner post you could with a compact hinge over lay the door to hide the look of the inside corner making the two doors cover essentially all of the inside corner post. 2" , 3" , 10" of "overlay".

Look at the Rockler site , or Google Blum hinges and look at their PDF on installing their hinges.

Tom Ewell
06-07-2011, 11:43 PM
If you've sized your doors to 1/4" overlay you'll need 1/4" overlay face frame hinges.

Single doors are typically sized to width of frame opening + 2x the overlay, ie. a 12" opening with 1/2" overlay would be a 13" door width.

In an earlier thread, (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161574-what-is-the-smallest-over-hang-face-frame-hinge&p=1657223#post1657223) there was mention of a Blum series 33 compact hinge (http://www.wwhardware.com/blum-compact-33-110-self-closing-hinge-b033-36.html) with a 1/4" overlay face frame plate available.

Stephen Sebed
06-08-2011, 10:46 PM
Thanks for the explanation Tom. I'm looking for a 1/4" overlay then. Is there any advantage to the Blum series 33 compact hinge? Looking at the description, it looks similar to the compact 28; but with separate mounting plates. Is this correct?

Tom Ewell
06-08-2011, 11:45 PM
I've not done an exhaustive comparison of all Blum hinges.

I normally design and find the hinge that fits the design and I typically go with Blum 'cause I'm jiged-up for that screw pattern.

I have used a lot of the compact 38's for face frame work simply because installation is simple and have had little call for more than a 105 degree opening.

The advantage I see with the 33 + plate is that it gets you to your 1/4" overlay, the 38's that I've seen only get down to a 3/8" overlay on face frames.

( also) Whichever you get make sure that the screws are included or additionally ordered, unless you happen to have a bunch in the shop.

John TenEyck
06-09-2011, 11:02 AM
I've used a good number of Blum Compact hinges. The 38N series does not come in 1/4" OL, 3/8" is the smallest. They are nice hinges, however, since they have 3 - way adjustability which I find important for remodeling work since a lot of cabinet boxes are not flat. The Blum Compact 33 series hinges opens 110deg, and has more overlay options, including 1/4"; however, it only has 2-way adjustability. If your cabinets are flat they will work fine. Woodworkershardware.com has a good explanation of the Blum hinges, and good prices as well. You also might want to look into Salice hinges. They have a very nice compact style hinge with 3-way adjustability and might offer it in 1/4" OL, I'm just not sure.

In my opinion, the frameless hinges are only an option on frameless cabinets.