Hinge selection / installation

[Philip Spencer]

I need some help with choosing a hinge for a bathroom vanity that I've built. My two doors are 12 3/4" each and my face frame opening is 24". For some reason I can't get my mind around choosing the correct hinge. I chose a 1 1/4 overlay face frame concealed hinge by Liberty. What I'm not grasping is the spacing of the hinge so that the doors do not hit at the center. The hinges are somewhat adjustable but I'm not sure by how much. I'm trying to avoid the 'drill first -- think later' mistakes that I've made in the past. The instructions for all the hinges don't make any reference to door size : opening size ratio so I'm thinking that this is something that I should have addressed up front. The dimensions for the vanity came from a set of plans that I found in a cabinetry book, but the books was from the 50's so . . . .. Thanks.

[Dave Cav]

Are these mortise or non-mortise? I haven't done any of the Liberty mortise style, but I have used the surface mount hinges a while back and I don't remember anyhing especially tricky about them. (Yes, I know that doesn't help much.) What I can suggest is to make a rough mock-up of the face frame and doors using plywood and do your initial installation on the mock-up to see if you are going in the right direction.

[Todd Burch]

Cut you a couple pieces of 3/4" ply the size of your doors and make a scrap wood mockup of your face frame opening.

[scott vroom]

Here's the calculation:

12 3/4 right door width
12 3/4 left door width
1/8 center gap
25 5/8 total 2 doors + center gap
24 faceframe opening
1 5/8 total overlay (both sides)
13/16 single door overlay

You're in between std o'lay specs...you can go with 3/4" o'lay but it will have to be an adjustable hinge to allow you to retain the 1/8" center gap (or narrow each door 1/16" by running one edge over the jounter). Blum compact 38N 3/4" o'lay would be a good choice....full adjustable including +/- 1/16" side adjustment.