Hinge question

[Mike Henderson]

I'm building a chest right now and my wife wants a drawer with a drop front. The drawer front covers the whole front of the chest - it does not fit within an opening in the chest.

I found these hinges, called "Fall Front Hinges" (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16777&site=ROCKLER) which are perfect for the drop front, but I'd like to find them in solid brass. Does anyone know of a source for these kind of hinges in solid brass, preferably in shiny brass?

Or, do you know of any other solution for a drop front where the drawer face extends across the chest? No, butler tray hinges will not work, nor will Soss hinges.

Mike

[Jim Tobias]

Mike,
Will this work?
http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/category/dlrjh.html

Jim

[Jim Tobias]

Mike,
Will this work?
http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/category/dlrjh.html

[Jerry Miner]

How about a sewing machine hinge, like this:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1182&site=ROCKLER

[Frank Drew]

What Mike is describing isn't a rule joint, although those rule joint hinges from Whitechapel might work for his drop front drawer application.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike,

I like challenges and I spent a couple hours last night looking for solid brass ones and couldn't find them.

[Mark Bolton]

It reads to me like you are trying to drop an overlay drawer front. I would call Salice, Blum, Grass, and ask them if they have something to fit the application. The issue will likely be having some sort of stay to restrict the front from springing the hinge.

[Mark Bolton]

http://www.amazon.com/Brass-Fully-Adjustable-Concealed-Hinges/dp/B001DT4U8K

http://www.hafele.com/us/external/catalog/pages09-02/310.pdf

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for your suggestions. Let me explain my problem a bit more. I'm building a cabinet which will have two doors on the bottom of the cabinet and a drawer above. My wife wants the drawer to be a drop front.

My initial idea was to cut two 45 degree angles on the drawer bottom and drawer front, and install hinges with the pivot pin at the front. See the picture below.

266694

This will work, except that the bottom of the hinges show from the front of the cabinet, and I don't want that. If I try to move the hinges up, the bottom of the drawer front and the lower part of the drawer bottom bind when lowering the drawer front.

It appears to me that the hinges you suggested will not work. Look at the picture below.

266695

The drawer front has to cover the drawer bottom. If I install the hinges so that the pivot point is at position #1, the drawer front won't drop. If I install the hinges so that the pivot point is at position #2, the drawer front will bind on the door below it as I try to lower the drawer. And I want a very small reveal between the top of the door and the drawer front because I'm going to put a marquetry design on the front of the cabinet.

There's also another type of hinge, shown here (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1725) and below.
266696

For this hinge, the drawer bottom is cut back at a 45 degree angle and the drawer front is cut to fit the drawer front. Note that the 45 on the drawer bottom extends back into the case - the top of the 45 is flush with the case front but the bottom of the 45 is about 3/4" into the case. This will work if the drawer front is the same size as the drawer, but my drawer front goes completely across the chest so if I tried to use this one, the drawer front would bind against the chest sides as I tried to drop the drawer front. It would work if I didn't mind that the drawer had to be pulled out slightly before dropping the front, but I'd like to do better than that.

So that's my problem. I found that hinge set called "fall front hinges" which seems to do what I want, but I'm very open to other ideas.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

What Mike is describing isn't a rule joint, although those rule joint hinges from Whitechapel might work for his drop front drawer application.
I thought about rule joints and they don't give me a flush panel when the drawer is upright.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

http://www.amazon.com/Brass-Fully-Adjustable-Concealed-Hinges/dp/B001DT4U8K

http://www.hafele.com/us/external/catalog/pages09-02/310.pdf

Yep, those are the one's I found - same ones I referenced at Rockler. What I'd like is to find the equivalent in solid brass. Those are brass plated.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

It reads to me like you are trying to drop an overlay drawer front. I would call Salice, Blum, Grass, and ask them if they have something to fit the application. The issue will likely be having some sort of stay to restrict the front from springing the hinge.
I already have things I can use - lid stays. I had posted asking for the name of them earlier.

Mike

[Mark Bolton]

Was scanning through a Soss book... what about a quadrant hinge? http://www.soss.com/soss_quadrant_hinge/?DepartmentId=1727

[Mike Henderson]

Was scanning through a Soss book... what about a quadrant hinge? http://www.soss.com/soss_quadrant_hinge/?DepartmentId=1727
The quadrant hinge is just a regular hinge with an added feature to limit the amount it can open. It has all the problems I mentioned earlier about how to position where the pivot point goes.

Limiting the amount of drop to 90 degrees is not my problem - I have that solved. My problem is how to get a flat front with a very small reveal and still have the drawer front drop.

Mike

[Mark Bolton]

I already have things I can use - lid stays. I had posted asking for the name of them earlier.

Mike

Seems we replied at nearly the same time.. I see your images now. Wondering if there isnt some option your happy with if you couldnt play around with the front thickness to push the hinge back into the opening slightly allowing you to hide the barrel of the hinge you seemed to think would work.

[Mark Bolton]

Bit of free time (overstatement), and would require stays, but I would lean towards a revers drop leaf setup... like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpttelKMjSU ? Very crude geometry and using super tight 1/16" reveals but an option for something like a quadrant which would hide all the hardware, incorporate stays, AND provide a smooth transition when opened. Its a fuss factor but the part I wouldnt like about hinging out at the front edge of the drawer front or other optioins is you wind up with a gap/trough/gutter situation which can catch debris and the like causing the hinge to be sprung when closed? Just killing time..

[Mike Henderson]

Bit of free time (overstatement), and would require stays, but I would lean towards a revers drop leaf setup... like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpttelKMjSU ? Very crude geometry and using super tight 1/16" reveals but an option for something like a quadrant which would hide all the hardware, incorporate stays, AND provide a smooth transition when opened. Its a fuss factor but the part I wouldnt like about hinging out at the front edge of the drawer front or other optioins is you wind up with a gap/trough/gutter situation which can catch debris and the like causing the hinge to be sprung when closed? Just killing time..
Thanks, Mark. That solution is essentially the same as the last picture I have in my posting above - and has the same problem. Since my drawer front extends across the whole cabinet, I'd have to pull the drawer out slightly to drop the front (the front would hit the sides of the cabinet as you dropped it if you didn't pull the drawer out).

Mike

[Mark Bolton]

Thanks, Mark. That solution is essentially the same as the last picture I have in my posting above - and has the same problem. Since my drawer front extends across the whole cabinet, I'd have to pull the drawer out slightly to drop the front (the front would hit the sides of the cabinet as you dropped it if you didn't pull the drawer out).

Mike

Hot dang, missed that one. Should have sketched in the box. So much for the smooth transition (not that it was an issue for you).