Easiest hinges for inset doors

[Bob Cooper]

I have never built inset cabinet doors and would like to try. These doors are going to be for a built in China type cabinet -- made out of tigerwood. So I'm not sure euro cup style hinges would be the right look. So with this in mind any advice on a hinge that's a little easier than another?

[Martin Wasner]

So with this in mind any advice on a hinge that's a little easier than another?


Euro style cup hinges....

[Jamie Buxton]

The whole world seems to have gone to cup hinges, but good ol' butt hinges can look real good too. You get the knuckles of the hinge adding a little more color and definition to the hinge side of the door, balancing the pull on the other side. IMHO, butt hinges aren't much more difficult to install than cup hinges.

[Evan Stewart]

I definitely agree with what Jamie said about butt hinges being a good choice too. I do a lot of inset doors and personally I use these:

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiDiaav0_jVAhUVtsAKHTAvC90YABAXGgJpbQ&sig=AOD64_1KMOeRC5U4Tc-N_MSeCnxOF4dyvg&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwiSmJ2v0_jVAhUL24MKHTDtB_0Qwg8IMA&adurl=

They are very pricey but I install my doors on site and the 3 way adjustments on these give you a pretty good margin of error. It's definitely worth making a practice setup before making the holes in your doors the first time.

[jack duren]

concealed hinge...

In most cases butt hinges require matching of the handles...

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[Martin Wasner]

The whole world seems to have gone to cup hinges, but good ol' butt hinges can look real good too. You get the knuckles of the hinge adding a little more color and definition to the hinge side of the door, balancing the pull on the other side. IMHO, butt hinges aren't much more difficult to install than cup hinges.

Do the cup hinges and add the fake butt hinges. Then you still have adjustment and soft close.

Butt hinges aren't bad if you only have a few, but they get real tiresome after a while, especially if the cabinets inevitably get twisted up a little bit after install

[David Zaret]

i do a lot of face frame inset work... the blum hinges are nice, with good adjustability. great idea to use the euro hinges and decorate as you wish.. gives you the adjustability you certainly need for inset.

if your face frame overhangs the inside of the cabinet by at least 9/16" or so, use the FF plate 175H503021180 with a half-cranked hinge such as 71B365180. if your face frames are flush (or near flush) with the inside of the carcass, it's a 0mm plate (or 3mm plate+ if you need some padding) with a full cranked hinge (175H910180, 71B375180).

remember, if you're using the 0+mm plates, the plate mounting holes are set back 37mm + face frame thickness.

[Bob Cooper]

Great. Thanks so much

[Bill McDermott]

Bob, Butt hinges are a traditional look and probably a good choice for your china cabinet. You might be also be interested in trying knife hinges if this is a high style piece or you want a clean look with little distraction from hardware. You can get them with an offset that works for inset doors. They are not as hard to install as you might think. Just follow the instructions which are widely available. Practice on some scrap. I like them. Lee Valley is a good source. Tigerwood, eh? Wow. I hope we get to see it when done.

[glenn bradley]

Cup hinges are great in the kitchen and bath but, not in the rest of the house. If you don't want to use mortised-in butt hinges there are no-mortise hinges (http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware/page.aspx?p=50423&cat=3,41241,41249,50423)that look pretty good.

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[Scott A Bernstein]

I recently built a large computer desk, which included a built-in cabinet (posted on another thread). I wanted hinges that were invisible from the outside - normally euro style hinges would be fine...however the interior dimension of the cabinet was sized to fit a large computer CPU mounted on a full-extension sliding shelf and the protruding euro hinge would potentially decrease the available interior clearances. So I used fully-mortised Soss hinges. I purchase an aftermarket Soss hinge router template (not the Soss brand) and- never having done this before - they worked beautifully. I would not hesitate to use them again. They come in a variety of sizes, although they are a bit pricey.

[andy bessette]

An attractive alternative is the lift-off hinge.

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[Bob Cooper]

ok...i would like to try knife hinges one day but that seems like two new challenging things at once. The non-mortised hinges from LV look like they are slotted and thus allow some movement. That may be the way to start. Inside this cabinet is going to be pull out drawers so that's another drawback against any kind of cup hinge that would stick out

[Jamie Buxton]

ok...i would like to try knife hinges one day but that seems like two new challenging things at once. The non-mortised hinges from LV look like they are slotted and thus allow some movement. That may be the way to start. Inside this cabinet is going to be pull out drawers so that's another drawback against any kind of cup hinge that would stick out

Remember that if you open a knuckle-hinge door ninety degrees, it is still going to be covering part of the cabinet opening.

[Johanna Johanson]

Seems to me that if you are going to use such a beautiful wood you should consider knife hinges. They are, indeed, expensive, but I think that when you look at the time and money you have already poured into such a project they are worth it. They are not all that difficult to use if you create a template for them to rout out the recess.

[Warren Lake]

id look at the materials and style before i decided on hinges. on any older style that had hinges in the past I like to see a hinge.

[glenn bradley]

ok...i would like to try knife hinges one day but that seems like two new challenging things at once. The non-mortised hinges from LV look like they are slotted and thus allow some movement. That may be the way to start. Inside this cabinet is going to be pull out drawers so that's another drawback against any kind of cup hinge that would stick out

I would recommend these for your pullouts.

https://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/DrawerBumper-8p44.htm

I have some of these that I no longer use and do not recommend.

https://www.pullsdirect.com/blum-60-0030-11-screw-mounted-interior-drawer-bumper/p2891935?source=gg-gba-pla_2891935____39790370970&s_kwcid=AL!3815!3!39790370970!!!g!307097375014!&gclid=CjwKCAjwxJnNBRAMEiwA8X_-QVYdvi-X6BJmhP_nS2uaY-GG2UseGYiXH29ASnSvXU2w2rTeK7gPvRoCfXQQAvD_BwE

They are cheaper and that is tempting but, they are hard enough to scratch the inside of the doors which is what you are trying to prevent.