NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 43, $3.50 Making ... - Wood Tools

Hanging doors on concealed hinges
The trouble with a lot of cabinet
hinges-including some expensive onesis
that you can't adjust the doors once
they're hung. Some hinges permit a
smidgen of adjustability through slotted
mounting holes, but these are awkward
and liable to work loose in service.
Concealed hinges made by several
European firms solve these problems
cleverly. Though formidably complicated
in design,
can
these hinges are simple to
install. Besides remaining Out of sight
when the doors are shut, they are adjustable
in three planes, by as much as
7i6 in. for some models. You need only
locate mottises to within a fraction of an
inch-you fine-tune after the door is
hung. Euro hinges work with an elbow
action that throws the door's hinged
edge slightly sideways, keeping it from
banging into the adjacent door. Though
invisible when the doors are closed, concealed
hinges are big and mechanicallooking
when the doors are open.
Most concealed hinges consist of twO
patts: a baseplate which you screw to
the inside of the cabinet carcase, and a
metal arm that pivots on a cup-shaped
flange which you let into a round mortise
in the door, as shown in the top
photo at right. To hang a door, mark
out and bore the hinge mortises. With a
fence clamped to the drill press, use a
lo/s-in. (35mm) Forstner bit (available
from hinge suppliers) to bore a �6-in.
deep mortise for each hinge. The edges
of the mortises should be about %2 in. in
from the edge of the door. Push the
hinge temporarily into place. Locate the
baseplate by holding the door in the position
it will be when open, and transfer
the center marks. A jig like the one
shown in the photo, far right, will speed
the mounting of baseplates. Screw the
hinge cup into the mortise, then hang
the door by sliding the hinge arms onto
the baseplates.
Once the door is hung, you adjust it
by turning screws in the hinge arm to
move the door vertically, horizontally,
or toward or away from the carcase.
You can buy spring-loaded, self-closing
hinges or else use nylon roller
catches to hold the doors closed. I find
an Austrian brand of hinge called Grass
to be the strongest and most adjustable.
Grass hinges are sold wholesale by
Kessler Inc. (229 Grand St., New
York, N.Y. 100 13), and are available
retail (about $9 a pair) from Woodcraft
Supply; you can get a complete list of
local distributors from the importer,
Grass America (1377 S. Park Dr., Kernersville,
N.C. 27284). -B.P.
Scaff photos
Most European-style concealed hinges have two parts-a baseplate that attaches to the
inside of the carcase, and an arm-on-flange that fits into a round mortise in the door.
The top hinge opens about 100°; the lower, 1760• Made by Grass, both self-close, and
are available for either inset or overlay doors. The bit bores a 35mm round mortise.
...
The setup shown at left bores the mortises for
concealed hinges. In a production run, the/lywood
jig pictured above speeds mounting 0 the
baseplates. It positions the plates at the correct
depth, and equidistant from the top and bottom
edges of each door opening.
In the arm of this hinge, the screw at the right controls the door's lateral position; the
middle screw, its distance from the front edge of the carcase. The third screw, when
loosened, allows the door to be moved up or down in the vertical plane.
59