For many years, a hinge was just a hinge. There were different styles, sizes, and shapes, but they all worked pretty much the same way — two leaves pivoted around a pin. However, when it comes to some of the high-tech hinges available today, that simple description doesn’t really apply. Here’s a selection of hinges that offer something extra. You’ll find source information on page 51.
1 Fall Door Hinge
This clever hinge takes the hassle out of accurately installing a 90° fall door on a desk or cabinet. To mount the two-piece hinge, all you have to do is bore a pair of 35mm holes. Then once installed, the hinge allows easy lateral, height, and gap adjustment to achieve a perfect fit between the door and the cabinet.
2 Compact Face Frame
If you don’t like the bulky, two-piece design of most Eurostyle hinges, try this one-piece compact style. This hinge offers easy installation, three-way adjustability, snap closing, and comes in several overlay widths.
3 Lid-Stay Torsion Hinge
Installing a set of these heavyduty lid hinges on a toy or blanket chest will kill two birds with one stone. They’ll fill the role of both hinge and lid stay.
The trick here is that builtin torsion resistance allows the hinges to support a heavy chest lid safely in any open position. At the same time, the lid will open and close smoothly with minimal effort. This same type of function is seen on laptop computers.
To accommodate lids of different sizes and weights, the hinges are available in a range of torque capacities. The supplier offers a formula for figuring your needs.
4 No-Mortise Concealed Hinge
One drawback to using concealed Euro-style hinges is the need to drill large, accurately positioned cup holes on the inside face of the door. The concealed hinge shown above offers similar features along with the advantage of quick and easy, surface-mount installation. This versatile hinge can accommodate both inset and overlay installations, opens a full 90°, and has a spring action hold-open and snap-closing feature. An added bonus is that it’s less expensive than most concealed hinges.
5 Hold-Up Hinge
From the look of the hinge shown at right, you would think it has to perform a pretty specialized task. And you would be right. This hinge is designed to make getting at the contents of an overhead bin a bit more convenient. When you lift the drop-down door to horizontal, a built-in lock automatically engages to hold it open at 75°. To close the door, all you do is lift it slightly to disengage the locking mechanism.
6 Lipped Door Hinge
Doors that are rabbeted to lap over a face frame have been a mainstay of all types of cabinetry for years. It’s a pretty foolproof way to fit a door. But until recently, there was no Euro-style hinge to handle this common application. Fortunately, that void has been filled by this new lipped door hinge.
7 Blumotion Soft Close
When you first observe a Blumotion hinge closing a door, you’d swear there was magic involved. All you have to do is start the door on its way. When almost closed (at about 25°), the hinge takes over and slowly, gently, and quietly completes the job. They’re available for numerous installation types.
