Cabinet Doors

[Chuck Spyropulos]

Well I'm really happy with the door I built (3 more to go). For the hinges, I attached a 3 foot piano hinge to the door and I plan to experiment with a piece of wood that will act as my "guinea pig" cabinet frame. I'll recess the fake section of frame and make sure the door opens and closes sufficiently then do it on the true frame.

Mike, when the door is closed the hinge is folded and when the door is open the hinge will be open to a slightly more than 90 degrees. It seems to me that I can choose any angle to bevel the hinge into the frame. But I think I need to worry about the door having enough room to open all the way....does this sound right to you? The deeper the hinge the less clearance for the top edge of the door to swing open. I think doing a "test" mounting on a piece of scrap wood will show me how much I can bury the hinge...right? I think I see that the max that I can burry the top of the hinge (where the two halves are joined) is the thickness of the hinge. If I try to bury it more then the door will open but not fully....i.e. less than 90 degrees....right? TIA for your help.

Originally Posted by mg

I don't use piano hinges for the doors, just regular exposed hinges so they are visable. If you want them hidden and the door completely flush then yes either use the euro hinges or recess the piano hinge in the cabinet. Beware if you recess the piano hinge, it can not be more than the thichness of the hinge or the door won't close properly. I think this is obvious but just want to cover all bases. I would just shave a little at a time until it is enough.

[mg]

That sounds right Chuck. Don't bury it any more than the thickness of the joint on the hinge. The door not open all the way because the edge of the door will hit the frame before 90 degrees. Any pics of how the door came out?

[Chuck Spyropulos]

I guess burying the hinge too far would also stop the door from closing all the way as well....so I will take your advice and go slow.

I'll try to post a pic this weekend. At first I was going to go plain. But then I decided to route out some nice patterns on the door frame.....I couldn't resist.

Originally Posted by mg

That sounds right Chuck. Don't bury it any more than the thickness of the joint on the hinge. The door not open all the way because the edge of the door will hit the frame before 90 degrees. Any pics of how the door came out?

[mg]

Originally Posted by Chuck Spyropulos

I guess burying the hinge too far would also stop the door from closing all the way as well....so I will take your advice and go slow.

Yes it will. You will be fine with what you said before about not making it any deeper than the depth of the hinge.

[Chuck Spyropulos]

Mike, thanks for looking over my shoulder. I really have minimal experience with wood-working so it is really nice to bounce ideas off of you.

Originally Posted by mg

Yes it will. You will be fine with what you said before about not making it any deeper than the depth of the hinge.

[JustDavidP]

Mike,

How do ya like these puppies?





I'm installing them this weekend. I just have to get the hinges temped...stain the whole project and get plumbing!!

Dave

[Chuck Spyropulos]

looks great!

Originally Posted by JustDavidP

Mike,

How do ya like these puppies?





I'm installing them this weekend. I just have to get the hinges temped...stain the whole project and get plumbing!!

Dave

[Chuck Spyropulos]

I wish now that I had mitred the corners on my frames. It would have made the decorative bevels inside the frame MUCH easier. Ah well, live and learn.

[JustDavidP]

The mitring is never easy, but I like the look. I do have to go fill some gaps, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it. I too used the router and routed 1/2 of the plywood and pine to make the ash plywood meet the frame. It was then glued and stapled. The pine frames themselves were just 1X3 that were routed inside and outside for the beveled, decorative look.

D

[mg]

They look good Dave, you do those or was that Gustavo???

[JustDavidP]

That was a joint (or is that joiner) effort

Dave

[Chuck Spyropulos]

I used a dado kit for my table saw...it made things really easy. For $23 at HD it was well worth it and saved lots of time. I could have gone with the mitred corners, but I looked at my kitchen cabinet doors and also the "model" in the wood-working book I read and it used the butted frame style. The joints came out really nice and square but routing out the inside decorative bevels is trickier for this style door since you gotta stop the bevel on the frame sides where the the inner edge intersects the inner edge of the top and bottom pieces. Also, I could not figure out how to get a straight 90 degree beveled corner since the router bit has has a finite radius and you are left with an arc at the end of the bevel. Any one know how to square up the beveled corners?

I'll post pictures tonight to better illustrate my issue, but in general i'm happy with the doors, especially since it was my first time doing raised panels.

I want to get the first door hung temporarily to use it as a guide for placement and planning the alignment of the door next to it so doing the hinges is my next step before building the next door.

[Chuck Spyropulos]

just remember to not inhale..... ......when you are joining, sanding, or planing...

Originally Posted by JustDavidP

That was a joint (or is that joiner) effort

Dave

[Chuck Spyropulos]

Here is a pic of the first door temporarily mounted. Tomorrow I'll finish building the second door and then it is time to build the lower doors.

[Chuck Spyropulos]

The doors were built, as suggested by mg, with a rabbet cut all around the perimeter so that the light from the canopy is blocked. The door overlaps the cabinet by 1 inch all around. The frames are oak and the panels are oak plywood. I got the piano hinge and the safety lock hinge at Home Depot.

Here's a pic of the door in the closed position: