Large cabinet doors

[jgrobler]

I've completed all 31 doors (not counting the 10 drawer fronts) for my kitchen cabinets. 4 of them are large. About 36 3/4 by 17 inches, and weighs about 10 pounds each. I'm using the Blum 3-way 107 degree face frame hinges (for all other doors).

I need some advice from all the smart people who has done this before. For these 4 doors, do I need a more heavy-duty hinge, and where can I find such hinges, or should I add more hinges to each door, and how many? Would 3 or 4 per door be adequate?

An alternative that I thought about, but not really wanting to do it, is to rout out the solid panel back about 3/8" (leaving another 3/8" wood) to about 2" from the edge, to reduce the weight, but I'l looking for better options.

As always, thanks for your consideration and ideas.

If I can figure out how to reduce my photos, I could post some, but I don't have a lot of imaging software. So I'll also appreciate advice on this.

[Tequila]

I've done larger doors (3'H x 2'W) that were a little lighter than yours (flat panel rather than raised panel) with only 2 hinges and they've gone 3 years of moderate use without sagging.

I'd suggest going with 3 hinges on each of yours to be safe rather than muck with the design.

[drumpriest]

As a rule of thumb I do a hinge per foot of door verticle. Now 17" wide is a pretty wide cabinet door as well, but I think you'd do ok with 3 per door. According to Blum, you need 2 for a 9-11 lb door, and 3 for a 13-20 lb door. 2 hinges for doors up to 40" in height.

You could probably use 2, but I always overengineer, so I'd probably use 3.

[jabe]

Large cabinet doors

I use only Blum hardware on all my kitchen cabinet jobs. 3 hinges on your door should be enough. I've used 3 hinges on flat panel doors, 3/4" x 20" x 41" lumber core with laminate on both sides with no problems. Blum hinges are strong and easy to adjust. You can go to Blum.com web site for more information on their products. Good luck on your kitchen project!

[cabinetman]

Three hinges should do the trick. For free imaging software try:
www.faststone.org



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[jgrobler]

Thank you for the replies and confirmations. Thanks Cabinetman for the link to imaging software too. I'll check that out tonight.

[jgrobler]

Thanks Cabinetman, downloaded the software, it worked great, so I'm trying to attach some pics.

The first pic shows the doors that I was concerned about, the rest shows the rest of the doors.

[cabinetman]

Those doors look great. Nice finish. If you made frameless cabinets, you can use the hinge that mounts on the cabinet side, not on a 3/4" FF edge. The cabinet side mount is a much more substantial hinge. On the ones you did, mount your hinges 4" up and down on the door. If you think later you need a middle hinge, you can add it. It takes a little patience and experience to adjust the third middle hinge to be compatible with the top and bottom hinge. You want it to be helping, not working against the adjustments of the other two.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"