Rockler

Rockler's Guide to Choosing a Concealed Hinge
By Rockler Content Team
Tuesday Feb 18, 2003

Note: If you are constructing new cabinets, Rockler strongly recommends that you choose your door hardware for your cabinet and door design before you begin construction.

What is a Concealed Hinge?
Concealed Hinges are hinges that are hidden from view and allow you to see only the surface of the door. They are sometimes called “European-style” hinges and offer a clean design look.

Why choose a concealed hinge?
Concealed hinges offer easier door adjustment to compensate for slight imperfections in cabinet construction. Another benefit is the ability to take a door on or off without removing the hardware.

What does Rockler carry?
Rockler carries hinges by Julius Blum, Inc.

Blum hinges are preferred throughout the world by cabinetmakers, kitchen manufacturers and consumers.
Rockler is proud to have offered Blum Hinges for nearly 20 years.
The Blum CLIP hinge has become the industry standard for concealed hinges.
All Blum hinges are backed with a lifetime guarantee.
Blum is ISO 9001 certified which means that you are assured of consistent quality in every Blum hinge.

How do I choose a Concealed Hinge?
Concealed hinges are designed for two types of cabinet construction.

Face Frame – Hinge mounts to outside facing frame	Frameless - hinge mounts to inside cabinet wall

Click on the link above for the cabinet construction you prefer.

Two Options To Fit Your Needs!

Rockler offers two different concealed hinges for face frame applications. The hinge that you choose depends on your preferences for adjustability, degree of opening, cost, and overlay.

Click one of the hinges to the right that best fits your needs.	Option 1	Option 2
	Blum, 2-Way, 105 Degree Hinge	Blum, 3-Way, 120 Degree Hinge
ADJUSTABILITY	For most applications, 2-Way adjustment (side and height) is adequate and the more economical choice.	This 3-Way hinge offers the most adjustability for perfect alignment even when minor cabinet irregularities exist.
DEGREE OF OPENING	105°	120°
Cost	Around $5.00 Per Pair	Around $10.00 Per Pair
Overlay (Understanding Overlays)	Available in 3/8'', 1/2'', 3/4'', 1-1/4'' or variable overlays.	Available in 1/4'' - 5/8'', 1/2'' - 3/4'' overlays and inset full.

For easy and accurate installation click here.

2-Way Adjustment

ADJUSTABILITY
Easy 2-Way Independent Adjustments with the turn of a screw! Two separate screws allow you to make independent minor adjustments in door side or height.

Side adjustment - Regulates the gaps between doors, cabinets and wall for perfect parallel alignment.
View Enlarged Image

Height Adjustment - Lets you align door levels across a row of doors so they match precisely at the top and bottom.
View Enlarged Image

DEGREE OF OPENING
The 105 degree opening provides a good choice when space is limited and other cabinet doors or walls affect the performance of the cabinet door.

COST
The hinges cost about $5 per pair.

Back to Top

3-Way Adjustment

ADJUSTABILITY
Easy 3-Way Independent Adjustments with the turn of a screw! Three separate screws allow you to make independent minor adjustments in door side, height or depth alignment.

Side adjustment - Regulates the gaps between doors, cabinets and wall for perfect parallel alignment.
View Enlarged Image

Height Adjustment - Lets you align door levels across a row of doors so they match precisely at the top and bottom.
View Enlarged Image

Depth adjustment - Lets you bring any style of door into line with the vertical surface of the cabinet.
View Enlarged Image

DEGREE OF OPENING
The 120 degree swing allows the largest opening between your two hinge choices when interaction with other cabinet doors or walls is not an issue.

COST
These hinges cost around $10 per pair.

Back to Top

Understanding Door Overlay

		(A is the amount of overlay)
Full Inset		Overlay
If the door is completely flush with the face frame, it uses a full inset hinge. Typical butt hinges fall into this category.		If the door overlays the face frame completely, without a rabbet on the back edge, it uses a overlay hinge. The overlay can be predetermined (1-1/4'' to 1-3/8'') or variable. The advantage of a variable overlay hinge is that it can be mounted anywhere on the width of the face frame, allowing you to determine how much of the frame is visible. Since the amount of overlay you choose affects the overall width of the door, we recommend that you determine overlay and select the appropriate hinges before making or ordering your doors.

How many hinges and how much adjustability?

Use the chart to determine how many hinges you'll need for the height and weight of your door.

A door that is 43'' high and weighs 14 lbs. requires three hinges. If your door is only 24'' high but weighs 14 lbs., go with three hinges for maximum support and stability.

Use on 5/8'' - 3/4'' doors unless otherwise noted.

Back to Top

JIG IT for Concealed Hinges
Two ways to drill concealed hinges! For easy and accurate Hinge installation, check out our Rockler exclusive Hinge JIG IT systems. Choose from either the Single JIG IT system, ideal for smaller jobs and drills perfect cup holes one at a time. Or, choose our Multi-Tool Rail JIG IT system, which allows drilling all the hinge cups on one door together with a single setup.

Hinge cup drilling jigs - Here's an accurate and inexpensive way to set up your drill press for making holes for cup hinges.

Also see our Self-Centering Bits, perfect for hinge cup mounting.

The Self-Centering Bit ensures accurate hinge and hardware installations every time! The bit provides perfectly centered and straight pilot holes, so that even an amateur can install shift-free hardware that lasts.

Back to Top

Design Options: It's a question of degrees.

Click on the appropriate Blum hinge button for your needs from the picture below...

120° series hinges
The #1 choice for most applications.

Rockler offers a variety of frameless hinges for many applications. The hinge that you choose depends on your application requirements and preferences; including the degree of opening and overlay. Additional benefits to Blum hinges include 3-way adjustability and a choice between self-close or free-swing action.

For easy and accurate installation, click here.

Three-way independent adjustment means uniform cabinetry!

Blum "European-style" hinges are adjustable in three ways to let you align your cabinet doors for a consistent look, even where minor cabinet irregularities exist.

Side adjustment ... regulates the gaps between doors, cabinets and walls for perfect parallel alignment.
View Enlarged Image

Height adjustment ... lets you align door levels across a row of doors so they match precisely at top and bottom.
View Enlarged Image

Depth adjustment ... lets you bring any style of door into line with the vertical surface of the cabinet.
View Enlarged Image

Back to Top

Self-Closing versus Free Swing Hinges

Self-closing hinges are an ideal for cabinets. The built-in spring pulls the door closed and holds it in a closed position, eliminating the need for catches.

Free-swing hinges are most often used in furniture applications, rather than cabinet applications.

Back to Top

Overlay or Inset — what's the difference?

Here's something to consider when selecting hinges
Look at your cabinet design before selecting hinges. On Eurostyle cabinets, hinges are attached directly to the cabinet side. This gives you the option of fully overlaying, half overlaying or insetting the door within the opening, as shown below.

Overlay applications
If you decide to use an overlay cabinet design, select full overlay hinges for the ends and half overlay hinges in the middle of a row of cabinets.

Inset applications
Inset doors are recessed into the cabinet carcass to create a completely flush, clean-lined look.

Back to Top

Clip-On

Clip-On Blum's Clip-On feature allows you to install and remove the door without removing the hardware.

How many hinges and how much adjustability?

Use the chart to determine how many hinges you'll need for the height and weight of your door.

A door that is 43'' high and weighs 14 lbs. requires three hinges. If your door is only 24'' high but weighs 14 lbs., go with three hinges for maximum support and stability.

Use on 5/8'' - 3/4'' doors unless otherwise noted.

Back to Top

Hinge cup drilling jigs - Here's an accurate and inexpensive way to set up your drill press for making holes for cup hinges.

DAILY DEALS FOR June 11, 2004
Micro Thin Standard Platform	$64.99	50% OFF!
Swing-A-Mouse Swivel Mouse Pad Attachments	$24.99	38% OFF!
Trinity Xenon Light - Black	$15.99	47% OFF!