Hinge selection for HD shop storage cabinet doors

[Dave Ronyak]

I am building storage units for my shop/garage.  If I ever get a digital camera, I'll attempt to post some photos.  Others may have an interest in building a similar cabinet.

I need some help in selecting (and finding) hinges.  The first cabinet is finished, except for its door.  The cabinet stands about 7' tall, 26" deep and 36" wide, made of 3/4 (Chinese) birch plywood with solid wood reinforcements.  Inside are five full-width and depth drawer trays, each with a hardwood frame surrounding a bottom of 3/4" plywood, each drawer supported by 250 lb rated slides (from Lee Valley).  I sized them so each can accept a pair of molded plastic storage bins, which I intend load with tools, motor oil, paints and solvents.  The plastic bins will contain any spillage, and give me something to lift out if I want to.  The drawers are adjustable in height, each slide being affixed to to a side of the cabinet by five rows of 5 mm screws.  The vertical rows of holes were drilled with my Festool 1400 router and hole drilling set.  The base is equipped with HD load levelers.  There is no face frame on the cabinet.  The bare edges of the plywood are exposed when you face the front of the cabinet.  The plywood back is rabbeted into the box, held by glue and screws and nails.

I am currently making a pair of full height, half-width hollow doors for this cabinet - to get more storage for small items and tools.  Each door will have a perimeter frame of ~3/4" X 3 5/8" solid wood joined with dominos, and an outer panel of 1/2 birch plywood, rabbeted into the frame.  The inside hollow portions of the doors will be provided with hooks / shelves for storage, e.g. more tools and 8 oz. cans and spray cans and non-aerosol cans containing shop various supplies.  In other words,  - lots of weight will be hanging on those hinges and I plan to be opening those doors most every time I go into my garage/shop to work.

The hinges will have to support a lot of weight, but the doors are rather narrow.  I think the hinges should be configured so the screws that secure the hinges to the plywood sides cabinet box go perpendicular to the layers.  (I have thought about adding a bunch of dominos and screwing into them through the edge of the plywood.)  I have considered the wrap-around piano style hinges offered by Rockler's, but they are ~$25 each for one 4' hinge and longer hinges of that style are not available.  I would need at least 3 units (one would have to be cut in half) if I choose these.

In-Line Hinges Item number 00H37.70 from Lee Valley look interesting since they would fit the thicknesses of my materials and the screws would go perpendicular to the faces of the plywood and edge of the door frame, and additional cross screws can be added.

What other hinges might be a good choice?  (Euro hinges are not because they would interfere with operation of the drawers.)

None of the catalogues give much information in regard to load capacity.

After I finish this storage cabinet, I'll want to make a smaller, shallower one to house more tools.  This one would also have hollow doors intended for storage, and thus the same issues with weight and screw retention.

Dave R.

 

[Overtime]

Dave that sounds like a real nice setup. Do keep that camera on your list !

  Here aerie a couple of ideas and thoughts -

First, Blum makes what they call a "zero protrusion" hinge that allows the cabinet door to open clear of the side of the box allowing drawers and pull outs to clear.  The hinge itself may obstruct but only at the hinge location.  Clip top zero protrusion hinge #71T7500B  The specs on this hinge are on page 19 - 20 of the Blum Concealed Hinges Brochure. But you might need  4 per door because of the weight. $$

There are many more choices for piano hinges and prices. Your local borg might be a good option. But for long one piece hinge here is another examplehttp://www.austinhardware.com/default.asp?. Products - Hinges - Plain Steel - A207 Punched holes 96" . Have not purchased from them so no report on that. Piano hinges would be a good option especially for cost. $  I think with the correct size wood screws they would be good and strong.
And make sure you allow for the center gap clearance on the doors the deeper the box the bigger the gap or have a bevel (angle) on the mating sides of them.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks, Patrick for the links.  I was surprised to see so many continuous hinge listings without any holes at the Austin Hardware website.  They certainly have a wide variety of materials, sizes and duty ratings.

I set up the cabinet so I can position the drawers at nearly any height spacing at 32 mm intervals.  The Euro hinges would interfere with the slides. 

As I think more about this and the piano (continuous) hinges that are available, it occurred to me another option exists that should work - fasten the hinge flanges to the outside surfaces of the cabinet and doors.  Not visually tidy, but that installation would put and keep the screws in shear loading when the doors are opened 90 degrees.  Despite their price, the Rockler's continuous hinges are looking better.  Or 10 to 12 pairs of those hinges from Lee Valley.

Dave R.

 

[Eli]

Sounds like you've decided, but if you were still worried it was too much weight for the screws, you could use gate (strap) hinges and hold them with 1/4" bolts. Mount tee nuts from inside, and you have a flat surface there that won't interfere with your drawers.

 

[Overtime]

I'm like'n Eli's plan now. Galvanized strap hinges - low cost , strong , less screws. And the Tee nuts - Brilliant !  ;D Solid and less labor. All parts available at your favorite local hardware store.  After all, these are Garage storage utility cabinets. Go the utilitarian route. A fine compromise between beauty and beast.

If going the piano route I would have them exposed on the outside of the case and door so the screws are into the flat ply as opposed to the end / edge grain  which would no doubt lead to failure for sure. ???

 

[Eli]

If you use piano hinges make sure you have enough double sided tape to pre-mount them. It's so much easier to put the screws in.

I think you could find stainless strap hinges. Try West Marine or a boating shop if you want really nice strap hinges. They have a whole line of hinges for deck lockers and stuff like that.

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Sorry, what's a strap hinge? Is it like a hinge on a gate?

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Actually, I haven't decided, and may not until I have finished making the doors.  My shop is very cold at present; being a hobbyist I now work mostly on weekends to minimize heating costs.  Hmmm... external (strap) hinges with T-nuts for reinforcement... excellent idea, Eli!!  And your tip re use of double-sided tape to temporarily hold the piano hinges in place.  Exposure of this storage unit to weather is not a problem, so SS is not needed.  Painted or plated or galvanized should be enough.

My next issue will be selection of a slide mechanism to support a pull-out panel (like another hollow door approx. 2' wide by 6' tall by 3" - 4"" deep) to be mounted on the left side of this cabinet.  The cabinet will be located in the left rear corner of my garage, spaced enough away on the left side so the left door of the cabinet can be opened 90 degrees.  I'm viewing this as a large drawer mounted with its slides on the bottom and the top, and hoping that any slide designed for under mounting of a drawer will work.  Total weight is not likely to exceed 100 lbs.  Does anyone see anything wrong with this concept?  I have actually thought about building a separate case with a bunch of such pull-out panels on which to hang various tools and supplies, grouping them according to function.

Dave R.

 

[Eli]

Sorry, what's a strap hinge? Is it like a hinge on a gate?

Yes. Interchangeable names. Gate and strap the same beast.

I was thinking stainless more for show than for go, Dave. Electroplate or galv. would work fine no doubt.

Your pull-out panel sounds like a good idea. You can get 'pantry slides' specifically designed for this.

Tee nuts are an unsung hero. By a mile the best way I found to hang a flat screen TV's bracket (I'm sure somebody here has a better way, I've only done one) was to put the hole pattern in a piece of ply that would span studs (the bracket didn't, Murphy was present), add tee nuts, and flush mount the ply in the wall to the studs, plastering back up to it with the bolts in the tee nuts to keep them clean. Really solid mount.

I probably don't need to say (but I will), you have to be super careful removing and remounting bolts in tee nuts, you can disturb the seating and push them back out.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Eli,

T-nuts can be bonded into the wood with a little epoxy if you want to mininmize the likelihood of pushing them out.  That would be a real bummer on your embedded TV wall mount board!!

SS hinges, externally mounted, for decorative effect!!  Hmm... or as Tim Allen would say, Har, Har, grunt, grunt!!

Thanks for the suggestion of a pantry style single bottom roller with top guide for the side-mounted pull-out storage unit.  Many of the pantry units I've seen are too wide for my application, and designed to carry more weight than I plan to need.  I'm thinking of using one of the drawer slides that are designed for mounting under a drawer.  Any of the ball bearing slides in which the steel balls are captured inside the steel rails ought to work whether mounted with the slide mounted flat against the side or the bottom of a drawer, although the load bearing capability will be less because the rail portions of the slide are much more resistant to bending when mounted on the sides of the drawers.

Dave R..

 

[Eli]

Eli,

T-nuts can be bonded into the wood with a little epoxy if you want to mininmize the likelihood of pushing them out.  That would be a real bummer on your embedded TV wall mount board!!

SS hinges, externally mounted, for decorative effect!!  Hmm... or as Tim Allen would say, Har, Har, grunt, grunt!!

Thanks for the suggestion of a pantry style single bottom roller with top guide for the side-mounted pull-out storage unit.  Many of the pantry units I've seen are too wide for my application, and designed to carry more weight than I plan to need.  I'm thinking of using one of the drawer slides that are designed for mounting under a drawer.  Any of the ball bearing slides in which the steel balls are captured inside the steel rails ought to work whether mounted with the slide mounted flat against the side or the bottom of a drawer, although the load bearing capability will be less because the rail portions of the slide are much more resistant to bending when mounted on the sides of the drawers.

Dave R..

I only put the TV in to sell the house, no longer my problem. With my luck I'd have gotten it in the threads and epoxied the bolt to the tee nut. I have to plan to protect myself from my clumsiness. I doubt the new owner will touch it until the TV breaks.

I'm thinking of these. I don't see that they would limit the width, but maybe I don't really understand what you're doing. A hollow core door would slide out and have hand tools or accessories or clamps or whatever mounted to it right? It might be cool as a really deep drawer (top to bottom of cabinet) with no right side, then all the weight would be hanging from the two drawer slides at the top? But then if the cabinet weren't perfectly level it would be a bitch to deal with.