Quest for soft-open hinges

[fraz]

Hi all,

Have kind of a wild hair of an ongoing project design that will be killer if I can pull off that one technical feature.  Need to find the "right" hinges if they exist.  Will try to explain as easily as possible.  Ideally they would be soft-opening and preferably compact hinges ala Blumotion.

Take a 5-sided box (like a cabinet with no face yet)... now I want door to hinge at the bottom and be dampened upon opening instead of closing.  Think if you had a dishwasher or an oven door and wanted the heavy door to be dampened as you opened it.  When I explained to my buddy he said "yeah like a cassette door opening on a stereo" which summed it up nicely.

In a perfect world they would be compact hinges that could be pocketed like many of the other 38mm cup style hinges.  Alternatively they could be mounted on inside edges.  The idea is there would be a small shelf inside to be revealed when you open the door so I want to avoid intruding into the space as much as possible.

 

[usernumber1]

what you want isn't cheap. there are horizontal and vertical stays.
https://www.richelieu.com/ca/en/cat...ning-systems/vertical-opening-systems/1168230
http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=74618&cat=3,41419,43745&ap=1

 

[live4ever]

Far from an expert on hinges, but I tried to look for something similar a few years back and came up empty.  Best option was lid stays/gas pistons, but it sounds like those will encroach on your inside space too much. 

Maybe Blum or Sugatsune have made something new in the meantime.

There are some regular cabinet hinges (not cup style) that could work for soft-open depending on the size and weight of the door, but they're not meant for lid flaps and probably wouldn't be as elegant in operation as you're looking for, not to mention would protrude significantly.

 

[fraz]

what you want isn't cheap. there are horizontal and vertical stays.

Thanks for the links.  Researching down the rabbit hole now.  So far the ones I picked... may be expensive cause they are box of 10.  Will have to play close attention on options here but think you are getting me closer.

Far from an expert on hinges, but I tried to look for something similar a few years back and came up empty.  Best option was lid stays/gas pistons, but it sounds like those will encroach on your inside space too much. 

My thoughts exactly.  The more encroachment, the more I have to design, cut, fit... weird geometry.

Maybe Blum or Sugatsune have made something new in the meantime.

There are some regular cabinet hinges (not cup style) that could work for soft-open depending on the size and weight of the door, but they're not meant for lid flaps and probably wouldn't be as elegant in operation as you're looking for, not to mention would protrude significantly.

Good thoughts and thank you.  I have had Sugastune come up in some of my searches.  I came up empty on Blum but their people were nice enough to answer my inquiry with a polite no and at least it stopped me from looking there.  I'll take small wins as I can.

Check these out.  They encroach but may be workable.