Hinges that will hold a cabinet door open at 180 degrees

Greg Guarino

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Jul 13, 2012, 7:36:21 AM7/13/12

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I'm still planning a project to do with my teenage daughter. It is to
be a mirror with storage for her various hair and makeup items. I
originally envisioned what would essentially be a bathroom medicine
cabinet with a mirrored door. I may still do it that way, as it would
be simpler.

But I'm flirting with a different idea now: a cabinet the same size as
I had planned before, but with the mirror inside it. There would be
two doors side-by-side, each with perhaps three small "tool racks" on
the inner side. These would hold makeup brushes and such. Perhaps a
couple of them would be shelves with lips instead. With the doors
open, the mirror would be visible and the "tools" would be accessible
on the door racks.

I'm wondering if someone makes a hinge, preferably hidden, that has
two "detent" positions; one closed and one open 180 degrees. The
purpose would be to keep the doors from flapping around as she selects
items from the racks.

Dave

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Jul 13, 2012, 7:43:07 AM7/13/12

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On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:36:21 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino

>I'm wondering if someone makes a hinge, preferably hidden, that has
>two "detent" positions; one closed and one open 180 degrees. The
>purpose would be to keep the doors from flapping around as she selects
>items from the racks.

Hidden, but no detent. However, the interleaves of the hinges tend to
stop the doors from swinging freely in the wind. :)
http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=62129&cat=3,41241

Mike Marlow

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Jul 13, 2012, 8:34:48 AM7/13/12

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Greg Guarino wrote:

>
> I'm wondering if someone makes a hinge, preferably hidden, that has
> two "detent" positions; one closed and one open 180 degrees. The
> purpose would be to keep the doors from flapping around as she selects
> items from the racks.

Take a look at a Home Depot or Lowes near you Greg. Both will have several
styles of hinges that will serve as you describe.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

RicodJour

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Jul 13, 2012, 9:29:49 AM7/13/12

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The Soss hinges Dave mentioned are very nice. There's usually enough
friction that they tend to stay where you put them. I also doubt that
picking up a makeup tool for a rack would generate a lot of lateral
force. Women have fine motor skills. Try putting on mascara without
poking yourself in the eye numerous times and you'll see what I mean.

R

Greg Guarino

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Jul 13, 2012, 10:07:37 AM7/13/12

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I had envisioned doors that would cover the edges of the cabinet box.
The hinges shown seem to want an edge-to-edge arrangement, rather than
edge-to-face. They also look like they require a two-level recess hole
which might stretch my novice-level skills. Could be an interesting
challenge though.

Greg Guarino

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Jul 13, 2012, 10:14:07 AM7/13/12

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On 7/13/2012 9:29 AM, RicodJour wrote:
> Women have fine motor skills.

The user is female, yes, but of the teenage variety. I think her motor
skills, used with proper attention to the task at hand, are fine. The
"attention" part is variable, though. The very least we can say is that
objects in her vicinity sometimes suffer unfortunate "reconfigurations".

dpb

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Jul 13, 2012, 10:33:27 AM7/13/12

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On 7/13/2012 6:36 AM, Greg Guarino wrote:
> I'm still planning a project to do with my teenage daughter. It is to
> be a mirror with storage for her various hair and makeup items. I

...

>
> I'm wondering if someone makes a hinge, preferably hidden, that has
> two "detent" positions; one closed and one open 180 degrees. The
> purpose would be to keep the doors from flapping around as she selects
> items from the racks.

Not 180 but 150 and concealed (closed) w/o the need for the boring...

Not exactly svelte, however; you might poke around the site some more;
they have quite a large selection (and I have no illusions I have any
grasp of the full range of what you might find there... :) )

<http://www.wwhardware.com/xxi-surface-mount-concealed-hinge-laxx1/>

--

Leon

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Jul 13, 2012, 10:45:38 AM7/13/12

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On 7/13/2012 6:36 AM, Greg Guarino wrote:

Concealed rare earth magnets would probably hold the doors stationary
where ever you want them to remain stationary.

Swingman

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Jul 13, 2012, 11:35:05 AM7/13/12

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+1

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Last update: 4/15/2010
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http://gplus.to/eWoodShop

dadiOH

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Jul 13, 2012, 11:59:12 AM7/13/12

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One of the easiest hinges to install was knife hinges. All that was needed
was a couple of saw kerfs. No detents though. The hinge was hidden except
for the pivot and would open 180 and more. They were strong & inexpensive
so naturally you don't see them much anymore. Now we have lots of pot metal
European hinges that aren't inexpensive and which usually require special
tools to install.

The knife hinges like those I mentioned are on page 2.14 of this pdf...
www.davesanders.com/catalogdownload/sect02.pdf

This site has beaucoup hinges, worth browsing...
http://www.hardwaresource.com/

--

dadiOH
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