For fastening and further operation of doors in furniture production use Various types loops If you bought a cabinet and decided to assemble it yourself, then you cannot avoid the process of installing doors on furniture hinges.
Figure 1. Furniture hinge design
On modern market furniture presented different kinds door hinges, which include both four-hinged hinges and simply hinged ones, which were very popular back in Soviet times. Today, four-hinged hinges are very popular, they are simple and reliable design, and easy installation. They have high level strength, which provides an unlimited number of opening-closing cycles. Another significant advantage of such a mechanism is the ability to adjust it in 3 planes, which will allow you to align the cabinet doors without any problems.
The four-hinged hinge consists of the following elements (Fig. 1):
- cup;
- shoulder;
- mounting (reciprocal) plate.
The hinge is fixed to the furniture frame with a mounting strip, and with a cup - to the door. Self-tapping screws are used as fastening elements. The arm acts as a lever and connects the cup to the strike plate using a four-joint device. There is an adjusting screw in the cover of the bar, with which you can adjust the position of the door relative to the base.
According to the method of applying the sash to the body, the hinges are divided into:
- Invoices. They are used when the door covers the sides of the niche in which it is located. This method of fastening doors is the most popular, so it can be found on almost any furniture set.
- Semi-overhead. Used when on the same sidewall furniture product 2 doors open. Hinges of this type differ from others by a slight bend in the base, which provides a small distance between the two facades.
- Internal. They are used in the case of internal fastening of the facade, that is, the door does not cover the side of the niche in which it is placed, but is located inside it. The base of such hinges has a pronounced bend.
- Angular. Using such mechanisms, you can secure the doors at a certain angle.
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Preparatory work
To install a furniture hinge on a cabinet with your own hands, you need to prepare the following tools:
Figure 2. Loop marking
- screwdriver;
- end mill with a diameter of 35 mm;
- ruler;
- building level;
- awl;
- pencil;
- self-tapping screws - 3.5x16 or 4x16 mm, 2 pcs. for 1 loop.
After preparing the tool, marking is made, which consists of marking the center of each hole for the hinges. Depending on the height of the door, as well as the placement of the height of the shelves, about 7-12 cm recede from the edge of the facade. If the door has large dimensions, then it is necessary to use not 2 hinges, but 3 or more. In this case, the step between the canopies must be at least 50 cm. The dependence of the number of hinges on the height and weight of the facade is presented in the table.
After marking the height, mark the centers of the holes from the edges along the width. For a standard door hinge, the distance from the edge should be approximately 21-22 mm (Fig. 2). When marking, you must ensure that after installing the hinges they do not come into contact with the cabinet shelves, because this will interfere with the normal functioning of the door.
Today I will discuss in detail such a frequently encountered issue as the addition of cup furniture hinges(“loop frogs” as they are sometimes called). Let's analyze this process using the example of installing a facade on a kitchen box under a sink. This box uses inexpensive, quick-installation hinges with integrated closers.
First we attach the mounting strips. To do this, the loop is disassembled. We mark and set aside the following dimensions from the bottom of the box: 100 mm (center of the lower hinge) and 600 mm (center of the upper hinge). We put pencil marks at these levels.
From them we set aside a perpendicular of 37 mm from which 16 mm in each direction (16+16=32). It is advisable to drill these points with a thin 1 mm drill. I apologize for the quality of the photo. I first screwed the bar, and only then remembered the need to take a photo, which is why the holes have such an unsightly appearance.
Using a pair of self-tapping screws, we attach the mounting strip to the box post. It is advisable not to tighten the screws, as adjustment will be required later.
Now we move on to a more important moment - adding facades.
On back side facade (be sure to decide before marking where bottom is top, and right to left, so that it won’t be offensive later) we also set aside bottom corner the aforementioned 100 and 600 mm.
I don't take pictures from the façade protective film, so as not to damage it later during transportation - do not pay attention to it.
We mark the hole for the cup 21.5-22 mm from the edge. And the holes for fastening the hinge are 24 mm on both sides from the perpendicular and 27 mm from the edge (I forgot to note this size in the photo). We prick these points with an awl.
I will dwell on the tool for drilling such holes in a little more detail. It is called a Forstner drill (or cutter). We need a diameter of 35 mm. Pay attention to the central tenon, which ensures that the drill is centered relative to the axis. It can be long (matte drill from Globus) and short (yellow Anchor).
- In the first case, it holds better on the workpiece, that is, the risk of the cutter moving during initial drilling is lower, but the risk of pushing through the front side with this tenon is higher.
- In the second case, tilting during initial drilling (this is true for people who will drill with a simple drill) can lead to the drill breaking off and scratches on the inner surface of the facade, but the risk of pushing through is less.
Personally, I would advise you to look for the second option and ALWAYS practice on unnecessary parts.
Now the drilling process itself. Option one is drilling using a drilling machine (it must be said that this is perfect option). We set the guide, set the center of the workpiece under the center of the drill, and try it on.
Then we drill to a depth that is limited by the stop-limiter. The risk of damage to the facade tends to zero. And the output is these neat holes of the same depth. Moreover, with a minimum amount of dust (pay attention to the vacuum cleaner pipe behind the drill).
Now let's look at a more common (household) drilling option - using a simple drill. This requires great care, but, in general, there is nothing complicated either. During initial drilling, the drill should be held strictly vertically, controlling this process along the circle, which is cut by the scoring knives of the cutter.
As soon as the cutter has penetrated 2-3 mm into the material, it will no longer move to the side, and you can relax a little, but it is advisable to still maintain the angle. As a rule, you need to stop when the cutter goes into the material at the level of its upper platform, but still practice on scraps first. You can drill in several stages, checking the depth with the hinge cup until you reach the desired depth.
The result should be a hole like this for the hinge cup and another couple of 1 mm holes for the mounting screws.
Insert the loops into the holes. To align them with the edge of the facade, we use a long straight object (I have a piece of chipboard, or a second similar façade or a ruler), which supports the hinges in front.
This trick allows you to accurately position the hinge strictly perpendicular to the edge of the facade (this can be clearly seen from the position of the mounting holes that we marked earlier).
We fasten the hinges with a couple more screws.
Now comes the stage of hanging the hinges on the mounting strips.
Here I suffered trying to hold the façade with one hand and also photograph the process)).
We apply the facade to the installation site (you can put something underneath it or hold it with your foot, as I did) and place the loop on the bar in front and snap the lock into place. If you have simple cheap hinges, then they are also wound from the front, but the hinge body is wound under the screw that is on the bar. By tightening the latter, fixation is made.
The same manipulations are repeated with the remaining loops. In principle, the facade is already fixed.
All that remains is to position it on the sides of the box, that is, to make adjustments. Cup hinges are adjustable in all three planes.
By loosening the screws securing the mounting plate to the box post, we are able to move the façade up/down by 1-2 mm. Then we tighten the screws back.
By tightening and unscrewing the adjusting screw located in the front part of the hinge, we move the facade left and right. In this way, you can tilt the facade in one direction or another (by changing the position of only one hinge or twisting them in different directions).
Finally, by loosening and tightening the rear screw, we move the front back and forth.
As a result, we should end up with something similar. Photo of the final with the facade open.
And with it closed. It can be seen that the edge of the door is parallel to the edge of the frame (that is, the adjustment was carried out correctly).
And finally, let’s figure out how many loops need to be hung on the facade. After all, it is clear that for large doors a couple of loops will simply not be enough. The quantity depends on the size and weight of the facades. For clarity, I will give this diagram.
Please note that weight can vary greatly depending on the materials used.
When buying new furniture or replacing the facade in your kitchen, the need arises. There is nothing complicated in this procedure, so anyone can handle it. The main thing is to know some of the nuances that will help you get the job done efficiently and quickly.
Furniture hinge design
To understand how to produce correct installation furniture hinges, you need to understand their design. Today the most common mounting option for home furniture is a four-hinged furniture hinge. main feature of this product is that it can be used to adjust the door in space after installation. After hanging the doors, they may be slightly skewed and placed below or above the body dimensions. This is especially noticeable when the furniture is equipped with several doors. Therefore, for high-quality furniture assembly, the ability to adjust is very important.
The main elements of hanging overhead doors on four-hinged hinges are:
- door;
- side wall;
- hole for the head of the fastener;
- hinge block;
- mounting head;
- adjusting screw;
- mounting screws;
- barbell;
- screw securing the rod to the block;
- damper
The base of the hinge is attached to the mounting plate. To make it possible to adjust the door level, the fastening mechanism includes an adjusting screw. The hinge cup is mounted in a special hole, the diameter of which depends on the size of the door. Most often, cup holes with a diameter of 35 mm and a depth of about 12 mm are used for fastening. If the doors are made of lightweight materials (glass, wood), then the cup can be chosen with a smaller diameter. There are also hinges available that are intended for fastening large doors. In this case, the diameter of the cup should be 40 mm.
When choosing a door fastener, you also need to pay attention to the following parameters:
- Distance to cup. This is the measurement from the edge of the hole in the door for the cup to the edge of the door. In most cases it is 4-5 mm.
- Mounting method. The mounting holes are located at the same distance from the edge of the door. With their help, the cup is fixed to the door when installing furniture hinges. In this case, the cup can be attached different ways: using self-tapping screws 12-17 mm long, by pressing or using a special coupling.
- Hole pattern. Before purchasing fastening elements, you should take into account that the cup fastening points, even for identical hinges, can be located at different distances from each other. Therefore, you need to choose a mounting option that would the best way suitable for your case.
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Tools and materials
To install furniture hinges with your own hands, you need to prepare the following tools and materials:
- drill;
- screwdriver;
- a cutter of the appropriate diameter;
- roulette;
- lath;
- pencil;
- screws.
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Fastening elements
Any installation work start with markings.
In this case, it is necessary to pay Special attention to ensure that the installation location of the fasteners does not intersect with the installation locations of the shelves.
In most cases, 2 hinges are used to secure the door, but if the door is large and heavy, then it is better to play it safe and install 3 or more fasteners.
A distance of 70-120 mm is measured from the top and bottom edges of the door. If there are more than two loops, then the distance between the extreme elements is divided into as many equal parts as the number of fasteners you plan to use. In order to know how many fasteners it is better to use, you can use the table given. After this, the center of the future fastening location is measured from the long edge of the part. For hinges with a cup with a diameter of 35 mm, this distance should be 21-22 mm.
Once the markings are made, you can start drilling holes. For ease of drilling, small holes can be made in the centers of future holes with a sharp awl. This will prevent the drill from slipping. A drill with a diameter of 35 mm is put on the drill and a hole is made according to the markings. Its depth should be about 12 mm, which is enough to securely fasten the head. To avoid chips and unevenness, the drill must be held strictly perpendicular to the facade while drilling.
If this is your first time drilling holes for furniture hinges, it is recommended that you practice before starting work. To do this, you can take a piece of chipboard and drill several holes of the required depth, since in most cases, inexperienced furniture assemblers drill a hole until the drill comes out on the back side.
Best used for drilling drilling machine, since in this case the workpiece will be securely fixed, and the drill will always be perpendicular to it. Using the machine, you can also set the required hole depth, protecting yourself from through drilling.
After all the holes are ready, hinges are inserted into them, having first removed the mounting strips. Here there may be a slight difficulty with the parallelism of the fasteners, because it will be difficult to install the hinges straight by eye. To do this, you can use a long strip, which should be attached to the rear edges of the hinges. In this case, the placement of the loops is adjusted so that they all stick to the rail. After setting the position, use a screwdriver to tighten 2 screws for each fastener element.
After installing all the hinges, you can proceed to attaching the slats to the furniture riser. To do this, the hinges are opened, the strips are attached to them and inserted into the body. This procedure will be easier to do if you turn the furniture over to the side to which the hinges are attached. The mounting strips are secured using a 4x17 mm screw with a 2.5 mm pre-drilled hole. In this case, it will be much easier to fasten the screws with a screwdriver.
After the mounting strips are secured, the doors are hung on the facade and their position is adjusted using an adjusting bolt.
Cup drills are used to drill blind holes. Chipboard is no exception. It is worth paying special attention to thin chipboards with a thickness of 16 mm. To cut a hole for a hinge with a diameter of 35 mm and a depth of 8-10 mm, the drill has an unacceptable depth. The drill bit will go right through the slabs and create an unwanted hole in the door face. To overcome this unpleasant situation, we do the following.
We start drilling with a 35 mm drill and make a hole of small depth. We obtain the remaining depth with a cup drill of a smaller diameter, moving it along the surface of our hole. Not much work, actually, because... The hinge cup is not strictly round in shape.
By the way, during operation the scattering of “fragments” is quite decent. To limit the range and reduce the time for subsequent cleaning, you can use a simple technique. From a cake or pizza lid (it’s the latter in the photo below) it’s made protective cover(sounds pathetic). During operation, all sawdust is inside and nearby.
We remove the cardboard and sawdust all nearby. All that remains is to remove it with a brush/vacuum cleaner in one pass.
Maria, Access date: 2015-02-18 18:10:07
Please tell me what to do if the drill “leads”? The hole turns out to be ellipsoidal... The material is beech (everything is better on chipboard). The drill has a side blade. I’m already thinking about buying a machine for a drill or looking for someone to make it to order (((
Novel , Access date: 2011-08-01 19:14:59
It’s been a long time since I read somewhere this technique for drilling for hinges. Take two Forstner drills. One of them has the central spine completely cut off. Start drilling with a normal drill, finish with a sawed one - and the hole will be perfectly blind.
boris-yarovoj, Access date: 2011-03-24 17:51:23
About the letters A, B, C on the strikers. This is how they were designated more accurately before (I'm afraid to confuse the order of the letters) overhead, semi-overlay and inset hinges - Chinese manufacturers. It’s as if it was made especially for Chinese storekeepers (and for ours too). But the furniture maker doesn’t need to get hung up on this - look at what the loop actually is along the bend of its “neck” - i.e. what you hold in your hands and what you use, but these letters seem to be a thing of the past.
boris-yarovoj, Access date: 2011-03-24 17:42:37
There is no need to use two “Fostner drills” of different diameters. I choose one hole - 35 mm. It’s just that when you buy such a drill specifically for hinge cups - in chipboard 16mm - then you need to blunt the centering tip of the drill to the amount you need - so that it is just a little in front of the lateral incisors. In principle, you don’t even have to sharpen it after that - you just need to punch each future hole a little. Of course, you will need to develop the habit of holding the drill as perpendicular to the surface as possible. Before each drilling on a plane, I make a mark with a thick awl. This is also useful for drilling soot with an ordinary 8mm drill - a plane - for a confirmat (Euroscrew). More about the Fostner drill (you can’t put a stop on it): we develop a 6th feeling in ourselves - “first, we drill for the loop not all the way to the bitter end,” blow out the chips, try on the loop and, if there is a lack of depth, drill further with little effort (or better yet, again try on a hinge if you have doubts about your 6th sense). And probably it’s not even worth mentioning that there should be a flat surface of the workbench under the part, otherwise you can tear everything out without a drill, but simply with effort.
Andrew, Access date: 2010-07-21 17:35:59
To the previous question. 5-7 to the edge of the hole or its middle?
From the edge, of course. We drill hole 35. Are there no instructions for the loop? It would be better to estimate the location just in case. Or make a test piece of wood completely and see how it turns out.
Timurka, Access date: 2010-07-05 22:01:39
This is not a cup drill, but a milling cutter. Yes, you can get this hole with a single 35th milling cutter. Why do little ones need to earn extra money?
http://www.biver.ru/content/chashechnye-svyorla
Maybe we're both right?
Regarding the need for two drills - the protruding part of my particular drill was too long. The length of the working part + the length of the tip was almost equal to chipboard thickness. One awkward movement (pressure) and the part is screwed up. I just got the required depth with a smaller diameter. Kinky, but reliable.
Peter, Access date: 2010-07-03 05:58:48
on the reverse side of the counter (mounting) strips of furniture hinges there are the letters A, or B or, C. What do they mean?
After googling, I couldn’t find the answer to the question, I haven’t encountered it myself, sorry.
BegemoD, Access date: 2010-04-13 13:40:21
At what distance from the edge of the door should I drill holes for the hinge cups?
The instructions on the hinges indicate this distance. On mine it was 5-7 mm.
Inserting furniture hinges is not such a complicated operation as it may seem to an inexperienced person at first glance, but for high-quality execution It is recommended to have some skills and tools.
With the right and responsible approach, and following the instructions below, installing furniture hinges will not take much time, and construction enthusiasts will also have a fun time. So, let's look at what you need to know about furniture hinges, and, in particular, about their correct installation.
Types of loops
Installation of furniture hinges directly depends on their type. In practice, you can most often find the following types of loops, which have their own characteristics and advantages:
- Invoices. They are highly widespread, especially in the design of hinged bedside tables, cabinets, drawers and other pieces of furniture. When opening, the movable part of the overhead hinge rotates 90 degrees. They have wide adjustment possibilities due to the presence of many adjusting bolts.
- Semi-overhead. The fastening of such a hinge is provided on the inside of the furniture body; it is often used for cabinets and bedside tables with three or more fronts.
- Internal. Somewhat similar in design to the semi-overlay, but differs in a characteristic hump that sticks out when open.
Of course, you can find other types of furniture hinges, for example, gallery or piano hinges, which are used in certain pieces of furniture. Their installation will also differ from cases with standard hinges, the features of which are listed above. You can choose any hinges depending on the model of your furniture and personal preferences.
What tools are needed for the job?
Before installing furniture hinges, you need to prepare a certain set of tools and equipment. This list must include the following names:
- Pencil and tape measure.
- Drill with cutter with a diameter of 35 mm.
- A set of screws and a screwdriver.
- Directly furniture hinges.
In standard cases, this set is sufficient for self-installation loops
Installation process
Correct marking is the key to success
Marking for furniture hinges is one of the main installation steps, which determines the ease of use of furniture and the service life of the entire structure. For this reason, it is important to correctly apply the markings along which the hinges will subsequently be installed. To do this, follow these steps:
- Define exact amount furniture hinges for one door, taking the dimensions and weight of the door as the main indicators. So, for small doors, two hinges are enough, while massive and large doors must be equipped with at least three hinges.
- Place the hinges at a distance of 60 to 120 mm from the top and bottom edges of the sash. If there are more than two loops, place the remaining ones evenly between the two outermost ones.
- At the center of each loop, make a notch using a pencil.
After marking, be sure to carefully check its correctness again, make sure that the distance between the hinges and the edges of the door is exactly the same.
Drilling holes for hinges
You've probably noticed more than once that furniture hinges are installed not on the surface of the door, but in special recesses. You will also have to make a hole for the furniture hinges in order to install them correctly. For this, a drill with a cutter is used. The procedure is as follows:
- Prepare a sharp bit, place it on the drill and place it in the marked place.
- Drill a hole to fit the hinge dimensions approximately 12-14 mm deep.
- Repeat this action for all other places on the sash marked for hinges.
Do not overdo it with the depth of drilling holes - too much depth can adversely affect appearance outside doors, and also subsequently lead to deformation of the structure and loosening of furniture hinges.
Putting the hinges in place
After preparing the holes, you can begin directly installing furniture hinges with your own hands. To do this correctly, follow the instructions below:
- Insert the hinge into the recess, making sure that it lies on the same axis with the end of the door.
- Using a drill and a drill, make holes for attaching the hinge with screws.
- Secure door hinge using screws, checking its correct position.
- Repeat these steps for all other furniture hinges.
In order to fix the hinges on the door as evenly as possible, you can use special templates that help to correctly mark the places for drilling holes. If you trust your eye, you can do without the help of such templates.
Proper care of hinges
The installation scheme for furniture hinges requires proper and regular care of them. It is recommended to regularly inspect the hinges on furniture for squeaking, loosening or, conversely, heavy closing. If problems are detected, it is also necessary to carry out the following:
- The vertical position is adjusted by tightening the bolt on the hinge located closer to the edge. In the standard position, both bolts should be tightened equally, after which, if necessary, they are tightened until they reach the door leaf correct position in space.
- To adjust the angle of the sash, it is necessary to manipulate the degree of tightening of the bolts on the upper and lower hinges. If the top of the door is tilted to the right, you need to tighten the bolt on the top hinge, loosening the one on the bottom, and vice versa.
You can also watch a video on how to attach furniture hinges to visualize the information received. You can watch the video below.