Your comfort hinges on these

Jagvir Goyal

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Earlier there used to be just one type of hinges and these were used for all type of woodwork in the house. The only variation being the size. But nowadays many different types of hinges are available in the market. Thus, the buyer has to make a careful choice depending on the item for which these are to be used. Let’s have a look at various types of hinges and their suitability:

The wood items that need provision of hinges in homes are: door and window shutters, kitchen cabinets, cupboards and bathroom vanities. Hinges for these and their desirable properties can be discussed here.

Butt hinges

Butt hinges are used for hanging the door and window shutters in position. These are available in different materials and sizes and these should be chosen carefully to avoid any problem in future. The selection of right material, size, thickness and brand will lead to trouble free, sound free and rust-free service by these hinges.

Material: Butt hinges are produced in stainless steel and mild steel. One should choose stainless steel hinges only for one’s house. Further, the quality of stainless steel should be carefully ascertained. Mild steel hinges are often finished to look like stainless steel but these get rusted very soon. Just make sure that these hinges are ISI marked. Stainless steel hinges should carry IS 12817 mark. The steel grade for the hinge flaps and central pin is different. Though checking for IS 12817 mark is sufficient, but if you want to go into the finer details, then hinge flaps should be of stainless steel conforming to IS 6911, the central pin should be of stainless steel conforming to IS 6528 and the overall hinge should conform to IS 12817.

Quality: Butt hinges are available in light weight, medium weight and heavy weight. Further, these may have equal or unequal flaps. But one should choose heavy weight equal flap hinges only. In exceptional circumstances when there are restrictions on flap space, heavy weight, unequal flap hinges may be chosen. It should be further seen that the hinges have no sharp corners or edges. Rivet head of the pin should be examined to be formed and finished well. Pin size should fit well inside the knuckles to avoid any play of the pin.

Size: Butt hinges are available in many sizes. These include 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4, 5 and 6 inches. Light-weight hinges are produced in 2.0, 2.5 and 3 inch size only. Medium-weight hinges are produced in all sizes while heavy-duty hinges are produced in 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 sizes only. For the doors, the size of hinges should be 4 or 5 inch, while the 3-inch size should be chosen for windows of your house. The holes provided in the hinges for screws should be suitable for countersunk heads of screws. Many reputed brands of stainless steel hinges are now available and one should finalise the purchase after checking all of the above points and checking that the stainless steel has a natural bright finish.

Hydraulic hinges

While the door and window shutters are hung on the door frames by using the normally used butt hinges, cupboard shutters and cabinet shutters in kitchen are these days hung by using hydraulic hinges. Earlier, full length butt hinges, also called piano hinges were used. Though hydraulic hinges are costlier than butt hinges, their use in kitchen and walk-in-closets has become universal due to their soft-close property.

Mechanism: Hydraulic hinges are also called auto-close hinges. One need not shut the shutters fully in closing position. Set them in motion and the shutters close automatically and softly without making a noise. No magnetic catchers are required to keep the shutters closed. The hydraulic system inside the hinges activates to make the shutters shut smoothly.

Shape: Hydraulic hinges are small in size and look like a frog and that’s why, these are popularly known as ‘Daddu’ hinges. These are not visible when the shutters are in closed position, and thus are also called concealed hydraulic hinges.

Degree: Hydraulic hinges have their degrees such as 0 degree, 8 degree and 15 degree. The carpenter will tell you the requirement of hydraulic hinges of each degree. When the full edge thickness of cabinet wall is to be covered by one shutter, 0 degree hinges are required. When there are two adjacent cabinets with a common partition, two shutters, one for each cabinet, are to be fixed on the same edge. In such cases, 8 degree hydraulic hinges are required.

Cost: Hydraulic hinges are mostly supplied in pairs. The rate quoted by the supplier is for a pair of hinges and not for a single hinge. The screws required to fix the hinges in position are also included in the packing for each hinge. The cost per pair varies from Rs 120 to Rs 250, depending upon the brand and quality. China made hinges are quite cheap but their performance is questionable. These often demand re-adjustment of screws after sometime and a hydraulic hinge carpenter has to be called for resetting them.

Duck hinges

A new type of hinge is now available in the market. These are called duck hinges or W hinges as these have W like shape. These hinges need manual closing only. Hydraulic closing is not there. Therefore, like butt hinges, these too need a magnetic catcher for holding the shutters in shut position. These are different from butt hinges because these get concealed behind the shutter. While the shutter is housed inside the cabinet in case of butt hinges, duck hinges allow mounting of shutters outside the cabinet, like hydraulic hinges. These hinges are available in smaller sizes of 2 inch to 3 inch only.

CHOOSE IN ADVANCE

In case of cupboards and kitchen cabinets, it is advisable to decide in advance what sort of hinges you would be using for the shutters. In case butt hinges are to be used, the shutters are to be housed inside the frame with their top surface flush with the door frame. In case hydraulic hinges or W hinges are used, the shutters are fixed over and above the cabinets or cupboards by covering the edge thickness of the vertical sides on which these are to be hung. The type of hinges to be used decides the size of the shutters to be hung. Therefore make your choice well in advance for woodwork to proceed smoothly.

— The writer is former HoD and Engineer-in-Chief, Civil Engineering Department in a Punjab PSU