62 – Gadget Station (5 of 12)

Video - September 4, 2008

Road Trip! I was originally convinced that the Gadget Station would call for knife hinges. But just for fun I decided to take a trip to my local Woodcraft to see what they might suggest. Well, surprise surprise! I discovered a hinge that I had never noticed before. The Soss Invisible Hinge. I actually like this hinge better and I think it will suit this application perfectly. I hope you enjoy this little review of common hinges with our friend, Frank Galloway, at the Chandler, AZ Woodcraft Store.

Discussion

Charles September 4, 2008 8:17 pm

That opening was awesome… could not stop laughing! I’ve never been stared down like that before… it almost unhinged me (I can’t resist lame puns)… your dog has some serious talent!The dramatic hamster better watch it’s back…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Kyi0WNg40

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thewoodwhisperer September 4, 2008 8:43 pm

haha. so you see where I got my inspiration! ;)

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Jeff September 5, 2008 3:01 am

AH, I love the smell of fresh video in the morning!

JJ

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Brad Ferguson September 5, 2008 8:30 am

Wow The inside of your woodcraft looks just like the one near me. Even down to the shirt worn by the owner. Funny how franchise branding goes all the way to the panelling on the walls. Nice job as always Marc. It would have been great if you could have gotten Lexi to growl at the camera too.

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Andy September 5, 2008 9:32 am

Hello – another good episode! I think there’s a lot of value there in comparing hinges for a variety of projects.

I’ve used the Soss Invisible Hinges before, and agree that they’re a good choice. They were very easy to install, but if your holes are even a tiny bit off (or a tiny bit non-perpendicular to the surface) it’s very hard to make fine adjustments. I like Frank’s idea of a jig – I just relied on accurate measurements while installing mine. At least with the small sized invisible hinges I used, there’s a tiny bit of slop in the mechanism – i.e. you can wiggle the door up and down just a bit if you try. It doesn’t feel sloppy in use, but it’s something to be aware of – yet another recommendation for mock-ups and test pieces!

Also, I’d just like to highlight your mention of a magnetic catch. That’s my only regret on the project I made with these hinges – the door doesn’t quite stay closed all the time. It only hangs open by a quarter inch or less, and only some of the time, but it’s just enough to bug me. I guess I could still add a magnetic or ball/bullet catch, but I just haven’t gotten a round tuit, and that cabinet is now in use at my parent’s house. So good idea to work the catch in during initial construction/installation!

Thanks again,
Andy

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George Barry September 5, 2008 9:46 am

Wow…I knew about SOSS hinges and you didn’t!
Marc 27…George 1

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Todd A. Clippinger September 5, 2008 8:14 pm

SOSS hinges are great. I purchased some from Hafele for my Cooper closet project. At 4 1/4″ long, they were like SOSS hinges on steroids. I think the weight rating was about 130lbs. for 3 hinges. I used 4 over an 8′ high door that weighed 113lbs.

They had a full 1mm range of adjustment for up-down, left-right, and in-out. With shipping they came to $40 each.

Awesome hinges.

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Todd A. Clippinger September 5, 2008 8:16 pm

I tried posting a link to the photos and it didn’t take. Here is another shot:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/t.....831470661/

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TJ September 6, 2008 12:56 am

Hi Marc thanks again for another entertaining and informative episode, i keep coming back to your site looking for more :)!, im just wondering using those types of hinges and the way youre going to fix the doors to the frame, inset door, are the doors going to be able to open wider then 90 degs?

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thewoodwhisperer September 6, 2008 1:02 am

Thanks guys. I definitely think the Soss hinges were the way to go. Can’t believe I never heard of them before. Oh well. :)

And thanks TJ. As for the door opening more than 90 degrees, you are right. Most likely they will not. But I don’t know if that’s really a necessary feature anyway. Its a pretty small cabinet and small things will go in it, so I don’t anticipate that being a problem. But good catch!

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Bruce September 6, 2008 3:24 am

Even though in this project you want to conceal the hinge on some projects the hinge is an important part of the overall look. I made a secretary with antique brass hinges on the dropdown door and they really pop when looking at it. Without them the entire piece would change.
Love the website, Keep up the good work.

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Ed Skala September 6, 2008 8:07 am

Marc,

Good choice using the soss hindes. Lets get this project done.

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thewoodwhisperer September 6, 2008 10:28 am

lol you trying to rush me Ed?
Actually, I feel the same way. And its really a shame because I want to give this piece the time it needs to be perfect (or as close as I can get). So although this thing has been the topic of my show for the past 5 episodes, my actual time invested in it is very small. If there were no show to film, no IWF to attend, no articles to write, and no website to maintain, we would have been done LONG ago. So its a little frustrating at times to move at this speed. But, when I consider the alternatives, I realize that I wouldn’t trade this for the world. So bear with me. No one wants to see this projected completed more than I do. :)

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BarryO September 6, 2008 7:34 pm

Marc,

Go with your first instinct: real (crafts)men use those Brusso knife hinges. They send the girlieman sissies running away in fear. ;) Yea, they dictate you use a 1/32″ gap around the door, so each door must be finely custom-fit in its openning, but the elegant look is worth it.

Personally, I think the Soss hingees are too heavy-duty looking for doors that size.

Installation tips:

— You can afford to be a bit sloppy with the mortise on the bottom of the door, since it can’t be seen (or only the part that cuts through the front to make room for the offset is seen). So do that one last, and put all of your adjustability there.

— You can use brass shim stock if the mortises are cut a ilttle too deep, and the doors rattle a bit vertically.

— Throw away the brass wood screws and use #5-40 brass flathead machine screws in tapped holes instead. Since you many need to take the hinges on and off several times for trial fitting, this makes it easy to do.

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thewoodwhisperer September 6, 2008 8:06 pm

lol. Well put me in a dress and call me Shirley, cause I’m sticking with the Soss hinges! I have installed knife hinges on several occasions so I no longer feel the need to flaunt my masculinity, :).
To be honest, the back of this unit was offering some unexpected challenges and switching to the SOSS hinges actually freed up a little space in my brain for those other details. I too think the hinges I purchased are a little heavy and I probably should have gone with a size smaller. But these are rated for 3/4″ stock so I thought it would be ok. Well, it is ok, but if I did it again, I would use a smaller size. Anyway, for me, woodworking is about experiencing lots of different techniques, styles, and pieces of hardware. I was intrigued by the Soss hinges, so there ya go.

Thanks for the tips on the knife hinge installation though. I will keep them in mind on my next install.

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Vic September 8, 2008 6:38 am

Leo’s piece is coming along quite nicely! If I right, you aren’t going to even see the heft of the hinge except a bit when the door is open, right? They look like a very cool alternative.

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Jorge Monclova September 8, 2008 9:49 am

(I now I’m going to get a lot of crap for this but I have to be honest.)

Three weeks after the last episode of the series you come up with 13 minutes of hinges. Those of us that have been with you since your first episode expect a little more than that.

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thewoodwhisperer September 8, 2008 10:09 am

Hey Jorge. Of course you are always entitled to your opinion.
That being said, one of the joys of this medium is that I can go into painful detail about any particular topic I want. Now 13 minutes of hinges may not be very interesting to you, but for thousands of others, it will serve as a good review/introduction to some hinges they may not be familiar with. Furthermore, it was a good opportunity to get out of the shop, have a change of scenery, and have someone else do the talking for a while. I do like to change things up now and then.

One of my frustrations with woodworking television shows is the fact they never go into any detail about anything, due to time constraints. I plan on continuing to take full advantage of the fact that I CAN go into detail. And there will probably be other times when those details don’t interest you.

I am very sorry that this didn’t meet your expectations. But that makes me wonder exactly what your expectations are?!?!

By the way, next week will be 13 minute stare-down with my dog, Lexi, so be ready! ;)

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Jorge Monclova September 8, 2008 12:07 pm

Sorry Marc, I didn’t meant to say that it was not valuable information. What I meant to say is that for us TWW addicts 13 minutes of only hindges in three weeks its just to little. An additional 10 minutes on another topic would have completed it for me. Anyway, sorry for the misuderstanding and looking forward to Lexi’s stare-down.

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BarryO September 10, 2008 5:54 pm

Marc,

LOL, thanks for good-natured comments. BTW, the Soss catelog has alot of good info about their hinges. It includes a chart to aid in chossing them based on door size: http://www.soss.com/pdf/SossCa.....df#page=15 Maybe this can be a some use to others looking into using them.

Jorge,

OK, here’s some of the crap you were expecting. You comments might be appropriate if you were getting Marc’s broadcasts as a paid subscription service. But come on, he’s providing them for free. I dunno, I don’t see how anyone can feel justified in complaining about the speed at which any of this free content is delivered. I just like the fact that he delivers it at all. ;)

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Charles September 11, 2008 5:32 pm

This content is free??? I thought it was odd that Marc has been billing me $12.99/month. Even at that rate I was pleased with the most recent episode… ;-]

Agree with BarryO… how can anyone complain about free stuff? Marc has to be busy with multitude of ventures he’s involved with… look what he’s done in the past year alone with creating the WoodWhisperer Network in addition to everything else he has going on with Powermatic/Festool. He’s probably been working on increasing his media empire… wouldn’t be surprised to see Tuner Broadcasting being bought out soon. There’s no stopping him!!! Run people, run!!!

So again no complaining about podcasts!! Begging is probably ok though… I would do so but am too proud for that… but seriously Marc any scraps of content is always welcome… even some edited out content of Lexi… please, Marc, pleeeeeease I need more Lexi!!

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charlie campbell November 28, 2011 3:14 pm

Hi Marc well you do have a funny way of putting on a european hinge .Here in Europe we call them a flush hinge and we only get 4 mins to fit them each door you see we cut the big hole first which is all ways 35mm them put the door to the frame and mark the inside job done i think you have more time in the USA my boss would go mad if i made a jig

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- Brett October 17, 2013 10:40 am
  
  Hi Marc,
  I have a similar application for a nightstand where there’s a reveal/setback from the face of the leg to the face of the door. As I understand with the SOSS hinges (#101 in my case), the only critical dimension for the door to open to 90 degrees is the offset from the face of the door to the start of the hinge mortise, which is 3/32″ for the #101. In other words, the setback distance from the face of the leg to the face of the door can be whatever you choose. Did you find this to be true in your case with the gadget station?
  
  This is my first time using the SOSS hinges and I’m concerned about how thin the wall of the mortise will be with the 3/32″ offset. Instead, I planned to use a 5/32″ offset, plane the face of the door down by 1/32″, and then chamfer the hinge side of the door if the door cannot open to a full 90 degrees. Does that seem reasonable?
  
  Thanks, Marc!
  
  Reply

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62 – Gadget Station (5 of 12)

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