The simplest things in life are often the most crucial yet undermined for their simplicity. The same can be said for door hinges as without them no door, modern or contemporary, interior or exterior, could be opened or closed. Hinges in general are found all around your home, be it on cabinet doors, gates and even certain cigar cases.
They work generally thanks to a pin that has the two sides of the hinge sit on it, each at a different height. The sides can move freely in any direction and thus they help a door move away or toward the frame. Although not all door hinges are made the same, almost every single one relies on a pin for its joining nature to make sense.
Types of Pin Hinges
Butt
Probably the most common door hinge you'll come across is a butt hinge and because it's so popular it comes in three different variations. This is because a butt door pin hinge works by having the two sides or leaves, mortised into both the door and frame. This allows them to butt up to each other.
Barrel
When it comes to working on a specific type of woodworking project like building a small cabinet or a box, barrel door pin hinges are more fitting. Why so? Because their size allows you to keep them concealed and their installation process is also quite simple as they need a handful of screws and a pint to make the hinge work.
Ball Bearing
A ball-bearing pin hinge is made with lubricated bearings that sit between the knuckles. This design helps reduce friction and thus is commonly used on heavy doors so that the hinges will last long enough without making opening and closing the doors cumbersome.
Offset
An offset hinge is able to widen the opening of the door since it allows you to swing it open away from the doorway. This widening can go up to 5 cm which can be enough to get a piece of furniture through a doorway without having to remove the door.
Piano
The reason behind the name of this type of door pin hinge is that it's rather long and it has a long rod that goes along the length of the hinge. The two long leaves are held together by the rod and because of this solution, piano hinges are great for fold-down desks, storage benches and even toy boxes.
Overlay
If you want to be able to reduce the thickness of a cabinet, then consider getting overlay hinges. This is because they can fold back on themselves which helps the door they're put on to close flush with the face of a cabinet.
Strap
As mentioned above, pin hinges aren't only used for doors, they can be used on gates. Well, strap hinges are exactly what you want when you want to add a gate to your yard. They have some of the longest leaves and are also the shortest door pin hinges at the same time.
T
When you combine a strap hinge with a butt hinge, you get a T hinge. These door pin hinges come with countersunk holes which allow you to use them on garage doors, gates and even when you want to add a bit of decoration to a doorway.
Double Action
The doors you see in saloons in cowboy movies, well, their action of always going back to a closed position is thanks to double action hinges. These have a familiar look that doesn't stick out too much which is why they're used on doors that need to swing in both directions.
What to Look for in a Hinge
Material
A door hinge comes made of different materials but the most common ones are stainless steel, brass, cast iron and bronze. There are some made of pewter but they're not as common. Brass, cast iron and bronze are better than stainless steel when it comes to durability and strength. Stainless steel, on the other hand, is a lot more affordable and also rust-resistant.
Corner Radius
If the hinges you go for have a 90° corner radius then you have nothing to worry about. But if they have rounded corners, then you'll need to measure them in order for them to be able to fit on the door or doors you want to use them on.
Dimensions
The same goes for the height and width of a hinge. If they don't have the right dimensions they can end up being a total mismatch. Most hinges are 9 inches, but hinges made for external doors are usually 10 cm. This is also why you need to take measurements of your door and frame in order to see how much space you have and if that space can accommodate the hinges you want to get.
