Had a scary thought: do I understand concealed hinge overlay?

overlay is to the edge of the door/drawer

There is usually some adjustment possible. As I recall as much as 1/4 inch. on some hinges.
The grass hinges I use are adjustable 6 directions. in,out,up,down, left,right

-- Dan, Sterling Alaska, http://sullcon.homestead.com/ Before you criticise some one, walk a mile in their shoes...then you will be a mile away and you have their shoes!

Are you planning on using the Blum 33 compact hinges?

You make no mention of the hinge you are using but from the verbiage I think we’re all assuming you’re using 35mm cup hinges. (european hinges)

Overlay is the amount that the door “overlays” the FF (of carcase). Depending on the manufacturer or dealer website this can get a little confusing. (when checking vendor websites my first search found one that described a hinge suitable for use in frameless construction though the cut sheet clearly showed a face frame. Website authors aren’t necesarily woodworkers, IMNSHO most often not) Multiple mounting plates are available and depending on which is used you will get different overlay/setback. 1/2” and 3/4” overlays are quite common, 1/2” being used often on face frame style cabinets, 3/4” being used most often on flush “european style” cabs.

For instance, if you’re using 3/4” carcase material and you use a 3/4” overlay hinge, and IF you drill the cup hole in the appropriate location AND assuming you size the door to the outside dimension of said carcase you will end up with a “full overlay door” that is the same size as the carcase, i.e. flush to the outside of the carcase.

There are a lot of possible permiutations of the hinge/mounting plate/location variable, allowing for a huge range of outcome. There are almost as many exceptions to the above stated “rule” as there are adherents, but it might serve as an initial guide.

The variables are due a multiplicity of options, including hinge mounting brackets available in several different combinations of backset/throw/etc., angle of operation (swing/throw), and the ever popular soft close option. The selection can seem daunting. Add to the fact that different mfg. websites and\or providers of product use different jargon to describe their wares and you have a giant opportunity for misunderstanding on the part of the consumer.

I would suggest doing your research, finding what you think is the most appropriate hinge for your application and buying one or two and experiment. Make a short mock up of your carcase and/or face frame and door. They needn’t be full size in length and width but they should be something that can be milled and worked safely. For instance, you wouldn’t have to make a full sized face frame and door just a full sized section of face frame and door. If you intend to have a 1 1/2 face frame then mill a a 1 1\2 by 6” by the thickness you intend, and a matching chunk of mock door the appropriate thickness but only 3 or 4 inches wide. This will allow you to test your set up and see the interplay between the parts.

As a carpenter I briefly took exception to your statement that you “bought a house, made a cutting board, and now felt qualified to tackle a kitchen full of cabinets”. But that was my ego. Cabinets are just boxes, and in fact all of building is simple geometry, but a lot of folks claim they “hate math” and the devil/heaven is in the details. Cabinet making is in the details. I’m sure most if not all visitors and members of this site could do it, given the time, space, desire, and tooling. If you feel up to it then by all means go for it. Take care of the details and they will take care of you.

And look for a sale on clamps . . .

Best of luck and warmest regards.
GC

Thanks for the responses guys. I think you confirmed my initial suspicions.

GC, sorry if I offended. My personality tends to be pretty sarcastic, so if I sounded cockey or overly confident that I can pull this off, trust me I didn’t mean to. My habit tends to be to research first. I pretty much don’t make a cut unless I spent at least two hours reading about how to make it first.

I realistically probably spent 50 hours in sketchup designing these things, luckily, because I ended up making several major revisions because of design flaws. So far I think the prep work is paying off. Out of the probably 300 or more cuts I have made so far, I have made three miscuts, and they were all less than 1/8 off.

I also tend to learn by digging myself a hole, that I have to find a way back out of.

I haven’t decided on a brand of hinges. I am likely going to order all my hardware from Customer Service Hardware, as they have the best prices I have found. They offer hettich and ferrrai hinges.

Welcome to LJ-
Customer Service hardware is a good company, I get lots of stuff from them.
The Ferrai hinges are ok, nothing great. I have never tried the hettich.
For the money Blum hinges work great. I use them first, then Grass.
Check on ebay- lots of time there are some really good prices on hinges.

Good luck on your project.

Dave

-- MISSION FURNITURE-My mission is to build furniture

combinations of hinge, offset between hinge and door, inset between door and gable, 1mm plate to 30mm plate, 1/2” gable, 5/8” gable and 3/4 inch gable, 95 degree swing through 170 degree swing, and anything inbetween, self closing, fatty over lays and “over the edge thick” doors that between hettick, grass, ferrari and blum….................it becomes over whelming…....self closing and free floating

Lee Valley …...........most of the euro hinges are on display and you can see them function as per thier application

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

Don’t drill your doors until you have the hinges and make a 35mm test in scrap. Hinges have an offset, in mm, from the back of the cup to the edge of the door (this is what you are referring to 1/8”). This is essentially the distance of the 35mm hole to the edge. Hinges have different offsets depending on the manufacturer. This offset has nothing to do with the overlay.

A couple of years ago I needed 40 doors for a kitchen build and outsourced them to speed up the process. I also paid to have them drilled for the hinge cup. I ordered the face frame hinges from another company. Unfortunately, the drilled offset from the door company was greater than the hinges I ordered which caused the hinge arm to hit the edge of the door, not letting it open all the way. I had to purchase all new hinges, which delayed the project slightly. I now drill all my doors myself whether I make or outsource them.

To answer your original question, a 1/2” overlay is designed for overlaying the face frame with the door by 1/2” on both sides. For it to work out correctly, for a single door cabinet, measure your opening and add 1” to the width. A cabinet with a 22” opening will need a 23” wide door if using a 1/2” overlay hinge. It just depends how much, or how little of the face frame you want to have exposed and buy the appropriate overlay. I have seen some use 1 1/4” overlay hinges to get a frameless look to a face frame cabinet.

-- I don't make mistakes, only design changes....www.dgmwoodworks.com