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The Case of the West German Hinge

How's this for rude? I leave you all hanging on several projects, disappear for a week, and then come back with a question instead of a report?

Well, reports and before-and-after pics coming soon, but in the meantime, help me solve the Hinge Mystery!

Our kitchen cabinets are lovely except for the tendency of the doors to fall off at random intervals.

Upon close examination I've decided the culprit is a few (okay, several) damaged hinges. (Could it possibly be because my toddlers' favorite pastime was banging the cabinet doors open and closed full force for at least 6 hours a day every day? Nah.)

So I'd like to replace the hinges. Rather than go through another painful and exasperating interview with the Helpful Hardware Guy I'm turning to you, my loyal readers, to give me any hints you may have as to what kind of hinges these are:

DSC_6143DSC_6144
DSC_6123DSC_6124
DSC_6140DSC_6120

Are these mortise hinges? European hinges? Beveled hinges?

Manufactured in 1987 in West Germany.

[Edit: Okay, further research on cabinet and hinge vocabulary reveals that my cabinets are framed, my cabinet doors are full overlay, and that the hinges are fully concealed self-closing European style hinges which are cup mortised on both sides, which is to say both the door and the frame have round cut-outs so the hinges mounts flush to the wood. Unfortunately, knowing this doesn't help much, as Teh Intarnet seems to think such a thing doesn't exist. The most prominent makers of this type of hinge are Blum and Grass, but all their hinges are mortised on only the door and surface mounted on the frame. ARG!]

[Edit 2: The nice folks at Hardware Source identified the hinge maker for me as Mepla. Unfortunately, the products shown on their website are similar to all the other European style hinges, in that there's a cup mortise on the cabinet door (like these), but none on the face frame; it's just surface mounted. I think replacing the hinges with something like that would just leave a gaping hole in the frame. ARG!]

Comments (12)

ceo:

Oops, that was me.

ceo: what was you? I think your comment didn't post.

ceo:

Argh, my earlier comment didn't make it. I think that's an earlier design of European hinge that isn't made anymore. I'd look at the Blum Compact 33 as a possible replacement; the question being whether the mounting plate will span the hole. The Rockler store in Cambridge has them if you want to see one in person.

I'm not sure, but you might want to check out Hafele. (http://www.hafele.com/us/products/9160.asp) they make or supply some of the best hardware I've ever had and your hinges look similar to some they have on their website.

Butch:

I am searching for hinges that are so far impossible to find, One is made in Germany and the other in Austria. The are both for a corner double door. There are numbers on them but I can not find them anywhere, Can you please help me?

Butch

ilan:

I am looking for the same hinges. they are not Blum's because blums make hteir highes in Austria and not in Germany. if you happend to find out where I can find them please let me know.

Thanks

ilan: I don't know but two places I found to be very helpful during my search were Hardware Source and McFeely's. Good luck.

Eric:

My kitchen cabinet doors dont close all the way. I have Grass hinges. Any tips on adjusting them

Eric:

Help

Kurt:

Okay, you've seemingly solved a similar problem that I have. A customer has the exact hinge and I have not been able to find anything at all the even resembles it. I thank you for your post and will check out the other hinges mentioned within the posts to see if they will work. THANK YOU TDH!

Donna:

Thank you all for this info - I'm at the library - hope it comes through. I've been looking to a very similar W. German hinge and hope this answers my questions!

M Gamboa:

I am trying to locate a mate to replace a broken hinge. I believe it is called a European cabinet hinge. It goes inside and doesn't show from the outside. Also, it allows the cabinet door to swing almost all the way back.

The only thing I see printed on the hinge itself is "W. GErmany 611 and then 2016.

Can you possibly lead me in the right direction so I can locate one of these? Thanks so much for any help you can provide.

MG

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on October 22, 2007 10:03 AM.

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