Hinging for a Bifold Door Retrofit

Thoughts on hinge choice for bifold doors to be installed on a wide opening for an existing entertainment center. October 26, 2011

Question
A customer wants to add doors to an existing entertainment center. The screen opening is 72" W x 48" H x 23" D. The other doors are overlays. Material is hard maple. My first thought is bi-folds (tri-folds?), but not sure if this is practical for such a long span (alignment issues, etc.).

If you would attempt a folding door approach, what type hinge would you use at the folds? I've used the Accuride 123 flipper slide before with good results, but only with single doors - not multiple, folding doors.


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Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor V:
We have done doors this size. We did bi-fold with a piano hinge on the backside. Worked fine. Just make sure to use top quality for the flipper hardware.



From contributor D:
I've done bi-folds on 8' openings that worked fine. I like the Accuride 1332 slides with Blum thick door hinges. Piano hinges are overkill for most bi-fold applications. I'd use 3 small butt hinges instead.


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