Pullout Slide Clearance and Hinge Types
Cabinet pullouts may crash into door backs if you don't select the right hardware and install properly. January 10, 2006
Question
I've done lots of hardwood furniture and I was enjoying my first custom kitchen… until I got to the hardware portion. It's a standard face frame layout with 7/8" thick 1/2" overlay doors. It looked straightforward on paper. I ordered Blum 170' hinges with a 0mm face frame adapter for the cabs with pullouts. I've tried all kinds of setbacks for the hinge bore on mockups, but the drawer slide hardware rubs on the backside of the door when open. I tried contacting my hardware supplier on Friday, but got the really nice lady who could only read the catalog back to me. I know there must be dozens of you who could answer this before coffee on any day in the shop.
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
Did you mount the cabinet member drawer slide on offset mounting blocks or did you mount the slide directly on the face frame? Mounting directly on a face frame is a no-no, even using the 170's. You need to find a way to mount the cabinet slide protruding into the cabinet a minimum of 12mm using either wood rails attached to the cabinet or using the plastic mounting blocks sold by Blum and many others. I always mount mine 25mm.
From the opening of a cabinet, you need to make build-outs at least 1-1/4" in on the hinge side and flush with the face frame interior opening on the other side to play it safe and not have the drawer rub against the door. I do 1-1/2" (two pieces of 3/4") whatever you're making the cabinets out of, attached together and then veneered on the top and face side.
You'll need to build out to get door clearance. Also, you have to be sure when the pullouts slide out that they don't hit the hinges. Each situation is different, depending on how you build your cabinets. Best thing is to set this up on some practice cabinet, make some practice doors out of industrial board. Make some test runs. Sounds like you'll have to rebuild some pullouts. I've heard of worse mistakes.
Blum makes a zero clearance hinge that might be what you'll need to not have to resize any drawers already completed. Depending on your situation they might be an easy fix.
From the original questioner:
Thanks for the responses... I guess the line drawings in the hardware catalogs don't always reflect reality. I'll just have to knock out some more pullout drawers. Doh!
Call Blum or your supplier. They make a hinge just for your situation. I saw it at the booth at the Las Vegas show.
I think the Blum zero clearance is a 5/8 min overlay? If you haven't made doors, this may work.
The Blum part number for this hinge is 71T7500 for screw on mount. They are available at Woodworker's Supply for about $8.00 each (cheaper than new pullouts). The catalog number is 134-429. We used them with 3mm mounting plates for a 1/2 inch overlay.
Be aware that even when using the Blum Zero Protrusion Hinges, if the end user does not open the doors well beyond 90 degrees (they rarely do), the door backs get ruined by the pull outs. After doing them both ways, I think it is better to use your regular hinges and shim the pull outs to clear the doors.
