Attaching piano hinge to stable door problem?

[gidon]

I'm trying to attach the door of the playhouse I'm making using a piano hinge. The one I've get is 25mm wide and it's hard getting hold of ones wider. The problem is the screw holes happen to fall exactly where the cladding is nailed to the door frame and therefore have no hold!
Can anyone think of a clever way of getting around this? A wider hinge would do it - but wider hinges are harder to get hold of and expensive.
The door is attached but a few tugs by an eager 2 year old would pull it off at the moment.

I did try drilling out some holes nearer the edge and away from the join but there's no really enough room.
Any help much appreciated!

Cheers

Gidon

 

[Slim]

Is there any reason why you can't use normal butt hinges?

 

[Noel]

Hi Gidon, you could drill extra holes to avoid the cladding nails. Personally I wouldn't use a piano hinge in ths situation, too many sharp edges. As Slim suggests ordinary butt hinges would be best.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Gidon
USe butts instead.

Can you remove that brace? At the moment it is not doing anything to stop thedoor from dropping. Put it in the other way round (opposite corners) and it will do a much better job.

Cheers
Steve

 

[dirtydeeds]

gideon

just a question, the "strut" on your door is about face its acting as tie

is there a specific reason for this

 

[gidon]

Thanks for the quick replies. I wanted to use a piano hinge to avoid children getting their fingers caught. Would prefer to stick with that plan but guess will have to revert to butt hinges if no other choice.
Noel - yes tried that - but not enough room for extra holes unfortunately.
Can Steve and DD expand - I know I'm being thick but no quite sure what the problem is with the brace? I thought it's just a way to stengthen the frame and limit twist?
Cheers
Gidon

 

[WellsWood]

Can Steve and DD expand - I know I'm being thick but no quite sure what the problem is with the brace? I thought it's just a way to stengthen the frame and limit twist?
Cheers
Gidon

Pictur it as a shelf bracket and you'll get it straight a way - if the brace runs from the other 2 corners it's in compression when under load and therefore much stronger when it comes to preventing sag, which is its purpose.

 

[linelink]

Firstly, this is my first post on this forum - so hello to everybody.

Why not use butts!

I can see why you're concerned about kiddies fingers and safety. However, you could nail a strip of flexible plastic/ rubber to the doors frame and the door frame its self and "enclose" the jam - if you see what I mean.

Just a thought.

Chris

 

[StarGazer]

The cross brace in a door or gate should go from the bottom hinge corner to the top opposite corner. While it does help reduce twisting its main purpose is to transfer the weight of the door acting downwards at the outside edge down into the bottom hinge so that the door does not droop too much (the brace acts in compression).

StarGazer

 

[gidon]

OK get it! Thanks for pointing this out - makes perfect sense now.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Shultzy]

Gidon, I would suggest one of the following solutions :-

1) Glue and screw / nail a 10mm batten to the side of the door where the hinge is, then re-fit door

2) Drill 6mm holes from the front through the cladding, at the hinge screw positions, and insert dowels. Screw into dowels.

3) Cut a 10mm deep x 6mmm wide rebate in door edge and glue and screw / nail a 10x6mm strip.

 

[Woodmagnet]

You beat me to it with the dowel tip Shultzy. :wink:

 

[gidon]

Sorry Chris - welcome to the forum and thanks for the tip - that's a good idea.
Schultzy - some great ideas there. Probably going to go with one of them or a variation of. Only thing is I think they all show on the front of the door - and at the minute we're giving the playhouse a clear finish.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[dirtydeeds]

support the edge when drilling you will get mini miller dowels in without them showing

you will need to take care as half the drillbit is cutting cross grain and the other half along the grain

glue them in place as they are very close to the edge of the door

 

[CHJ]

Gidon, I don't think that using a piano hinge as opposed to butt hinges is going to be significant in the finger pinching stakes.

The door framing members and the shed door frame are still going to be the most likely places for little hands to be caught if a mate slams the door shut.

In the past I have made doors like this with a 1cm gap between door and frame with the door cladding covering about 2/3 of the gap, then put some draft excluding foam along the door edges behind the cladding, usually enough to get away without injury or just a bruise at worst.

Remember the bottom edge as well, it is just as effective as a guillotine, leave a gap.

 

[Shultzy]

Gidon, If you have a lathe you could turn dowels with a button head and they would look quite neat.

 

[Woodmagnet]

You could even do that on a drill press. :wink:

 

[gidon]

Thanks all. Just an update - ended up going with Schultzy's suggestion - ran a rebate in the door and glued in a strip of pine for the screws to go into. Works fine but this has all taken far too long - arghh!! Pics here.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Woodmagnet]

Good job Gidon.(eventually) :lol: :wink:

 

[oddsocks]

Gidon, I don't think that using a piano hinge as opposed to butt hinges is going to be significant in the finger pinching stakes.

The door framing members and the shed door frame are still going to be the most likely places for little hands to be caught if a mate slams the door shut.

In the past I have made doors like this with a 1cm gap between door and frame with the door cladding covering about 2/3 of the gap, then put some draft excluding foam along the door edges behind the cladding, usually enough to get away without injury or just a bruise at worst.

Remember the bottom edge as well, it is just as effective as a guillotine, leave a gap.

Gidon, I posted a more detailed answer in your WIP thread earlier, but for others reading this I made similar doors and bevelled the inner door frame (15-20mm gap) but would now recommend proper finger guards - search on google for finger guard - plenty of suppliers. Children and stable doors means they will get 'violently' open and closed - I also left a good gap between the two to stop the guillotine action