The superiority of removable canopies over universal ones, analysis of “butterfly” and “invisible” hinges. Distributing the load and explaining why the third loop just ruins everything. Separately, a mini-review of ideal partners for a solid door.
1. “Let’s decide: heavy doors are how many in kilograms?”
Conditionally: from 50 kg. Anything that is easier can be handled by ordinary people. mortise hinges with cards 2.5 mm thick. But for doors heavier than 50 kg, it is better to buy thicker hinges.
In general, the weight of the canvas depends primarily on: a) the material and method of filling; b) dimensions; V) exterior finishing. So that you understand the average layout:
~ 14 kg – weight of a “cardboard” interior door without glass (800 x 2000 mm, thickness – 35 mm).
~ 17 kg – similar model, but with a wide glass insert from top to bottom.
A solid oak interior door (800 x 2000 mm, thickness 35 mm) weighs ~ 40 kg.
The entrance door made of solid ash weighs ~ 75 kg (900 x 2000 mm, thickness – 55 mm).
~ 115 kg – weight of a church oak door (1300 x 2300 mm, thickness – 60 mm).
These figures are valid for bare canvas, and you should always keep in mind the weight of decorative overlays (if any) and, of course, fittings. Alone door handles add 0.5-1 kg on top.
2. “How is the load distributed on the hinges holding a heavy door?”
Let's say we have classic version– door with two mortise hinges. Then the lower one bears the main axial load, and the upper one mostly takes the radial load. Simply put, the bottom hinge bears the weight of the sash, while the top hinge is subject to a force that tends to pull the hinge out of the jamb.
Door hinges wear mostly downward. Under the weight of the canvas, their halves are ground against each other, and bearings are gradually developed. As a result, over the course of a year, the interior door in the house drops by about 0.2-0.3 mm. That is, in 5 years it will inevitably sag by 1-1.5 mm. And this even with ideal conditions: adequately selected loops, proper installation etc.
Thus, the correct (taking into account the weight of the door leaf) choice of door hinges will allow you to delay as much as possible creaking, stiff movement, clinging of the door leaf to the frame and other incidents. And vice versa: if you hang a thick oak door on steel hinges 100 x 75 x 25 mm, then expect disaster. The hinges may not break out of the box, but they will suddenly sag.
3. “Why do you suggest buying mortise hinges for a heavy door? There are overhead “butterfly” awnings.”
No groove (groove) is made for butterflies. In fact, the door is held in place by four poor self-tapping screws on the bottom hinge. Butterflies also have a gigantic gap “out of the box”, which will only grow. In this situation, any wooden door in the 50+ kg category is doomed. It will quickly sag and begin to rub against the frame, even if it is hung by 3-4 butterflies.
4. "A door hinges hidden installation(“invisible”)? What's wrong with them?
They have a short hinge mechanism and a small fastening area, which leads to an increase in the load on the screws, and there are two of them on the side of the sash and the frame. In general, it is already clear that this is not best hinges for thick doors (as well as for tall, wide, etc.).
Many more invisible ones narrow the opening angle. Sometimes very seriously - from 180° to 100°. You can, of course, move the box forward, as if drowning the platband in it, but this is unlikely to please your master. He already has a lot of work planned, because for hidden hinges the groove is milled not by 2-3 mm, as in the case of mortise hinges, but often by 10-11 mm or more. It would seem okay. But then we remember that we have heavy wooden doors and inside is not soft pine, but something very hard - oak, beech, ash. Such wood can be removed with a milling cutter, but it will not be so quick and easy. By the way, it won't be cheap either.
And since we're talking about money. Decent hidden door hinges (the kind that can withstand a heavy door) cost from RUB 3,000/piece.
5. “So, mortise hinges. But which ones: universal or removable?
Removable. And the point is not that with them you can remove the canvas at any time without unscrewing the screws. They have another not obvious, but extremely important advantage - simplicity. Removable hinges have only two rubbing surfaces and one support point (in the form of a hardened ball at the end).
Due to the simplicity of the design, removable hinges have less play and are not so sensitive to workmanship. Basically, if the ball rests against the cap, the hinges should and will work fine. Even if otherwise they have minor to moderate flaws in geometry.
With universal canopies on 4-5-6 bearings everything is complicated. In order for the bearings to be evenly loaded, precision casting is required. Achieving this in the cheap segment is unrealistic: door hinges for heavy doors for 150-200 rubles they are not cast, but stamped, the axial play in them can reach 1-1.5 mm. This is already enough so that even with a perfect insertion, only one bearing plays the lead, and the rest just play along. In turn, this forces wear on the first bearing. After it is worn out, the blade will sag to the position of the next one, which from that moment will begin to work towards accelerated wear.
By the way, the removable loop has another advantage. If it sags, you can compensate for the change in height by ordering a brass or bronze washer from a turner and placing it on the axle. Universal canopies non-separable - and such a trick will not work there.
6. “How many hinges do you need for a heavy door - two or three?”
For two, except special occasions(more on this at the end of the paragraph). In this case, they should be fastened with a distance of 200 mm from the top and bottom of the canvas.
Why exactly two loops? First of all, three is almost always overkill. Let’s say you can order Palladium N 700 door hinges from us, which together can handle a 90-kilogram leaf. And 90 kg is a lot: 99% of home doors made of wood will fit into this limit.
Secondly, the third loop is needed for pressing. Its participation in load distribution is negligible, if not zero at all.
Thirdly, it is incredibly difficult to embed three hinges, aligning them along the same axis. Even if it works out, no one has canceled the seasonal fluctuations of wood, and the door will inevitably move. Because of this, the carefully set alignment will move, the load on the canopies and fasteners will become variable. Simply put, the porch will be broken, one of the hinges will begin to creak. Moreover, it is impossible to predict which one.
It makes sense to add a third loop in two cases:
Weak and thin door frame(≤ 20 mm in thickness);
High blade (≥ 2200 mm).
7. “I want to buy hinges for a heavy wooden door that will last at least 20-30 years. No creaking, jerky movement, sagging, etc. What to look for?
1.[Sideliness] This is if you listened to our recommendation and opted for removable models. How to distinguish a right loop from a left one.
2.[Size] If the door is heavy (70+ kg), take higher and thicker awnings. For example, our brass hinges Palladium N 700-5″ (125 x 80 x 4 mm) – they are designed for weights up to 100 kg. If the door is moderately heavy (60-70 kg), 100 x 80 x 4 mm will do. TO interior paintings weighing 40-45 kg you can limit yourself to loops 100 (125) x 75 x 2.5 mm.
3.[Material] Steel is in best case scenario B with a minus in geometry. Brass hinges are generally much more accurate because they are not stamped but rather cast.
High-quality hinge fasteners allow you not to notice its weight when opening and closing a heavy door. Loops for entrance doors play an important role in ensuring ease of use and reliability of the entire door system. From the right choice hinges largely depend on the functionality and aesthetics of the door block.
The most popular types of hinges for metal entrance doors include:
- welded;
- internal or hidden;
- with closer;
- pin screw-in.
What types of hinges are there for entrance doors?
Welded hinges for entrance doors
Welded fasteners include hinges
- cylindrical with ball;
- drop-shaped on a thrust bearing;
- axleless;
- adjustable.
Priced from 100 rubles, durable and equally reliable. Suitable for entrance steel doors wide price range, weighing from 70 kg, have a long service life. As the data shows independent examination, both types, providing free, quiet movement door leaf, serve for at least 50 years.
They are ball awnings with a large load capacity. They are characterized by high performance, resistance to deformation, and durability of the supporting element. They eliminate possible door jamming and have the ability to withstand over 420,000 opening-closing cycles and a record load of up to 3000 kg.
With a pre-calculated mass for them reaching 600 kg per unit - great option for high doors price segment. Made from rolled steel, have a large margin of safety, 10 times greater than the strength of ball and bearing hinges, and a working life of 500,000 opening and closing cycles. The height of the door leaf is adjusted using special bolts, which prevents sagging and sagging of a heavy door with trim.
Which are 4-6 times more expensive than welded options, are not inferior to them in terms of strength criteria, and represent optimal combination practicality and aesthetics. Mainly designed for door systems weighing 250 kg and 200,000 opening-closing cycles under intensive use. They are in demand for completing luxury doors, including those with wide leaves.
Working on the damping principle, they are increasingly required for metal entrance doors in country house or cottage. The closer's ability to convert opening force into braking force ensures smooth, soft closing and extends the service life of the door system by 5-7 years. For heavy steel doors up to 150 kg, 3-section modifications are recommended.
Screw-in hinges for steel entrance doors are used less frequently, since pin fastenings are inferior to welded ones in terms of resistance to weight load, durability and reliability. Products with 2-3 pins are suitable for lightweight door systems. For sashes from 70 to 100 kg, powerful 4-pin canopies are used. Dimensions hinges and their number are selected depending on the weight of the door leaf.
Hinges for metal doors are slightly different from hinges for wooden and other doors - we can even say with confidence that these differences, despite general principle the work is huge. And most importantly, they are not interchangeable: loops for interior doors not suitable for iron doors. In this article, together with the website, we will deal with the question of which hinges are suitable for metal doors and how are they installed?
Hinges for metal doors photo
Hinges for metal doors: types and their features
In fact, if you don’t get into the small details, you can distinguish only two main types of awnings for metal doors - they are practically not inferior to each other in popularity. Some of them are cheaper and can withstand heavy loads, while others ensure the reliability of the door block. In general, both hinges for iron doors have a lot of advantages, which we will talk about later.
Watch the video to see what the installation of hidden hinges looks like.
How to install hinges on metal doors
You probably already realized that in terms of installation, the first and second types of awnings for metal doors are very different. They have only one thing in common - both the installation of hidden hinges and the installation of hinges on bearings cannot be done without welding. Let's start in order and look in a little more detail at how each type of canopy for metal doors is installed.
In most cases, few home craftsmen resort to using hidden awnings in the process. As a rule, everything is done with ordinary hinges with a ball, and this is due to the fact that they are quite easy to install with your own hands.
Hidden hinges for metal doors photo
And in conclusion, a few words about the number of canopies on one door - if you do some analysis and study installed doors based on the number of canopies used to assemble them, we can come to the conclusion that two hinges are not always used. You can often find iron doors with three awnings. Why this is needed is not difficult to guess - as a rule, three awnings are mounted on heavy doors, the leaf of which weighs more than 150 kg. Also, the installation of three hinges may be determined by the intensity of use of the door block - the more often it opens, the naturally greater the load on it. It is clear that with two awnings such doors will not last long.
Finally, let me give you one little piece of advice regarding the question of how to choose hinges for metal doors. There's not much nuance here. You need to pay attention to such points as the location of the doors and the presence of their close contact with the street, the weight of the door and the expected intensity of its use and, of course, your aesthetic preferences. Although, by and large, all these points, except the last one, will be thought through by the manufacturers for you, of course, if we are not talking about self-production metal doors.
The weight and size of door leaves can vary greatly depending on the purpose of the door and the material from which they are made. While there are no problems with the choice of canopies for furniture and interior doors, the same cannot be said about door hinges for heavy doors or gates.
You need to select reinforced fittings for them, as they must withstand very serious loads.
The reliability and efficiency of door accessories also determine performance characteristics the doors themselves: service life, noiselessness, ease and smoothness of opening. What if we're talking about For products located at the entrance to a house or site, additional requirements are imposed on hinges.
This:
- Resistance to intense wear;
- Resistant to moisture and dust;
- High level of resistance to tampering attempts.
For reference. The most vulnerable point of steel entrance doors is the hinges, which are often cut off to gain entry into the house.
Therefore, when choosing canopies, we try to take into account all factors that may affect the safety, convenience and duration of their use.
Namely:
- Location of the door block;
- Conditions and intensity of its operation;
- Dimensions and weight of the sash;
- The direction of opening the door leaf;
- Appearance of fittings.
If the door is very heavy, then in addition to the special design of the canopies, their optimal number for each door is selected. Quite often, instead of two, three or even four loops are used in order to more evenly distribute the mass of the fabric between them and eliminate possible deformations.
Types of canopies for massive doors
Special fittings are selected only for really heavy doors. The instructions require installing it on canvases weighing from 80-100 kg. With a smaller mass, you can get by with regular loops, increasing their number if necessary.
Door hinges are classified according to characteristics such as type of design, installation method, material of manufacture.
By type of construction
According to their design, hinges are divided into one-piece and detachable.
The first ones consist of two cards mounted on the rotation axis with holes for fastening. Standard loops are 10-12 cm long and are used primarily when installing lungs.
- Frame card with three hinges;
- Sleeve;
- Door card with two hinges;
- Self-tapping screws for fastening.
Reinforced door hinges are available for heavy doors large sizes with an increased number of fastening points. The thickness of the cards is also made larger (minimum 3 mm versus 2 mm for conventional canopies).
Please note. The use of one-piece hinges is ineffective due to their short service life and low reliability. Such loops quickly wear out inside, which leads to squeaking and sagging of the canvas. In addition, to remove the canvas from the box, the hinges must be unscrewed.
There are two types of detachable canopies: with a ball and with a bearing.
Structurally, they look like this:
- Door card;
- Fist;
- Steel finger;
- Frame card.
You can remove the door leaf by lifting it and removing the door card with frame.
Please note. To prevent your front door from being broken into by removing it from its hinges, purchase door fittings with special depressions and protrusions, which when closing the door are combined and limit the vertical movement of the leaf.
In order for such canopies to serve longer and more reliably, they are equipped with additional elements:
- Loops with balls. This is an improved version of the usual detachable hinge. In it, a steel ball is placed in the door card, ensuring easy sliding of the finger in the fist and smooth opening of the door. Such canopies do not sag, but over time they may begin to creak. Grease with grease helps remove it.
- Bearing hinges. The most common type, which has a lot of advantages: strength, reliability, durability, low maintenance requirements, and no squeaking throughout the entire service life.
By installation method
Installation of hinges can be done in different ways depending on their design and purpose:
- Overhead hinges- the most common and easiest to install, which is easy to do with your own hands. It was they, forged by blacksmiths, that were used by our ancestors from time immemorial. Today there are more modern and reliable options, but neither one nor the other is suitable for installation on entrance doors, as they are not protected from burglary. However, they can withstand a decent weight, so they are placed both on metal doors, and on gates or heavy solid wood products.
- Mortise hinges much more reliable, since their cards are attached to the end of the door leaf and the inside of the frame, and closed position become invisible. Depending on the size and thickness of the plates, two hinges can withstand fairly decent loads - up to 100 kg. They are called mortise because grooves are selected for the cards in the body of the canvas and the box, allowing the plates to be “recessed” to the level of the main plane.
- , unlike overhead and mortise ones, are reliably protected from cutting, since when closed door their rotary axis is absolutely invisible. Unsurpassed reliability, strength and ability to withstand quite large loads allows you to install such canopies on armored doors of cash registers and banking premises. They are universal: they can open the door both on the right and on the left. However, they also have a serious drawback - small angle opening the doors.
For reference. Other types of hidden hinges are also used for steel doors.
- Screw-in hinges consist of two “barrels”– cylindrical parts with holes for fastening and with pins that are screwed into the frame slope and the end of the door leaf. The axis of rotation is located inside the cylinders. In essence, this is an analogue of card loops, in which the role of cards is played by screw-in pins. A disadvantage of the design can be considered weight restrictions: two standard hinges will not withstand a load of more than 100-120 kg, their number in the case of heavy sashes will have to be increased to 3-4.
According to the material of manufacture
Various metals and alloys are used to make canopies for heavy doors.
- Conventional uncoated steel hinges are practically not in demand today and are used only for doors to non-residential utility rooms or street fences.
- Stainless steel hinges are more popular as they have high resistance to temperature changes and moisture, retain their original appearance for a long time.
- Canopies made of alloys of steel, copper, zinc and aluminum, coated with enamel, brass, or bronze or gold compositions, are valued for both wear resistance and decorativeness, allowing you to choose fittings for the door of any color and design.
- Brass canopies are the most expensive, but they are superior to hinges made from other materials in all operational and aesthetic indicators. They are most often used when installing premium doors.
Conclusion
If you purchased a door and are going to install it yourself, all necessary information you have a choice of awnings. The installation process itself is shown in the video in this article.
But in the case of massive panels, it is better to purchase ready-made doors from well-known and reliable manufacturers who supply all the necessary fittings with them. It also includes door hinges for heavy doors, selected taking into account the design and weight of the product.