Shutter Hinges

[Alpinist]

Hi, this is my first post so please be gentle! I have made some shutters from 18mm mdf that bi-fold. I used rebated butt hinges to attatch them to the window frame which work fine and piano hinges for the bi fold part. These are very effective to stop light but do not fold back completely on themselves. Any ideas?

 

[Colin C]

Hi Alpinist,

Welcome to the mad house ( not me by the way :roll: :wink: )

We will need a bit more info or a pic if you can.
Some one give the link on how to post pic's as it will help a lot

 

[JFC]

Welcome to the forum
Have you left the knuckle of the hinge proud of the doors or did you fit the hinge flush with the doors ?

 

[Adam]

Can't help but welcome to the forum

Adam

 

[misterfish]

Hi Alpinist and welcome.

I did a similar thing at our previous house only I made the four leaves with pine rails and stiles and the panels from pine T&G. These were to keep out the annoying streetlight from the bedroom and once scribed to the opening were a success.

I used butt hinges for both fixing the shutters to the masonary window surround as well as joining the two elements of each pair.

When I was putting them together I ended up by stacking two panels together (equivalent of folded flat) and then worked out the position for the hinges as well as the actual pivot point of the hinges so that once this was done the two panels folded flat against each other. Only then did I sort out the position of the hinges to fix the shutters to the frame.

It took a fair bit of adjustment to get it all right and we did find the wood tended to expand and contract a bit depending on humidity - we finished them using danish oil.

As you're using MDF your shutters should be pretty stable - especially when painted.

If I were repeating the exercise I might now I would be tempted to make my own internal frame for the whole shuuter unit - that way you can get the frame well scribed to the window opening and more important you can fit the shutters to the frame on the work bench instead of trying to support things in mid air.

Cheers

MisterFish

 

[engineer one]

sounds like the hinges are clashing with each other
so did you rebate them, and did you also think about where the hinge pin runs??
:lol:
paul :wink:

 

[JFC]

Sorry i read it all wrong . They wont close properly ? Its the screws imho . Try taking every other screw out on one shutter and every other other screw out on the other shutter . So you have no two screws meeting each other . If it works you need to counter sink the hinge more to take the screw you are using .

 

[engineer one]

too much time with that spiral router jason :lol: :lol: :lol:

yours is definately the easiest way to check

paul :wink:

 

[Alpinist]

Thanks for the replies. The piano hinges are mounted on the surface of the two elements, with the knuckle facing out. The gap between them is 5mm, when you close the two parts they reach about 80% closure before binding. Maybe I could use a rebated butt hinge instead, can you perhaps get one with a narrow knuckle that would keep the gap small between the two elements?