Hinging for horizontal frameless door

  • December 14, 2025 6:44 PM
    Message # 13572900

    I've been tasked with making a cabinet with horizontal grain frameless doors. Because it's frameless and a lower cabinet, I can leave room for expansion at the bottom and I'm planning on sliding dovetail battens on the backsides of the doors to minimize warping. (No, plywood got nixed due to the desired edge treatment. Thanks for asking.) The interesting bit is allowing for expansion across the hinges.  

    While I enjoy solving original problems, this must have been solved many times over. Is there a common, effective way to do this? Or a special product? (I've come up dry on web/AI searches so far).

    Current plan is to use European style hinges. I suppose I could leave the lower hinge mount a tiny bit loose, and somehow constrain it to only slide up and down? Or find a sliding plate to mount the hinge on?  I thought about mounting the hinge to the batten, which wouldn't have vertical expansion, but it's a long way in from the edge, and further back than normal hinges expect.

    Just to make it more fun, the door is maple, roughly 26 inches high (less between the hinges), for a bathroom, so possibly a good bit of seasonal expansion for the full door.


  • December 15, 2025 12:16 PM
    Reply # 13573091 on 13572900
    If it’s a raised panel door that should be made to enable wood movement.  If it’s a slab with an edge treatment, wrap by it in some solid and veneer over the whole thing.