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I do a lot of carpentry projects for our local food bank which has grown into a community food centre, running lots of programs, with a complete commercial kitchen, advocacy office, and food bank offering a self-shopping option. Recently the coordinator asked me if I could make a lockable, wall-hung cabinet for her to hold a collection of tools (they need new tools as well - the little tool kit they now use has a truly pathetic hammer, screw drivers and wrenches).
So I building a wall-hung cabinet out of some spare 3/4' plywood I had in the shop but am wondering which side the door should open onto (I have a choice).
The box itself has a 16" by 24" outside dimension and is 16" deep (and will be quite heavy when tools are put inside). Two inset strips of pine run across the back of the cabinet, top and bottom, so I can hang it flush from a wall and there are several practical locations to put this cabinet in the building where I can attach to studs using lag bolts. This also means I have some choice on which side to place the door hinges. Because the door itself will have two magnetic strip tool bars on it to hold screwdrivers etc., I am using a piano hinge for extra holding power.
As I have a choice of which side the door should be hung from and the locations that are available will readily accommodate either left or right opening, is there a preferred side that most people would find easier to use? I am left-handed so I may have a different perception of this than most people. So, among woodworkers out there is there any advice on putting the hinge on the left or right?
Puzzled.
Thanks for everyone's advice on this. The client loved the idea of the drop down door. But as the health and Safety person at the Food bank also wanted rounded off corners. And since her choice of location meant that the drop down door - without rounded off corners - would have extended past a door frame just slightly when opened up, rounding the corners and cutting a couple of inches off the door at the same time with a bandsaw made a perfect solution. See pix.
So I building a wall-hung cabinet out of some spare 3/4' plywood I had in the shop but am wondering which side the door should open onto (I have a choice).
The box itself has a 16" by 24" outside dimension and is 16" deep (and will be quite heavy when tools are put inside). Two inset strips of pine run across the back of the cabinet, top and bottom, so I can hang it flush from a wall and there are several practical locations to put this cabinet in the building where I can attach to studs using lag bolts. This also means I have some choice on which side to place the door hinges. Because the door itself will have two magnetic strip tool bars on it to hold screwdrivers etc., I am using a piano hinge for extra holding power.
As I have a choice of which side the door should be hung from and the locations that are available will readily accommodate either left or right opening, is there a preferred side that most people would find easier to use? I am left-handed so I may have a different perception of this than most people. So, among woodworkers out there is there any advice on putting the hinge on the left or right?
Puzzled.
Thanks for everyone's advice on this. The client loved the idea of the drop down door. But as the health and Safety person at the Food bank also wanted rounded off corners. And since her choice of location meant that the drop down door - without rounded off corners - would have extended past a door frame just slightly when opened up, rounding the corners and cutting a couple of inches off the door at the same time with a bandsaw made a perfect solution. See pix.
