Cabinet/Fridge Setup

[Jacob Dryer]

I need some specialty engineering aka jerry rigging assistance. I've got a bar that I built with a cabinet to hide our mini-fridge with soft drinks and beer. The cabinet has a door to hide the old fridge, but that means that we have to open the cabinet door and then the fridge door. So I need to figure out a way to open and close both at the same time. So some how I need to connect the two, but they are on different hinges so the attachment point needs to slide a little to accommodate that extra motion. It needs to be solid so that when we close the cabinet it puts enough force on the fridge door to get a good seal.



Thoughts/Pictures would be great.

 

[Les]

Attach the cabinet door to the fridge door.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I would also attach it directly to the door assuming the depth is appropriate.



Second option is, run a cable from the cabinet door to the frig door. Then mount some sort of a block directly to the inside of the cabinet door so that when you close the cabinet, the block closes the frig door (if there is a space between the doors).

 

[Jacob Dryer]

There is a space between them, and the door on the fridge is rounded.



The cable with a block might work though, I might just be over thinking things.

 

[Johnny O]

The cable with a block might work though, I might just be over thinking things.

No, you're not thinking quite enough.



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[Bill V]

I've seen a couple fridges hidden like this--and in each case, the doors remained separated. You opened the cabinet door, you reached inside, you opened the fridge. Didn't seem to be that big of a deal. Is keeping them separate an option? If so, I recommend it. It's simpler, less costly, and leaves you the flexibility to change fridges quickly and easily if the current one ever fails.

 

[Richard L]

JD,

You probably cannot connect the two doors directly together becaus they will have different Hinge pivot points and that would cause the doors to bind up and not function at all.



You could link the two doors with a short piece of linkage that would allow the frig door to be pulled open when you opened the cabinet, and pushed closed when the cabinet door was closed. This linkage piece could be something as simple as a flat piece of 1/2" wide steel or aluminum and a small "L-Bracket" to allow the linkage to pivot freely between the two doors.



I would mount the linkage to the top edge of the frig door to avoid any clearance issues.



You could probably experiment with some cardboard mockups to check for the correct mounting ponts on both doors in the fully opened and fully closed position. That will also give you a pretty good idea of the exact lenght of the linkage piece.



...Rich

 

[Kevin Palmer]

You could use something rigid that has two pivot points. Like if two hinges were bolted together for example.



So one part bolted to the frig door, then metal running to the next pivot that is then attached to the cabinet door.



As you open the cabinet, this would allow the doors to open without slack in a cable and yet allow the doors to open and close like they were bolted to each other...

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Well I did it in the ugliest way possible for now. some scrap wood and some wire. So it works, but it isn't pretty.



That said though, please keep the ideas coming, because I think I'm going to rebuild my bar when we move. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't make it though the move anyways..



Bill - it is an option and has been this way for 2 years, just not how I want it.



Richard and Coastie I can't picture what either of you are suggesting, any chance of a crude picture to illustrate it?

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Ok, here is a quick picture. The black part is the metal aspect that connects the two door. If you were to get two hinges and bolt them together for example, you would get one part where it can mount to the frig door, then the metal part where the two hinges are bolted together, the the next part of metal that is bolted to the cabinet.



It would all you to pull the cabinet door, which would open the frig door. And, with the two pivot points, the doors could open without a restriction due to the two doors different hinge mountings.



Make sense?



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And here is a real ruff picture on how it would look open...

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[Jacob Dryer]

What is going to stop the hinge from just folding in on itself and not pushing the door shut? Just the have to have the right kind of hinge?

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Because the doors are mounted on hinges where they are fixed to the frig and the cabinet. So, since the doors MUST pivot only in a specific arc due to the factory hinges, that means that the second hinge you mount can ONLY pivot in the middle part. Yes, if you mount it in such a way that the middle part is near the angle of the doors, then it could possibly flex enough to not work.



But, if you mount it so that the angle is close to 90 degrees it simply has to work.

I would say to mount it at about 75 ish degrees, this would not allow it to pass the 90 degree mark when opening and closing preventing a possible stress on things.



In theory, you have a single piece of metal that will not change the push/pull aspect of it even though there are two pivots.



Make sense?

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Yea I guess so



When I rebuild the bar, what if I made the cabinet door have a little bit of an L to it so that it wrapped around so the hinge on the cabinet door lined up with the hinge on the fridge door? Then I could keep the doors very close together if not touching and just put some sort of slide on the two doors to keep them together.



Does that sound like it would work?

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Took me a sec to get what you were saying, but yes, that will work.



The inside door will open when the "L" pull it open. As both doors open, the inside door will slide away from the "L" due to the different pivots of the door hinges.



When they close, the only thing you would need to have is something that keeps the doors somewhat close to each other or make sure that when it is nearing the "L" to reengage that the two doors are right next to each other..

 

[Les]

When you rebuild the bar, get this flexible wood that runs in a track. I use to have it on a wall unit and I don't know the technical name. This way, when you are using the bar, leave it open, and when you arn't, just leave it close. Or, make doors that you open straight out and then slide in beside the refrig. when in use. If this is something you use on a daily basis, I would still attach the outer door to the refrig. door.