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I'm building an heirloom dresser/chest for my daughter that has a pair of doors. I've heard from a couple of different corners of the woodworking community that Brusso is the best, so I just checked their website to see what they had. The prices really blew me away! I'm looking at nearly $80 for 2 pair of 1 1/4in hinges, shipped. I'm not quite sure what to think... Who out there is using this hardware? I assume it's in a league of its own. I'll probably suck it up and go for it since this piece of furniture is pretty special, but I can't imagine using these often...
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(11-04-2021, 07:01 PM)mr_skittle Wrote: I'm building an heirloom dresser/chest for my daughter that has a pair of doors. I've heard from a couple of different corners of the woodworking community that Brusso is the best, so I just checked their website to see what they had. The prices really blew me away! I'm looking at nearly $80 for 2 pair of 1 1/4in hinges, shipped. I'm not quite sure what to think... Who out there is using this hardware? I assume it's in a league of its own. I'll probably suck it up and go for it since this piece of furniture is pretty special, but I can't imagine using these often...
Brusso does make superior hardware. Your eighty bucks will get you 4 tightly toleranced hinges. Throw away the stupid Philips head screws and get some proper slotted ones, though.
Best,
Aram, always learning
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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I think the price is about right. Quality hinges are not cheap especially for fine furniture pieces.
Simon
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i've used brusso for years - primarily their small stop box hinges and the cabinet knife hinges. must admit it is a big "gulp" buying them but in the end i feel they are worth it - good quality.
i believe they have a sale on some styles 1x each year
jerry
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(11-05-2021, 10:20 AM)jcousins2 Wrote: i've used brusso for years - primarily their small stop box hinges and the cabinet knife hinges. must admit it is a big "gulp" buying them but in the end i feel they are worth it - good quality.
i believe they have a sale on some styles 1x each year
jerry
Same here, and I concur. However, it should be mentioned that Sanderson Hardware (run by a couple with Krenov lineage) make top notch knife hinges. They are sized smaller than Brusso's, which I am almost positive is a deliberate aesthetic choice.
Best,
Aram, always learning
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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(11-05-2021, 10:20 AM)jcousins2 Wrote: i've used brusso for years - primarily their small stop box hinges and the cabinet knife hinges. must admit it is a big "gulp" buying them but in the end i feel they are worth it - good quality.
i believe they have a sale on some styles 1x each year
jerry
"gulp" is a good word for it. I don't doubt their quality at all but I'm curious what a 'middle of the road' hinge costs. There are the $3 hinges from a big box and we all know how chincy they can be, clearly not in the same class as Brusso. Is there anyone out there selling $15 hinges?
I think we've all become so used to the race to the bottom with prices and "free" shipping that it's a shock when we have to actually pay shipping or the full price of premium products.
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(11-05-2021, 06:30 PM)mr_skittle Wrote: "gulp" is a good word for it. I don't doubt their quality at all but I'm curious what a 'middle of the road' hinge costs. There are the $3 hinges from a big box and we all know how chincy they can be, clearly not in the same class as Brusso. Is there anyone out there selling $15 hinges?
I think we've all become so used to the race to the bottom with prices and "free" shipping that it's a shock when we have to actually pay shipping or the full price of premium products.
The last time I made a very nice piece of furniture, I had sticker shock, as you did. I ended up not using Brusso, but got hinges from either
ball and ball or
horton, can't recall which, but they were very high quality. Horton has brass hinges for around $17, though not sure exactly what size you needed.
https://www.horton-brasses.com/CP-11-CP-11.asp
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Thanks a lot for chiming in. I figured there must be some alternatives. While $17 a pair is not cheap, it's a lot easier to swallow than $33. I still don't know for sure what I'll do but I'm happy to know there are some choices.
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I pretty much use Brusso exclusively when possible: the marginal cost of some hardware pales in comparison to the time and effort put into the build.
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Hi
I think Brusso products are pretty good but you should check them for accuracy when you get them. I've used them a lot but the last time I purchased the little stop hinges there was a problem. When I was drilling the holes for the screws I used one hinge as a "template" for each of the 4 mortises that were getting the hinges, like usual. When I tried to install the hinges I found that the holes I had drilled did not line up with the holes in the hinges, except for the one spot where I had used the "template." I checked them and found that the four hinges did not match each other in terms of where the holes were in relation to the edges of the hinges and in relation to each other. It wasn't a big deal; just had to fill some screw holes and re-drill each spot using the hinge that would go in that specific spot, but it was sort of a pain in the neck, especially when considering the price Brusso gets for the hinges. I even called them but the person who answered couldn't have been less interested.
