I’ve been wanting to make two cabinets with glass doors and narrow black frames around the door.
For reasons of structural strength and hinge placement, about 1-1/2” is the narrowest that is feasible and I worry about the structural strength.
I see that Hafele sells prefinished aluminum extrusions (powder coated or anodized) that assemble just like aluminum picture frames.
I’ve mitered and assembled hundreds of aluminum picture frames. I still have my dedicated picture frame miter machine (45 degree cuts are pre-set at the factory for greater accuracy). The very pricey saw blade (about $200.00l in the mid 1980s) makes very clean cuts. Since the material is prefinished, the precise cuts and clean cutoffs are essential.
Assembly is with corner brackets that slide into a channel in the rear and held in place with set screws. The hinges also use that channel and can slide anywhere along the length of the molding.
When I was building picture frames, I could miter the molding, assemble the frame and cut the glass in under one hour.
A cabinet door from start to finish in one hour would be amazing.
However the moldings are about 3 times the cost of picture frame moldings, the $0.25 corner brackets are now $3.00 to $12.00 each.
But still, fast and easy. Except I am not clear on what exactly to order.
Has anyone used this system?
Here is the google search I used:
https://www.google.com/search?q=hafele%20extrusions%20for%20door%20frames&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m
