There is a reason we have four tips for ball bearing hinges and what they must have before you consider buying them, they literally should have four ball bearings.
This is the first point right off the bat as it’s the most important.
How Many Bearings
A four ball bearing butt hinge will have the stability to not only hold solid doors now, but it will do so for a long, long time. This is due to the spacing between the bearings which allows for weight distribution across the entire hinge. Other inferior products put a lot of pressure on the ends of the hinge which can make the door sag over time.
You can always put more hinges on, but for those larger heavy entry doors you’re going to require four hinges anyway so you can’t put more than that on (well you can, but we wouldn’t advise this).
What Material Is Being Used
Your hinges should be made from stainless steel, and the best quality steel at that.
Our Architectural Choice products are made from 304 Stainless Steel, the highest quality in the world. For higher corrosion resistance requirements, we suggest using 316 stainless steel.
We’re not suggesting that is the only material, however, to get the best product for the job we certainly recommend something that is going to perform exceptionally both when in a normal everyday situation, or an emergency, which leads us to the next tip.
Are They Fire Tested
This is becoming the norm for hinges, particularly architectural hinges such as ball bearing. Be diligent though and make sure they are fire tested, simply ask your distributor if they have been tested for fire. It’s as simple as that and if they don’t know, they aren’t fire tested. Some brass hinges simply melt during fires which renders the door useless. This is a matter of security so for the sake of asking the question, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
What Weight Rating
This isn’t going to be a high priority for most cases, however if you have larger doors anywhere on the project it’s better to know what rating the ball bearing hinges come in. It is good no matter what butt hinges you’re using if you have larger doors or heavy doors.
The Architectural Choice hinges have a rating of 120 kilograms for the 100x75mm product which is one of the highest in the industry. This is important for the heavier doors as they simply won’t last like they should. Doors don’t get much lighter as the years go on and you want to make sure any movement over time isn’t magnified by poor operating hinges.
If you also would like to know hinge placements for these, get in touch with our team and we will send out the details.
Colour Quality
Sorry, we couldn’t resist putting another in here! This is also important though, so we need to talk about it. If you want the best ball bearing hinge on the market it needs to be finished well.
That means are they consistent in finish colour? We don’t mean does the finish look the same as your tapware, that’s never going to happen. What colour quality means is does the consistency shape up over not just two or three hinges, but 50-60, or 300-400? Are they the same each batch? That’s the key here as you might only want to put them on a few doors to start with and then work your way through the project depending on your situation. You might only have a tradesperson there at certain intervals and that could be a long time between visits.
So there you have it, four, well five tips on ball bearing butt hinges and what’s important to think about when making your selections.
If you have any questions about this topic or anything door hardware related don’t hesitate to Contact the team today.