A concealed cabinet hinge is chosen by its overlay, opening angle, mounting plate and how the cup is fixed in the door. This guide explains those terms as Hafele's furniture catalog uses them for the Salice, Grass TIOMOS and Hafele clip-on hinges we carry.
Source: Hafele, The Complete Furniture and Cabinetry Hardware, 2026 edition, published on hafele.com; page numbers refer to it. For item numbers, see our Hafele item numbers guide.
Cup diameter, hole pattern and tab
The Salice selection guide (page 9.12) labels the standard hinges "Concealed (35 mm cup)" and the thick door hinges "Thick door (40 mm cup)". The drawings on pages 9.17, 9.20 and 9.68 show a 35 mm cup with two fixing points 45 mm apart, 9.5 mm from the cup center; page 9.68 calls this the 45/9.5 hole pattern.
The tab is the distance between the cup and the door edge, called the cup drilling distance or tab (K) on page 9.16 and DD in the Grass TIOMOS tables. Hinge pages print its range, for example 3-6 mm for the Salice 200 Series 110 degree hinges (page 9.20).
Full overlay, half overlay and inset
From page 9.16:
- Full overlay: the door significantly overlaps the cabinet opening on all four sides, typically 16 to 19 mm (5/8 to 3/4 inch) on a frameless cabinet, with a 0, 2 or 3 mm mounting plate.
- Partial, half or 1/2 inch overlay: the door overlaps less; partial is 6 to 16 mm on a frameless cabinet.
- Inset: the door fits completely into the face frame, using an inset hinge or an overlay hinge on a high mounting plate.
How the crank and the mounting plate set the overlay
Page 9.16 gives Overlay = (constant + tab) - mounting plate height. The constant is set by the hinge maker; the page prints it for three cranks (hinge arms):
| Crank | Overlay | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| A | Full | D = (15 + K) - H |
| D | 1/2 inch, face frame | D = (10 + K) - H |
| G | Half | D = (6 + K) - H |
D is the overlay, K the tab and H the plate height, in mm; the page's example is 15 + 5.5 - 3 = 17.5 mm. Inset (crank P) has its own formula. The 200 Series model numbers on page 9.20 carry the same letters: C2P6A99 full overlay, C2P6G99 half, C2P6P99 inset.
The page warns that constants might differ between makers; they also differ between hinges, for example D = (19 + K) - H for full overlay on the Salice N Series (page 9.35). Hafele's clip-on hinges use a hinge type (14 full, 4 half, -4 inset): hinge type - mounting plate + tab = overlay, for example 14 - 0 + 4 = 16 mm (page 9.66).
A higher plate means less overlay. In the Grass TIOMOS 110 degree table (page 9.53), a full overlay plus hinge with a 3 mm drilling distance gives 18 mm on a 0 mm baseplate and 16 mm on a 2 mm one.
Opening angles: 94, 110, 120, 155 and 165 degrees
From page 9.14 (Salice), a selection:
- 94 degrees: often used on an end panel against a wall or another cabinet to restrict the opening; reduction clips take it to 86 degrees.
- 110 degrees: the standard and most commonly used opening angle.
- 120 degrees: often used in kitchens, for greater access.
- 155 degrees: zero protrusion on full overlay with 0 or 2 mm plates; commonly used with pull-out or roll-out shelves.
- 165 degrees: the most access; also called wide angle hinges.
Other lines print 105 degrees (Salice 100 Series, page 9.17), 106 (Salice Excenthree, page 9.80) or 125 (Grass TIOMOS M0, page 9.56). On Hafele's 45 degree corner hinges, 45 degrees is the hinge arm; they open 92 degrees (page 9.70).
Corner, thick door, thin door, glass door and face frame hinges
- Corner: Salice blind corner (page 9.28), +45 degree (page 9.29) and -45 or -30 degree hinges for doors with negative angled assembly (page 9.30); Hafele blind corner hinges (page 9.70).
- Thick doors: the Salice N Series takes doors 19-40 mm thick and overlays up to 34.5 mm, opening 94 degrees (page 9.35).
- Thin doors: the Grass TIOMOS M0 needs no cup drilling and is listed for 6-10 mm doors of HPL, MDF, mineral material or solid surface (page 9.56).
- Glass doors: the Salice glass door hinge 329.21.500 opens 94 degrees for 4-6 mm glass (page 9.109). The Salice Series B (CBG) needs no glass drilling; its plate is bonded with a special adhesive, which the catalog recommends leaving to a specialist company (page 9.111). Our page for its self-close version, 329.26.622, uses the name Duomatic.
- Face frame: the Salice Excenthree, with integrated soft close, is listed by overlay from 1/2 to 1-3/8 inch (page 9.80).
Self-close, soft close, free-swinging and push to open
From page 9.14: self-closing is the industry standard, a spring in the hinge arm holding the door shut. Free-swinging hinges have no internal spring and are typically used with touch latches. Silentia+ soft close keeps the door from slamming and needs a deeper cup hole. PUSH hinges open the door when it is pressed and must always be used with a PUSH latch.
Clip-on or slide-on: plates and cup fixing
- Hinge arm to plate: Salice clip mounting plates are on pages 9.39-9.43; the slide-on plates on page 9.44 have pre-installed hinge arm retaining screws. Hafele's flanged plates are for clip-on hinges only (page 9.72).
- Cup to door (page 9.14): screw (two #6 wood screws), dowel (pressed in, not removable once inserted), Rapido (locking dowels turned a half turn) or Logica (tool-free expansion dowels). Salice plates are fixed to the cabinet with wood screws, euro screws or expandable dowels (page 9.13).
Examples from our catalog
A selection, not a matched set.
| Item | Item No. | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Salice 200, full overlay | 329.17.507 | 9.20 |
| Salice 200, inset, free-swinging | 329.16.520 | 9.20 |
| TIOMOS 110, full overlay plus | 348.31.800 | 9.53 |
| Clip-on plate, height 2 | 315.98.662 | 9.72 |
| Clip-on arm cover cap | 313.21.510 | 9.68 |
| 45 degree corner hinge | 315.01.711 | 9.70 |
| TIOMOS M0, thin doors | 348.23.801 | 9.56 |
| Excenthree, 1-1/4 inch | 343.61.557 | 9.80 |
Hafele catalog pages we host
Both come from a different edition of the catalog; they refer to mounting plates on pages 9.35-9.40; the 2026 edition has them on pages 9.39-9.44.
Hafele hinges at The Builders Supply
Questions? Our customer support team is available Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4 PM Central Time, at 1-888-800-7789 or [email protected].
Related Products
