Saloon doors can have a wide variety of hinge options. Are Commercial Grade Gravity hinges the saloon door hinge for you?

Let us explain and explore the Commercial Grade Gravity hinges which are among the most durable hinges for saloon doors.

Commercial Grade Gravity hinges are manufactured by Bommer Industries and are often referred to as a pivot hinge. These are proudly manufactured in the USA. They are offered in a variety of finishes including Primed, Satin Brass, Satin Chrome, Oil Rubbed Bronze and Bright Black.

Best Application for Commercial Grade Gravity Hinges

These saloon door hinges work well with light weight or heavy doors. They can withstand a commercial application though many are also used in a residential setting as well. The Commercial Grade Gravity hinge has a load weight of 50 lb per door. These saloon door hinges allow the door to swing open in either direction and automatically return the doors to the center position using gravity. The hinge also allows for the doors to hold open at 90 degrees in either direction.

How Commercial Grade Gravity Hinges work?

For our purposes here, we are talking about installing a pair of cafe doors. You might ask... Why are these referred to as gravity hinges? When the doors are pushed opened; they are pushed up a ramp, when released they ride back down the ramp. At the bottom of the ramp the doors are in the center (closed) position. Therefore, they use the weight of the doors and gravity to self return to the closed position.

These Commercial Grade Gravity hinges offer the smallest gap with a gravity hinge. The doors will need either a radius on them or shimmed between the hinge and jamb. Doors will need to have a 7/8” radius to operate correctly. The radius needs to be on the door stile that is attaching to the door jamb. The other option is to use 1/16” shim between the door jamb and the saloon door hardware (both top and bottom bracket would require the shim). These saloon door hinges require 5/32” of spacing between the door jamb and each saloon door. The Commercial Grade Gravity hinge is available in a hold open and non-hold open feature. With our custom doors, we will manufacture the doors to fit the opening with these gaps plus a gap in the center as well. The default hinge option includes the hold open feature. Once the Commercial Grade Gravity hinge engages in the hold open feature, the doors will remain open. This is accomplished by a flat shelf at the top of the ramp in the bottom pivot. These cafe door hinges come as a pair providing everything to mount a pair of cafe doors.

Recessed Commercial Grade Gravity Hinges:

Installing Commercial Grade Gravity Hinges

Commercial Grade Gravity hardware installs on the top and bottom of the cafe doors. Make sure you have enough clearance for these saloon door hinges. Follow manufacturers installation instructions for this saloon door hinge.

The bottom hinge can be recessed, if the bottom hinge is recessed you will require 3” less space. We commonly offer this on our custom doors. The recess option is not currently available on the website, so please call (1-855-343-6677) for more information. These pivot saloon door hinges are available for all door heights from 38” tall to 95” tall saloon doors.

Pro Tip: We recommend pre-drilling all holes before installing the hardware.

Trouble-shooting Commercial Grade Gravity Hinge

If the Commercial Grade Gravity hinge does not return the doors to center, there is likely some binding between the top or bottom pivot assembly. Since some door openings are not perfectly square and plum, the hinge might need some adjustment. 

These hinges are highly recommended as saloon door hinges, Swinging Cafe Doors offers a wide range of hinges, but the commercial grade gravity hinges have a great function and allow for minimal clearance making them perfect for saloon door installation.