An acrylic cabinet door is judged by how it closes: no rattle, no gap, no bind, and a lock that turns without flexing the panel. Those are hinge and reveal decisions, not sheet thickness decisions.
A museum store in Lisbon fitted 30 display cabinets with 8 mm acrylic doors on concealed hinges. Within six months, 9 had cracked from the hinge bore, and the doors that survived were the ones that had been re-set on clamp hinges.
Acrylic cabinet door panel and hinge choice
- Door to 600 mm wide: 6 mm
- Door 600 to 900 mm: 8 mm
- Hinge: clamp-on with gasket, not drilled concealed
- Reveal: 2 mm all round, lock cut-out 10 mm clear of edge
Hinges are the structural interface. A concealed hinge needs a 35 mm bore, and that bore sits close to the panel corner where the material is least able to take load; a clamp hinge spreads the load along the edge instead and can be adjusted without re-drilling.
Reveal, lock cut-out and cleaning
The 2 mm reveal is a settlement allowance. A door set flush will bind the first time the cabinet dries out in winter, and a bound door gets pulled until the hinge area cracks.
The lock cut-out is a classic crack origin. A cut-out within 10 mm of the edge leaves a ligament that cannot resist the torque of a key turn; a 20 mm ligament with a radiused corner does.
Where the cabinet sits in a controlled environment, frosted acrylic sheet covers the diffused glazing option for the same case.
Send your cabinet opening sizes, hinge type and lock detail to oversales@rpplexiglass.com for a door quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
What thickness acrylic cabinet door?
6 mm for doors to 600 mm wide, 8 to 10 mm beyond that. Deflection at the free edge is the limit; a 6 mm door on an 800 mm opening bows away from the seal.
Which hinge suits an acrylic door?
A clamp-on hinge with a rubber gasket, not a drilled-in concealed hinge. Acrylic does not take the same screw holding power as chipboard, and a concealed hinge needs a 35 mm bore that weakens the corner.
Why does an acrylic door bind after a few months?
The cabinet has settled and the reveal has closed. The door should be set with a 2 mm reveal all round so seasonal movement in the carcass does not put the panel into contact.