Deltana DSB3 3" x 3" Square Hinges (Pair)

Only if the existing mortise has square corners. The DSB3 has square corners, so it needs a mortise with chisel-cut corners. Most doors machined on a router template have a 5/8 inch or 1/4 inch radius pocket, and a square leaf will not seat in one without chiselling the corners out. If the door you are working on has radiused pockets, a radius corner hinge is the swap, like the Delaney 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 residential hinges with the 5/8 inch radius or the Orca 3514 Series with a 1/4 inch radius. Where the corners are square and the existing hinge measures 3 x 3, the leaf footprint matches and the brass leaf runs .097 inch thick.

Not a good choice for that opening. The DSB3 is built with a removable pin, no NRP, so anyone standing outside can tap the pin up and take the door off the frame. On an outswing door with exposed hinges you want a non-removable pin or a security stud. The Hager BB1168 in the non-removable pin version is the full mortise ball bearing hinge made for that condition. The DSB3 is fine on any inswing door where the barrel sits on the secure side.

Wood screws come with them, #10 x 1 inch, and no machine screws are supplied. That makes the DSB3 a wood-frame hinge: it fastens into a wood door and a wood jamb. A hollow metal frame is drilled and tapped for 12-24 machine screws, and there are none in this pack, so it is the wrong hinge for a steel frame opening. For hollow metal work, look at a commercial steel hinge such as the Ives 3CB1 concealed bearing full mortise.

Plain bearing is what the DSB3 uses, and Deltana rates it residential. Plain bearing knuckles ride metal on metal, which is fine for a closet, a bedroom door, or anything opened a handful of times a day. A door in constant traffic, or a heavy solid core leaf, wears a plain bearing hinge and starts to squeak and sag; a ball bearing hinge carries that load on races and lasts far longer. If the opening sees real traffic, the Emtek 94013 heavy duty ball bearing pair is a 3-1/2 inch square corner option, and the Orca 3535 Series is a 4-1/2 inch square corner ball bearing hinge rated medium duty for commercial work.

The Deltana DSB3 is a 3" x 3" plain bearing hinge with square corners, sold as a pair, so it will not fill a 3-1/2 inch mortise. At 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" with square corners and plain bearings, the Emtek 91013 residential plain bearing hinge is also sold as a pair, in plated steel. The Schlage Residential S3P1010 is the same 3.5" x 3.5" square corner plain bearing mortise hinge and comes as a pack of three. Both drop into a square corner mortise the same way the DSB3 does at its own size.

The Deltana DSB3 has square corners, which need a chiseled or square-routed mortise. For a factory-routed pocket with a radius, the Delaney 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" bulk steel residential interior hinge has a 5/8" radius and is sold as a pair, and the Orca Hardware 3.5" x 3.5" hinge uses a 1/4" radius corner with plain bearings. Measure the corner radius in the existing pocket before choosing, because 5/8" and 1/4" radius leaves are not interchangeable in the same routed jamb.

The Deltana DSB3 is a plain bearing hinge rated residential. For openings that cycle harder, ball bearing knuckles are the usual step: the Emtek 94013 is a heavy duty ball bearing hinge pair at 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" with square corners in plated steel, the Delaney CH401X is a 4" x 4" commercial ball bearing hinge with square corners, and the Orca Hardware 3535 is a 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" square corner ball bearing commercial hinge rated medium duty. All three keep square corners, so the mortise style stays the same even though the leaf size changes.

The Deltana DSB3 is built without a non-removable pin, so on an outswing door the pin sits accessible from the exterior side. Where that matters, the Hager BB1168 is a full mortise ball bearing hinge supplied with a non-removable pin and rated heavy duty. Note that it is a ball bearing hinge rather than the DSB3's plain bearing, so confirm the leaf size and mortise depth on the door before swapping.

One pack is a pair, so two hinges. Doors are commonly hung on three butt hinges, and taller or heavier doors on four, so a single door usually takes two packs of the DSB3 with one hinge left over. Light doors in the 3 inch hinge range, like a closet or a cabinet door, are often hung on two, in which case one pack finishes the opening. Count what is on the door now and buy to that number so all the hinges match in finish.

Deltana classes the DSB3 as residential, and it is a plain bearing solid brass hinge with a removable pin. That combination does not belong on a commercial opening, a fire rated door, or anything on an access control or high-cycle door. For commercial openings the equivalents are steel bearing hinges: the Ives 3CB1 concealed bearing full mortise in medium duty, the Orca 4040 Series 4 x 4 square corner, or the Don-Jo HWBB74545 heavy weight ball bearing at 4-1/2 x 4-1/2. Where the door has to carry power to an electrified lock, that is a different hinge again, such as the Command Access ETH-CB70 energy transfer hinge.

Eleven finishes: PVD Polished Brass, Polished Brass, Unlacquered Brass, Antique Brass, Polished Nickel, Brushed Nickel, Antique Nickel, Polished Chrome, Brushed Chrome, Oil Rubbed Bronze, and Paint Black. Two notes worth knowing before you pick. Unlacquered Brass has no clear coat, so it darkens and patinas with handling, which is the point if you are matching other living finish hardware but wrong if you want it to stay bright. PVD Polished Brass is a vacuum-deposited coating that holds its color far better than lacquered brass, so it is the one to use where the door gets touched constantly or sees weather. The hinge body is solid brass under any of them.

Solid brass, both the material and the substrate. That matters in two places. Brass does not rust, so these hold up in a bathroom, a coastal house, or a screened porch where a plated steel hinge will bleed rust through the finish. It also means the base metal matches the finish, so a scratch or a screwdriver slip does not expose bright steel underneath. Plated steel is what you get on most residential hinges, including the Emtek 91013 and 92013 pairs, which are listed as plated steel.

No handing to specify. The DSB3 is a full mortise butt hinge with two matching leaves and a removable pin, so the same hinge hangs a left hand or right hand door, inswing or outswing. Flip it and the barrel goes the other way. Order by size and finish only, which is why a property manager can stock one carton of 3 x 3 and use it on any closet or light door in the building.

Cut the pocket to the leaf thickness, .097 inch, so the leaf sits flush with the door edge and the jamb face. Too shallow and the door binds against the stop or the gap runs wide; too deep and the door hinge-binds and the screws pull. It is a full mortise hinge, so both leaves get mortised, one into the door edge and one into the jamb, with square corners chiselled to match the leaf.

The Deltana DSB3 is a plain bearing full mortise hinge with no spring in the barrel, so the door stays where it is left. For an opening that has to self-close, the Stanley Security 2060R is a full mortise spring hinge with square corners at 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" on a ferrous steel base, rated heavy duty. It uses the same square corner mortise style but a larger leaf, so the jamb and door pockets have to be cut for 4-1/2 inch.

No. The Deltana DSB3 is a solid brass plain bearing hinge with no conductor through the barrel. Power transfer through the hinge calls for a purpose-built part: the Command Access ETH-CB70 is a 3 knuckle standard weight energy transfer hinge on a steel base, the BEST CECB179-12C is a steel full mortise concealed bearing electrified hinge with a 12-wire quick connect, and the Command Access ETM-CB70 adds door position sensing to the transfer function. Those are wiring devices as well as hinges, so the door and frame need raceway prep the DSB3 does not require.

The Deltana DSB3 is full mortise, meaning both leaves recess into the door edge and the jamb. Several similar looking hinges do not mount that way. The Hager 1129 is a half mortise plain bearing hinge, so one leaf surface mounts. The Hager 990 STEEL is a full surface hinge at 3" x 4" with a welded tip. The BEST DAP-3 is a double acting pivot for commercial interior doors, which hangs the door on the floor and head rather than on the door edge. None of those reuse a DSB3 mortise.

The Deltana DSB3 is solid brass and comes in eleven finishes, including Unlacquered Brass, Oil Rubbed Bronze, Polished Nickel, Antique Nickel and Polished Chrome, which is why it is often specified where the hinge is meant to be seen. The comparable 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" square corner hinges from Emtek, the 91013 residential plain bearing and the 92013 heavy duty plain bearing, are plated steel. For a decorative barrel profile in a larger size, the McKinney SQ3331 is a square barrel 2 knuckle decorative hinge at 4-1/2" x 4-1/2".

The Deltana DSB3 is a 3" x 3" plain bearing hinge. Stepping up to 4 inch with the same plain bearing arrangement, the Orca Hardware 4040 is a 4" x 4" square corner plain bearing commercial hinge rated medium duty, and the Orca Hardware 4014 is the same 4" x 4" plain bearing hinge with a 1/4" radius corner. On the residential side, the Delaney 4" x 4" exterior hinge is sold as a pair with a 5/8" radius, and the Delaney 4" x 4" Castlegate hinge is offered in 5/8" radius by square. Going from 3 inch to 4 inch means recutting the mortises.

The Deltana DSB3 uses plain bearings, so there is no bearing ring stacked between the knuckles and the barrel reads as a clean brass column, which is the point of ordering it in a finish like Oil Rubbed Bronze or Polished Nickel. If the specification calls for bearings but the barrel still has to look plain, the Ives 3CB1 is a 3 knuckle concealed bearing full mortise hinge rated medium duty, the Ives 3CB1HW is the heavy weight version of the same concealed bearing arrangement, and the Hager 920 is a full mortise concealed plain bearing hinge with 2 knuckle steel construction.

The DSB3 ships in the standard configuration, which means plain tips on the barrel. Deltana builds the hinge to accept decorative finials, but the finials are a separate item, so if you want ball, urn, or steeple tips on a visible hinge you order those alongside the hinge and match the finish to the one you picked. Nothing about the hinge changes: same 3 x 3 leaf, same mortise, tips only.

No. The Deltana DSB3 is a solid brass plain bearing hinge rated residential, built for standard interior and light exterior doors. Detention openings use a different family of hinge: the BEST BB855 is a heavy duty steel double weight concealed ball bearing prison hinge, the Stanley Security BB855 is a double weight prison hinge at 5" by 6" furnished with no holes and not swaged, and the Hager 990 STEEL is a full surface prison hinge at 3" x 4" with a welded tip. Those are sized and prepped for the frame, not for a 3 inch residential mortise.

The Deltana DSB3 is solid brass all the way through rather than plated steel, which is the usual reason it gets picked for a humid interior or a covered exterior door, and it is offered in Unlacquered Brass for buyers who want the metal to patina. In a larger commercial size, the McKinney T2314 is a non-ferrous hinge, standard weight, 5 knuckle, rated medium duty. Both avoid a ferrous base, unlike the plated steel Emtek 91013 residential plain bearing hinge in the same 3-1/2 inch class.