Emtek 96124 Residential Duty Hinges (Pair), 4" x 4" with 1/4" Radius Corners

The 96124 comes with 1/4 inch radius corners. That matters because a hinge mortise routed with a template has rounded corners and a square corner hinge will not sit in it without chiselling. If the door and jamb you are replacing were cut with a router jig and the existing hinges are 4 x 4 with rounded corners, check the corner radius: 1/4 inch is one of two common radii, and the other common one is 5/8 inch. Delaney's 4 x 4 residential hinges, for example, are 5/8 inch radius, so the two are not interchangeable in the same mortise.

No. These are residential duty, plain bearing hinges in brass. Plain bearing means no ball bearing race in the knuckle, so they are meant for the cycle counts of a house, not an office corridor, a school, or an apartment building entry. For commercial traffic in the same 4 x 4 size with 1/4 inch radius corners, the Orca Hardware 4014 Series is a medium duty commercial plain bearing hinge in that exact size and corner style. If the door is heavy or on a closer, step to a ball bearing hinge such as the Orca 3535 Series (4-1/2 x 4-1/2, square corner, ball bearing) or a Don-Jo HWBB74545 heavy weight ball bearing at 4-1/2 x 4-1/2.

The Emtek 96124 is a residential duty brass hinge with 1/4 inch radius corners and plain bearings. For a security pin, the Deltana CSB45N is a 4-1/2 inch by 4-1/2 inch square hinge pair with a non-removable pin, the Deltana DE44R5TA is a 4 inch by 4 inch steel security hinge pair with 5/8 inch radius corners, and the Hager BB1168 is a non-removable pin full mortise ball bearing heavy duty hinge. The DE44R5TA keeps the 4 inch leaf size; the CSB45N and BB1168 are larger frames.

The Emtek 96124 is a non-electronic hinge and carries no wiring. Power transfer through the hinge requires a purpose-built unit: the Command Access ETH-CB70 is an energy transfer hinge with a 3-knuckle standard weight steel base rated medium duty, the ETH-BB68 is a 5-knuckle heavy duty steel base energy transfer hinge, and the BEST CECB179-12C is a steel full mortise concealed bearing electrified hinge with a 12-wire quick connect. The Command Access ETM-CB70 adds door position sensing on the same 3-knuckle steel base.

The Orca Hardware 4014 Series is a 4 inch by 4 inch plain bearing hinge with 1/4 inch radius corners, which matches the Emtek 96124 on size, corner style, and bearing type. The 96124 is a 4 inch by 4 inch brass hinge with 1/4 inch radius corners and plain bearings; the Orca 4014 is a medium duty steel commercial hinge. Both drop into the same mortise prep, so a door already routed for a 4 inch hinge with radius corners takes either without recutting.

They are sold in pairs with screws included. A typical interior door hangs on three hinges, so you would order two pairs per door and have one spare leaf pair, or plan a pair-and-a-half count across a job. Two hinges per door is common on lightweight interior slabs. Nothing else is required to hang the door beyond the hinges and the screws in the box.

Ten finishes: Polished Brass Lifetime (US3), Unlacquered Brass (US3NL), Satin Brass (606), Satin Bronze Oil-Rubbed (613), Satin Nickel (619), Polished Nickel (US14), Pewter (US15A), Flat Black (US19), Bright Chrome (625), and French Antique (US7). Those are Emtek's own finish designations, so if your knobs or levers are specified in, say, US15A pewter or US19 flat black, the hinges are ordered in the same code and will read as a set on the opening. Unlacquered brass is the one to note: US3NL has no clear coat and will patina over time, unlike the lacquered Polished Brass Lifetime.

Solid brass, both the material and the substrate. That matters two ways: brass will not rust, so these hold up on an exterior door or a humid bath better than a plated steel residential hinge, and an unlacquered or living finish on a brass base ages evenly instead of wearing through plating to a different colored metal underneath.

Plain bearing, which is what the Emtek 96124 is, means the knuckles ride metal on metal with no bearing race. That is fine for a normal residential door that gets opened by hand and has no closer on it. Go to ball bearing when the door is heavy (solid core, a tall slab, a glass insert entry door) or when a door closer is pulling it shut all day, because the bearing carries the load and keeps the door from sagging and binding. In that case look at the Orca 3535 Series ball bearing commercial hinge or a Don-Jo heavy weight ball bearing such as the HWBB75045 at 5 x 4-1/2.

The 96124 itself is the 4 x 4 inch size. Emtek builds this residential hinge in 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 as well as 4 x 4, so if your existing mortises are 3-1/2 inch you want the smaller size rather than this model number. As a rule of thumb, 3-1/2 inch is the usual size on a 1-3/8 inch interior door and 4 inch on a 1-3/4 inch door.

Three things separate them. The 96124 is solid brass rather than steel, it carries a 1/4 inch corner radius where the Delaney residential hinges run a 5/8 inch radius, and it is finished in Emtek's decorative range so it matches Emtek knobs and levers on the same door. Schlage Residential's S3P1010 is a 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 square corner plain bearing hinge sold three to a pack, so it is a different size, a different corner, and a different count. If you are hanging builder grade interior doors in bulk and nobody will look at the hinge, the steel options do the job; if the hardware on the door is decorative, the brass hinge is the one that matches.

The Emtek 96124 is a brass residential hinge. Delaney offers steel residential hinges in the same class: the RH40xx is a 4 inch by 4 inch residential hinge pair for Castlegate with 5/8 inch radius by square corners, the RH45xx is a 4 inch by 4 inch bulk exterior residential hinge with 5/8 inch radius, and the RH35xx is a 3-1/2 inch by 3-1/2 inch bulk steel interior residential hinge with 5/8 inch radius. All three carry a 5/8 inch radius rather than the 1/4 inch radius of the 96124, so confirm the corner cut in the existing mortise before ordering.

No. The Emtek 96124 is a 4 inch by 4 inch hinge, while the McKinney SQ3331 square barrel decorative hinge and the Stanley FBB191 5-knuckle full mortise standard weight hinge are both 4-1/2 inch by 4-1/2 inch. The larger leaf needs a wider and taller mortise in both the door and the frame, so those are a replacement only when the opening is already prepped for 4-1/2 inch hinges.

No. The Emtek 96124 is a plain bearing residential hinge and provides no closing force. A door that must self-close on the hinge uses a spring hinge such as the Stanley 2060R, a full mortise square corner spring hinge at 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch on a ferrous steel base rated heavy duty. That is a 4-1/2 inch frame, so it does not match a 4 inch mortise.

Both are residential plain bearing mortise hinges. The Emtek 96124 is brass with 1/4 inch radius corners and is sold in pairs; the Ives 1010RP is steel with square corners and is sold as a set of three, which covers a single door needing three hinges in one purchase. The corner cut is the deciding detail: a mortise routed with radius corners takes the 96124, a square-cut mortise takes the 1010RP.

The Emtek 96124 is a full mortise hinge, meaning both leaves are recessed into the door and the frame. Where the frame cannot be mortised, the Hager 1129 is a half mortise plain bearing commercial hinge in 4-1/2 inch standard weight steel, and the Hager 990 STEEL is a full surface hinge at 3 inch by 4 inch with a welded tip. Those mount to the face rather than into a routed pocket, so they are not interchangeable with a full mortise prep.

The Emtek 96124 is a residential duty hinge and is not intended for detention service. For that application the BEST BB855 is a heavy-duty steel double weight concealed ball bearing prison hinge, and the Stanley BB855 is a double weight prison hinge at 5 inch by 6 inch furnished with no holes and not swaged, which allows the frame shop to drill and swage to the opening.

Full mortise butt hinges like the 96124 are not handed. The same pair hangs a left hand or right hand door; you simply flip the hinge so the pin runs the correct way for the swing. The one thing that changes with handing is which face of the door and jamb gets mortised, not the part you order. Handed hinges show up only in specialty items such as electrified concealed conductor hinges.

The Deltana DSB3 is a 3 inch by 3 inch square hinge sold in pairs, the smallest leaf in the comparable range and suited to a light closet or utility door where a 4 inch by 4 inch hinge like the Emtek 96124 is oversized for the stile.

The McKinney T2314 is a non-ferrous hinge, standard weight, 5 knuckle, rated medium duty. The Emtek 96124 is brass in both material and substrate, so both are non-ferrous options; the T2314 is a 5-knuckle standard weight hinge rather than a residential duty pair.