"Face Frame Hinge Template" for Garage Cabinet Doors

[Wayne DeVito]

Good Morning Kreg Community,

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on a "Face frame hinge Template" (maybe Hingemark?) for installation on garage cabinet doors. As I have had conversions before about using 3/4 Birch material...I am new at this cabinet making thing and think I would probably be safer using some kind of Jig for this process. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Wayne

[Suzy]

My husband bought this jig for hidden hinges, is this what you are looking for?  He likes it alot and said he doesn't know why it only gets 3.5 stars.

http://www.rockler.com/jig-it-for-concealed-hinges-multi-tool-rail-...

[Jay Boutwell]

Hi Wayne,  Garage cabinet doors,  what hinge are you using.  It they are the exterior mount it is pretty simple to mount them and a good point in general on a common cabinet door would be for the center of the hinge to be about 4 inches from the top and bottom of the door edge.  That puts the hinge in a good location as the hinge is located at a good point that they look good.  The cosmetic look of the part of the hinge exterior will hang in a good location as well as the hinge will hole the door to the face frame well.

If the door is long and required more that two hinges then divide the differenced between the top and the bottom hinge equally.

From the way you are writing your post I think you are talking about the concealed or European hinge.  If this is the case then the general rule of thumb is to place the center of the hinge cup that you bore to be in a location that is 3 inches from the top and the bottom edges of the doors.  The cup is generally located so that the rim of the 35mm hole is 1/8 inch from the door edge.  This would be for most of the hinges sold as European hinges.  If you get it less that 1/8" of an inch there is a danger of the door edge cracking.  If you get it in more that 1/8" then you have a hinge bind when you open the door and will have a door that you have to adjust outward and when closed you will see a large opening between the closed door and the face frame.

As I stated in a post the other day I have written several articles on European hinges and in one of the post I included photos of a jig that I made so that you can bore doors of European hinges on a drill press.  If you do not have a drill press and want to use a hand held drill then it is very important that you maintain a true 90 degree angle between the drill bit and the door surface.  Also of great important is that you do not bore too deep.  It is also important as since the hole will need to be very close to 5/8 deep you will have a very limited amount of material between the bottom of the hole and the face of the door.  Since it is close to the edge if you do any edge detail you will run into the edge of the hole rim and you will see the hinge.  This is very critical when cutting a cove detail as opposed to a round over or bull nose edge.

Do not make the mistake of using a spade bit either as they will over bore the diameter of the hole.  This will make the hinge sloppy in the hole and you will experience door hinge failure in short order.  It will require the screws in the hinge to actually do the holding of the weight of the door and they will not withstand the normal everyday use of opening and closing of any door.   What most do not understand about hinges is that it is not the screws that hold the door weight.  The screws only keep the door tight to the surface and it is the mortise that the hinge is set into that actually does the work of holding a door in place.   So be safe and do the job correctly and get a 35mm bit.  The are different that most spade bits as not only is the diameter correct but the point on the center of the bit is short.  Using a point of most spade bits will end up boring a small hole into the face of the door.  Some will argue but take my word my experience tells me that using a spade bit is asking for trouble.

I will try and find the article and send it to you.

[Jay Boutwell]

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European Hinges jig continued:

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Here is the photos I will try to find the article.  JayB

[Jay Boutwell]

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[Jay Boutwell]

Here is the article.  I might add that in the 25 plus years I have never used a hinge template and never had any problems doing it my way.  I do it as a profession.

Comment on: Topic 'Cabinet hardware always measured in metric?'e.  The cabinet styles in America were face frames and inset style.  Frameless became popular in the United States as a design to emplement the styles that were common to the United States.   In Europe they used the metric measurments and the automated cabinet making tooling were also designed in the metric measurment.  Then to make cabinet making in Europe easier they designed the hinges that are known as European style in the metric measurments.  The United States then adopted the European hinges and were first available as an import from the European countries. When I first started making cabinets several years ago it was something that I had to get used to if I wanted to make the frameless cabinet style in my shop and or the face frame with the hidden hinge, which are doors that swing on European hinges.   Some of the equiptment that I  have to build frameless are all metric calibrated and not even made in America.  Due to the demand for the hidden hinge (Eupopean hinge) some of the American hinge companies began to introduce the European hinge into its line of products and now have their brand on the hinge.  However it is still most likely made in Europe or a copy made in another country just as most products that we have available here is made on foreign soil. In my experience of cabinet building it is a better hinge offering several advantages over some of the better known American hinge.  The biggest advantage is that a hinge can be bought that offers hinge adjustment using screws within the system.  They are very popular with home owners who desire the clean look of cabinet fronts.   European Hinges come in many different looks from face frame hinges that offer different degrees of door swing opening as well as moutning methods.  The normal face frame door overlay is 1/2 inch but European hinges also offer different overlays from 3/8 inch to larger overlays up to and including as much as 3/4 inch.  The other hinges that are available are made mostly for the framless style and offer different mounting methods using what is known as mounting plates.  They like the face frame hinge will come is different door swing degree openings with some degrees being up to 360 degrees and are used on such style of cabinets as the corner lazy susans.  These allow the door to fold out and back against the adjoining cabinet allowing a full opening access. The basis three styles these are known as a flush mount which is one that gives a door a i/2 overlay on a 3/4 inch thich panel.  These mount flat on the panel via a mounting plate and the door is adjusted using the same adjusting type screw.  The next is the ones known as a "full crank" and again allow the door to overlay a 3/4 inch think panel.  The remainding one is known as a "1/2 crank" and allow two doors to swing off the same 3/4 inch thick panel.   (the panels in the above means an inter or a side panel of a cabinet that stands vertical from the bottom of a cabinet to the top.)   As the above mentioned hinges they are all are metric configured and mount on a mounting plate.  An additional feature with some of these hinges is that they are offeded in a clip on and off style that allow the door to be removed and re-installed without removing the hinge.  The later versions now have the anti-slamb feature and is popular with the high end cabinets of today. During my careet the most popular brands have been the "blum', the "grass", and the "salice" and have been the choice of mine as I have always had good dependable hinges that stand up to the rough abuse of both industry and residential including rental buildings such as apartments.   As with any thing that become popular there comes the other hinge makers that are interested in making a quick buck and their hinge is made cheap and give the same type service.  Here again the faster or the three major tyoe of cabinets is the European style and is also the cheapest of all the cabinets as there is a major expense in the labor and material used in building face frames.  The nest will be the face frame cabinet and is now the most popular in the American homes of today.  The last but not least is the inset drawer and door cabintes and is the hardest and most time consuming cabinet to build due to the fact that there is a face frame but the doors and drawers are inset into the face frame.  The big expense here is the labor needed to produce this type of cabinet.  It is also known by most cabinets makers as the "hall mark" of cabinet making.   …

[Ken Darga]

As usual, "well done", Jay.

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[Wayne DeVito]

What can I say Jay....You are the Man once again! As Ken stated...."WELL DONE"
I will be doing these without a press so your reply is worth millions.

[Wayne DeVito]

Thanks Suzy for your reply,
I checked the jig out and it looks awesome!

[Suzy]

Your Welcome Wayne and Ken I am with you, we sure can depend on Jay to answer with some great info.  Thanks Jay.

My husband used that jig to change the direction the doors opened on a 36x12 cabinet which was originally hung above the sink.  Now the cabinet stands on it's end in the garage and the doors open to the right.  He keeps his drill press on top of it and spray paints inside it.  It is the perfect height to match up with both workbenches we have.

He installed these for me above the sink, there are two Ikea dish racks with drain boards and one great Ikea shelf across the top.  The dish racks fold up when not in use and the plastic drain board comes off easily for cleaning.  I like them, the arrangement has changed numerous times with drying dishes that don't go in the dishwasher and the ever changing vegetables and fruits I buy.

I sure wish the cabinets were as nice as they look in this picture or I wouldn't need to replace them.  They are in real life extremely dull and numerous scratches on them along with excess paint from the time it was a rental and no-one really cared for the house like they should have.