The Hinge Trick

Figure 1 : The Hinge Trick

As a novice wood ruiner, I thought I was clever when I discovered a way to place hinges for hidden hinge (and therefore hidden mounting hole) hinges.  The problem is that the holes you’re wanting to drill are under the door you’re trying to attach.  Alignment is therefore an issue.  Figure 1 shows me solution to the conundrum.  I flip the hinge wing out (the one that would normally be under the door) and onto the cabinet frame, and then mark the holes (shown in red).  I use clamps to securely and temporarily hold the door in place while I do this.

Then, I find an extra hinge, and flay it out on the cabinet frame as shown in part “B” in figure 1.  I align the red holes with the marks made in step “A” – and then make new marks in green (the ones that will be under the door, and inaccessible).  After drilling the green holes, all is fine and the door is in perfect position.  It helps to have more than one door opening in a set of cabinets to do this (so I can reach around with the clamps).

Here’s some of my door mounts, where I used this idea:

Figures 2,3 : A door hinge done with the “hinge trick”.

The doors shown in figures 2,3 are closed in the middle, without any center frame.  Such doors have to be within about 1/32 or 1/16 inch all along the middle seam where the doors come together when they close.  This is very tricky without something like the “hinge trick”.  Since I’m only a novice wood ruiner, this is not advice.  Works for me tho …