Hinges

[cwo4cno7325]

Hi All,

Well, another few hours spent trying to drill the holes for a hinge so the door fits perfectly. Lately, I've installed a few hinges that are mostly hidden when the door is closed, don't remember what they are called. My standard is a perfect fit: Even, Flush, no Sideways displacement. At All! I can see a jig for drilling if I made the same hinge joint all the time, but the usual projects are one time pieces.

You put one side on, then... how do you mark/drill the second half when the door is closed????? (I can drill pretty accurately if needed) There must be a trick I'm missing. Any suggestions???

Thanks for the help.

Rich.....

[Leon]

Depending on the application, double stick tape and or the thicker carpet tape works pretty well for holding the hinge in the position that you like and allows you to carefully reopen the door to drill holes. A properly cut mortise will also hold the hinge in place. "Vix" bits help greatly in making sure that the hole that you drill is "exactly" in the center of the hole in the hinge.

[Robatoy]

Hurray for Vix bits. I have cheapo low powered cordless drill with a #8 Vix in it permanently. I modified the Vix by replacing the drill bit with a tapered one. Great for L-brackets, hinges, mending plates. Accept no substitutes. It would be nice if they made one with a 1/4" hex drive. so I could pop one in and out of my impact drivers.

[Lee Michaels]

"Robatoy" wrote

Hurray for Vix bits. I have cheapo low powered cordless drill with a #8 Vix in it permanently. I modified the Vix by replacing the drill bit with a tapered one. Great for L-brackets, hinges, mending plates. Accept no substitutes.

It would be nice if they made one with a 1/4" hex drive. so I could pop one in and out of my impact drivers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Any possibility of cutting a small peice off of a 1/4 " hex key and welding it to the vix bit??

Or are the bits too small?

[Robatoy]

I am not sure what metal the upper housing of the Vix bits are made from, but I looks like non weld-able pot-aluminium-like stuff. Leon??

I'm still looking to find a small ( 3/8" or smaller) chuck with a 1/4" hex-shaft base that I can pop in my impact driver. Buying hex-based drill bits is a non starter. I have yet to find any that are decent. Every time I see what looks like a small chuck, it is invariably another proprietary receptacle for some other company's driver bits.

[Leon]

Hurray for Vix bits. I have cheapo low powered cordless drill with a #8 Vix in it permanently. I modified the Vix by replacing the drill bit with a tapered one. Great for L-brackets, hinges, mending plates. Accept no substitutes. It would be nice if they made one with a 1/4" hex drive. so I could pop one in and out of my impact drivers.

All of mine are hex drive, I use them in my Makita impact driver. Rockler has'em.

[Leon]

[Robatoy]

Oh, cool. Time for an upgrade, eh?

[DanG]

dream is come true! It's what I've been using

[Hammer Hands]

I have these from Rockler. They have 1/4" hex shanks.

[John Martin]

You've seen the dowel centers that look like a top hat with a point pointing downwards from the brim. Put the center in a drilled hole until it bottoms out against the brim, push the piece to be marked against the points and tap it to make the marks.

Well, now think of a similar piece with the point coming out of the top of the hat. Screw the hinge to one piece, insert a couple of these centers and then close the hinge on them, so that the points stick out. Put the door in place and tap it to mark the centers.

Or, you could cut off some flat head screws very short and grind or turn points on the shanks.

Either is pretty easy to do if you have access to a small metal lathe.

John Martin

[cwo4cno7325]

I just found that carpet tape is maybe what I need. The metalworking wreck reminded me that I used a tape to hold down metal pieces on a mill for machining. (about a thousand years ago) I guess carpet tape is strong and thin. Gonna try sum soon.

Those "vix" tools... I think I have some in a kit my SWMBO got me last year. A Rockler set of taper drills/countersinks that I use all the time. Never looked at the other stuff in the pouch. Guess I go and try some practice drilling.

Thanks for the help.....

[Bill T. Ra]

It seems no one has mentioned Blum hinges for a solution. They are European hinges that require a large hole and screw holes. Their main advantage is that they are adjustable. I used them on an entertainment center that has a 3 ft. x 18 in. door with a 1/4 in smoked glass inserted in the oak rails and stiles. It is heavy. The cabinet also has four smaller oak doors that have blum hinges, but they are much lighter. All the doors still function wonderfully 20 years after I made it. My daughter left the door open one night and then ran into it in the dark. It took me about 5 min to readjust the hinges. I also like Blum hinges because they are invisible.

With Blum hinges you do not use the hinge for location. You don't need Vix bits, which I also love for some applications. I did not use a template to drill the holes. I did buy a cheap plywood jig, but decided it was worthless and didn't use it. You must be very careful with location. A good template is expensive. The Blum Ecodrill Hinge Jig With Bit & Driver is about $250 to $300. I have almost finished a half dozen standard size book cases (3 ft. x 7 ft.) with the top shelves open and the bottom with double doors. It is finished except for the doors. I'm soon to make new kitchen cabinets. I'm considering buying the blasted Ecodrill jig for these projects. I still have to talk to my accountant (wife), but she probably knows me well enough after 30 years to figure I just won't do it if I can't get the tools I want. We'll see.

Bill

To reply to my email remove NOSPAM and add help in the subject line.

[Leon]

The only real problem with the Euro style hinges is that your stock/ stile has to be at least 1.5" wide and at least 1/2" thick. I have probably installed a thousand of them. You typically do not need any type of template if you have a drill press and while a vix bit is not necessary, using one insures that the screws that hold the hinge on to the door remain flat and not go in at an angle. It is an appearance thing.

[Pat Barber]

Hurray for Vix bits.

It would be nice if they made one with a

1/4" hex drive. so I could > pop one in and out of my impact drivers.