Looking for 'interior' kitchen unit side panels

There's a variety of templates/jigs, eg:

There are tricks you can do to space out the holes, ie if you make a widget with correctly spaced two pegs and a hole, you can drill the first hole then locate the first peg in it to drill the second. Then move the two pegs into the holes and use the hole in your widget to drill the third. Move your widget into the second and third holes and drill the fourth. Rinse and repeat.

To make your widget, drill two holes in a piece of scrap exactly 32mm apart. Use those as a template to drill two holes in your widget. Then peg one hole and mount your widget on the peg, and spin it around so you're using the other hole in the scrap to drill the third hole in the widget exactly opposite the first hole (you need to ensure your widget and the scrap are square). Now you have 3 holes in your widget and can use it as your template.

If that sounds like hassle you can buy ready made jigs:

Correction, I was thinking of drawers that mount into shelf pin holes:

- the hole pattern will depend on what slides you have as I don't think there's a standard.

For hinges there are jigs:

Theo

Albiet 25 years apart, I replaced som kitchen carcasses and work top in my kitchen but kept the doors to find the predrilled holes in the new units didn't match the hinge positions in the old unit. I made a drilling template out of some scrap hardboard and clamped that to the carcass sides for drilling.

I also purchased some metal drawer boxes from the same manufacturer and range as the carcasses and although the runner fitted the pre-drilled holes I had to fix the drawer fronts in a different position.

I concur there may not be a standard between manufactures and/or between model ranges for re-using parts or for runner possitions if using bought in drawers.

What is standard is the size or drawer fronts or doors but not necessarily the fixing positions for hinges or runners.

Actually I think I have a hinge hole jig, I'll have to check and see what else might be on it.

I think you will find the hinge holes are standard being 32mm between centres and 37mm centres in from the front. What may not be standard is their position either from the top down or from the bottom up.

As far as drawer slides, if using Blum drawer kits they seem to conform to the 32mm spacing and the 37mm from the front and likewise at the back.

When putting doors on our airing cupboard, I went to a replacement door specialist gave them my measurements for door size and hinge holes and they were absolutely spot on and although I could have drilled the holes myself the cost was cheap enough to get them to do it and have the peace mind. The same company do plain panels for things like decor end panels and infills, whether they will drill hinge and drawer slide holes I am not sure but worth asking as all their products are custom made so you get to match whatever you need.

I don't think there's "a standard" as such, not in the manufacturers' interests to make their doors/drawers fit our carcases ... maybe not even all our range of doors/drawers fit our own carcases?

B&Q do sell decorative side panels, for where they are exposed at an external corner, or end of a run of units, but are £25+ even for the fairly plain ones ...

Some bolt-on to the outside of a cabinet, making it 18mm wider,but others are a replacement of the normal side panel and have the door/drawer/shelf holes drilled, good luck finding any that match what you've already got ...

This way any error adds up...

Better to take a bit of scrap and mark 32, 64, 96 mm etc.

Do this in bit of MDF, 37 mm from the edge. Just small pinprick holes, mark the panel with a round pricker (a square one wears out the holes). Then drill with a drill press, or freehand with a bit of wood on the wood drill bit as a depth stop to prevent going through.

Thomas Prufer

Ah, that;s useful, thank you.

Yes, anyone has done any technical drawing for manufacture will tend to take all dimensions from a common reference point, either from a centre line or from a common edge to prevent errors building up.

Hinge jig. £2.25 which is cheap enough even if you don't use it -