Hinge installation will be the death of me!

| For the life of me, I can't figure out how to get basic flat hinges | that are collapsed together (to hold a small door to a carcus) to | install correctly so that the door closes properly. | | I cut the mortise and that works out, but they are never perfect. | Therefore, if I put the hinges on the door first and close it to | alighn the door with the carcus, there is no way to mark the holes | of the hinge on the carcus. I tried glue, tape and nothing seems | to work.

Don...

I just had a flash - but don't know if the idea is any good or not. How about a tiny piece of double stick carpet tape on the hinge - align the door carefully and then press hard enough for the tape to stick really well. Carefully open the door and drill with a Vix bit. Once that's done, remove the tape, reposition the door, and drive the screws...

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

It's really not that bad a thing Don. Set a hinge on either the door or the jamb and note how much the barrel protrudes from the edge of the piece. Make a precise measurement. By "set", I mean to mortise in and screw down one half of the hinge. It really does not matter how much the barrel protrudes, as long as the hinge plate sits ok on the door. One thing you can do is to lay the hinge plate on the door and let the other half flop down on to the door. Push the barrel in towards the door until you get both half of the hinge in contact with the door - one on the edge, one on the face. As long as the hinge plate does not stick out beyond the edge of the door, this will give you a good location for the hinge on the door edge. Scribe it with a sheetrock knife, mortise it and screw it home.

Measure the setback of the barrel from the edge of the door and hold the jamb hinge plate on the jamb, at the same setback. Mark it, mortise it and screw it in.

Put the other hinge(s) on the same way, and hang the door. Don't forget to allow for an eigth inch reveal at the top of the door.

D.J. I match the layout lines on the door and the carcas with a square before mounting the hinges. When drilling the pilot holes for the hinge, I fold the hinge over the door, to get it square and to get the proper spacing, and then use one of the self centering drill bits (vix bits) to get the holes centered. If they aren't centered, the hinge will move, and the door won't go where you need it to be. I never could get this to work by just eyeing the centers. robo hippy

Google "installing door hinge" for oodles of info, D.J.

Dave

D. J. wrote:

I didn't try carpet tape but did try double stick and super glue. I'll give it a try because I'm game for anything that would work. For one thing, I have to be sure not to "finish" the mortise area so that the tape would adhere better. Thanks for the reply.

Don

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I saved each one of them and will study them. With this level of help, I should be able to whip this.

Don

"D. J." wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Did you buy the $300 worth of chisels, and the fancy new hand planes? You _will_ want those, too.

;-)

Patience, grasshopper.

Patriarch

1. Use a jig/template the same length as the stiles/inside of case to cut the mortises in the stiles/case.
2. Use the same jig to cut the mortises in the doors *BUT* adjust the position to allow for the clearance between case and door tops/bottoms; i.e, the jig will protrude past the door tops/bottoms by whatever clearance you used.
3. Place hinge in door mortise and make holes for screws.
4. Place hinge in door mortise and make holes for screws.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

I use measurements. Never fails. I have this 12" stainless steel rule I bought from LV 17-18 years ago. What is special about it, is that the first increment actually *is* a 1/8 or 1/16 or (flipping it over) 1/32 or 1/64. Then, a sharp pencil and how can it fail?

For marking, I use a knife. The line is finer than any pencil. robo hippy