Comments

1. 
   PSeverin | Dec 16, 2010 09:14pm | #1

   Garret Hack is amazing craftsman and it is always an education to see how he does something. But mortising the doors is the easy part. Why isn't there one picture of cutting the mortise in the cabinet frame. How do you get that router inside up against the top and the bottom?

   For the quality of Garret's work the thick brass hinges may be the right choice. But on light doors for most cabinets, the ones from Ace hardware with or without ball ends are more than sufficient. I'm willing to bet they have a service life almost as long and at a fraction of the price. Heavier is not always better.

   I also think the method where you only mortise the doors for the hinges and surface mount the hinges on the frame is under appreciated. Using the thinner pressed hinges you probably aren't mortising the door any deeper. Yet it reduces the work by half, improves alignment and allows you to inset doors from the plane of the face frame.

   I may be the only one, but "fine" doesn't always mean doing things the hard way. I would encourage the magazine to show alternate ways to achieve the same thing.

   Peter

2. 
   epirnik | Dec 17, 2010 03:18pm | #2

   Peter:

   Your comments open up an excellent debate. As someone who has played around with both less expensive stamped hinges as well as higher end (like Brusso) solid brass hinges, I've always felt that the cheaper models have way too much slop in them - something Garrett referred to in the article. He - and I usually - opt for the solid brass models since the stamped metal isn't simply wrapped around a pin but rather, after the two leaves are made, they're fit together and then the pin hole is drilled through - leading to a much tighter fit.

   Also, you may have missed it (this is a pretty long post) but he does refer to mortising the case - the same way he mortised the door. He goes on to say that in cases where you're just not going to be able to fit a trim router or chisel into the case for mortising, this step should be done while the piece is still in component pieces.

   hope that helps - but let the "Great Hinge Debate" begin!!

   Cheers to you,

   -Ed Pirnik
   FWW Web Producer

3. 
   MKenney | Dec 17, 2010 07:12pm | #3

   Peter,

   I have felt the pain of expensive hinges many times. And I wouldn't be surprised if stamped, non-mortise hinges from a hardware store were extremely durable. However, neither point would sway me away from buying pricey, solid brass hinges for my cabinets. Here's why. They look better. (I suppose I should add "at least in my opinion" to satisfy those who think beauty is only in the eye of the beholder. I'm not one of them, though.) After spending a big chunk of money on lumber that I took great pains to pick out, and then spending a lot of time selecting grain for every part, milling them all with the greatest care, carefully cutting joints, lovingly prepping the surface for a finish, and finally putting a finish on, I simply cannot buy unattractive hinges to save a few bucks. Money isn't the most important thing. Beauty is.

4. 
   PSeverin | Dec 20, 2010 11:50pm | #4

   Ed and MKenney

   Stamped hinges aren't necessarily cheap or bad. Open the door to almost any office or house and you are exercising a stamped hinge. They can be heavy. They can be costly. They can be very precise. The method of manufacturer doesn't necessarily make a hinge cheap, sloppy or bad looking.

   Most cabinet doors aren't very heavy and you don't really need 1/8" thick brass leaves to support them. The trick is to find the appropriate scaled solution to the problem. Among the options out there and I don't think most people can feel the difference in operation between the fancy extruded butt hinges and the less expensive one. They both work. They both look good.

   My other point is that mortising both door and frame adds to the complexity of making a cabinet for a limited aesthetic pay back. Just because heavy house door hinges are mortised into the frame, doesn't mean the only way to go is copy the practice on much, much lighter doors. Mortising almost the depth of the hinge into only the door greatly simplifies hanging doors, particularly when set back from the face frame. The fact that the barrel of the hinge is not centered on the crack will scarcely be observed.

   We all value different things. I believe there are better way to show craftsmanship, and expend limited time than mortising overly heavy butt hinges into a frame, just for the sake of doing it. And although I can afford the cost of extruded brass hinges, I don't find them appropriate or worth the expense. Which is probably why I've never wanted to own a Porche.

   Peter

5. 
   pboeckh | Dec 21, 2010 01:48pm | #5

   The case must be mortised as well.
   It's simply the proper way to do things.
   You can argue of course its technical merits: stronger, holds alignment forever, etc.
   However, the reality is, that it is simply the proper way to do things, for when you open that door and see/feel the hinge leaf just sitting on the surface even a non purist can tell that something is wrong.
   Building fine furniture is rarely about finding the easiest way.
   Nor should we seek out ways to make things overly "prescious"
   Somwhere in that dangerous middle ground is the right way to do things and often it is about meeting the expectations of a shared consciousness, tradition if you will.
   And that is the real reason why we mortise cases, cut dovetails by hand, and a host of other things that keep the really important traditions alive - like woodworkers rarely earning what they are worth.

6. 
   swenson | Dec 21, 2010 02:17pm | #6

   The "one steel screw" trick reminded me of another one. Driving steel screws, of the same size as the brass screws you are using, into each hole first, threads the wood. Then when you replace them with brass screws there is less chance of twisting off the soft brass head.

7. 
   Farkel | Dec 21, 2010 02:52pm | #7

   Speaking as a weekend hobbyist who has only built one houseful of furniture, I used to consider hinge installation to be successful when the gap between the door and the cabinet is small and uniform all the way around, a skill I that took a long time to learn, and a skill that I would like to improve upon through better techniques.

   If it wasn't for articles like this, I would never know how badly I messed up some of my more advanced projects by not using solid brass hinges, and (dare I say it), by actually using non-mortise hinges.

   Thanks FWW!

8. 
   GoldenPond | Dec 21, 2010 03:43pm | #8

   Nice article.

   But what the heck's a "hunge"?

9. 
   JustAbout | Dec 21, 2010 05:23pm | #9

   I have followed Garrett Hack's methods here since mounting my first butt hinge set over 50 years ago. I have, however, learned a few other tricks, born out of absolute frustration.

   What isn't mentioned here, but is key to correct hinge installation, is that when mounted, all hinge pins must be perfectly aligned on a single imaginary line drawn through the centers of their pivots. If they are even slightly out of line from each other, hinge problems will eventually occur. Pins will work their way out, as if by magic. Fine metal dust will appear somewhere. This problem is magnified when the door needs 3, 4, or 5 hinges, and with seasonal humidity changes.

   I am not especially exacting, as my handle indicates, but I do care about how my doors swing.

   I have found many errors of this type on other craftsmen's work. I've learned to look for this just like I look at the quality of joinery when I study other's work. It is a silent testimony that none of us are perfect.

   Without regard to the quality of the hinge, here is the method I use to solve this problem. I have numerous convenient lengths of straight aluminum (and steel) bar stock, bought from hardware stores, in which I have drilled and tapped holes at the correct position to hold the hinges in perfect alignment. Extruded angle works too. I use flat-head machine screws to hold the hinges to the bar. This costs almost nothing compared to the cost of the cabinet, by the way.

   When I frist started this method, and from time to time even now, I use a second bar on the opposite leaf to make certain the mechanical action is perfect (through the entire swing) before I get near the doors. I also used 2 screws per hinge, but now I sometimes use 1 screw and a tiny piece of double-stick tape to save time.

   With only one bar attached, the hinges can be held to the door and knife cuts used to strike the positions for the mortises. I only use a gage for mortise depth. Check the mortise position and depth with the hinge folded in different positions. This is where hinge quality makes a difference, but even the very expensive ones can show variations.

   Using this method provides other valuable information, such as the center hinge in a 3 set needing a variation of the mortise depth. It is also possible to see very slight variations in the straightness of the door. Differences significantly smaller than 1/28 inch can cause significant problems. Sometimes one or more hinges in a set may need the mortise slightly deeper on one side than the other. I mortise for the hinge to be slightly proud and then sneak up on the perfect depth with a sharp chisel.

   This method has, for me, eliminated Garrett's shimming steps; I haven't shimmed hinges for many years.

   Once the hinges are mounted on the door and the mechanical action is perfect, the bar comes off, and the door performs the same function as the bar when striking the frame for mortises.

   This may seem like extra work, but it makes hanging doors so much simpler and faster, I can't imagine doing it any other way. And even cheap hinges will work great, although they don't always look great.

   And one other difference I have with Garrett (who, by the way, is obviously a vastly superior craftsman than I, and one for which I have great respect), I use VIX bits to drill the screw holes. Every other method I tried led to mispositioned screws and resulting problems. Vix bits eliminate grain misdirection. These bits also eliminate parallax errors caused by my less than perfect eyes. I also liberally apply beeswax to all brass screws before assembly.

   Other errors made by craftsmen are (1) they often use too few hinges; (2) Or they try to straighten a slightly bowed door with hinges. We spend a lot of time and money doing this, why not do it correctly? I remember vividly the first time I "disassembled" a tall paneled cabinet door that I noticed was slightly bowed after assembly and finishing. I kept the panel, as it was fine, but cut new styles and rails. I look at this door almost every day, and open it almost as often, and the satisfaction of having it right far exceeds the pang in my heart as I destroyed the bad one.

   Toward more fun in the shop...

10. 
    sledge | Dec 21, 2010 06:02pm | #10

    Depending on the project, I do use stamped hinges occasionally.
    Very good article.
    I'm surprised there is no photo of the finished job.

    Ed

11. 
    nykyou | Dec 21, 2010 09:29pm | #11

    ive always shy away from recess hinges 4 they always end up not fitting rght. thanks now i can practise as the masters dose. it a wonerdful way too practise patience and a wonderful skill

12. 
    wazzer | Jan 31, 2017 09:58am | #12

    Great article. I'd say that Peter's incorrect spelling of Porsche perfectly demonstrates that he's comfortable with a less than exacting approach.