It is said that the devil lies in the details. That is, a project can be made or broken by the way small details are handled. I was installing the hinges in the cabinet doors today and it occurred to me that my way of doing so may not be the best way. I think the method works OK, but I do wonder if others do it differently, and if so, how? So I put together a detailed sequence of photos for the examination of the wise heads here, and await a critical review. We begin with the doors adjacent to the side frame. View Image I mark the position on both frame and door with a small knife stroke. This lies in line with the lower edge of the bead. The work proper begins with knifing both sides of the hinge .. View Image View Image Then the baseline of the hinge is set on a marking gauge. This is the width of the leaf. View Image View Image Now I set for the depth of the mortice. This is more critical since too shallow a mortice and the gap between door and frame is too large, and too deep a mortice and the door will not rotate. The full thickness of the hinge (including the joint) is 6mm. I have set the gauge for a depth of 2 ½ mm. That will leave a gap of 1 mm between the door and the frame. View Image View Image View Image Now chamfer the inside edges of the mortice. This is to move all chiselling inside the mortice and away from the sidewalls (which you want to preserve at all costs). View Image This is what it should look like … View Image Next, kerf the surface with a chisel (I aim to go about half the depth of the mortice). View Image I remove this – carefully! – with a paring chisel .. View Image It is possible to go directly to a router plane, which I use next, but the chisel is easy enough to use and the aim is to remove the kerfed surface. This defines the area to be cleared. From here on I use a router plane. It is important that you set the depth at the start, and then work by taking thin shavings until you reach this level. A sharp blade makes this easy. View Image This is the completed mortice. Not my best work at the rear end – this Tasmanian Oak is interlocked and a bit crumbly. View Image With hinge in place and an awl for marking the screw holes. The holes are made slightly forward of centre to pull the hinge against the rear end. View Image Drilling the holes – I prefer to use a brace as this provides more control for angle and depth. View Image Here is a hinge with screws in place. Really awful hardware. The hinge is fine but the screws are nasty (slots are off centre). View Image The frame is joined to the door. This temporary (one screw) to see how it all works .. View Image Here is the full length temporary fit (the frame is still to be joined to the carcase) .. View Image Here are a few tests as to the quality of the fit .. Firstly, the hinge is centred between the door and the frame, and the gap is the size I wanted .. View Image Secondly, the two pieces lie in the same plane .. View Image So this side is now complete .. View Image Last shot of WIP … View Image So, what would you do differently? Regards from Perth Derek
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Replies
Derek,
I can't believe you
Derek,
I can't believe you used the little LV marking gauge for the width and the Tite Mark for the depth! What were you thinking?
I kid you, of course. I think your technique as great; can't think of anything I'd do differently. I might just go bevel down with the chisel to establish the depth rather than go to the router plane. But that would just be a matter of how I was feeling at the time and how many I had to do.
Nice post. Thanks for sharing.
Frank
I don't have a router plane,
I don't have a router plane, so I either do it all by chisel, or break out the motorized router and a template guide.
So, what would you do differently?
If not for shipping charges and taxes I would send my cabinets and doors for to you to do!
EDIT:
AND I saw two different marking gauges that you used. One with ONE locking knob and one with TWO locking knobs! My guage will slip a bit on that plated shaft...
Hi Will
Can't have enough
Hi Will
Can't have enough marking gauges!
The bronze one is the Tite-Mark (Glen Drake) and the little, double-ended one is the mini by Veritas.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek,
I like to put a strip of masking tape over the area to be mortised. Then I knife the outline of the hinge (sometimes using double-stick tape to keep it from shifting) before removing the masking tape where the hinge will lay. This makes it nice and easy for me to see, whereas knife cuts sometimes disappear.
Instead of chamfering the inside edges of the mortise, I take a different approach - akin to how some make mortises for joinery. That is, I cut the mortise about 1/8" too small, establishing the edges of the mortise with vertical cuts with my chisel. Then I remove the waste from the center area. For a shallow mortise such as this one, I usually just make cuts with my chisel bevel-down, following the grain, then finish up with a router plane. Lastly, I "chop" to my layout lines, holding the chisel vertically and removing the waste with the chisel bevel-down again.
I don't like the look of hinges recesses beyond flush as you did, but I understand that with the hinges you had, it was necessary to establish the gap you had in mind. I would have elected to use swaged hinges, or go with a wider gap.
WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE SCREWS FROM? They must have come with the hinges, or you surely would have discarded them in favour of some more uniform screws. But they are unique. Regardless, I would have aligned all the slots in the same orientation. Sometimes the screw will sit in a different position (regarding the direction of the slot) if you remove it and redrive the same screw in the same hole. Don't overtorque them though... you know what a brass screw will do!
Hi Chris
Those screws will be replaced. Really nasty. The hinges are quite decent, but the screws ...!
Aligning the slots is a nice touch for later.
All the best for 2010!
Regards from Perth
Derek
It seems a painfully slow method to me.in our shop we assertain the position of the hinge,ensure it is parallel with the insde edge of the door stile using a machinists square.Knife the outline with a matt knife,incise outline with a chisel, set a laminate trimmer to depth.Clean out to within 1/32 of incision with 1/4 dia. bit .Take a corner chisel to the corners and a paring chisel to the line .Set hinge, vix bit the pilots and drive home screws.Probably in the time it takes to kerf the surface by your system.
No Derek, that is not very clean, and we don't mention those "screws".
I take it you don't want to use an electric router so suggest you can get a much neater (perfect) fit by incising the long grain more with your marking gauge-to full depth in fact-but it depends on your gauge and I don't have experience of the gauge you picture- I use a wheeled cutting gauge home made on which the wheel turns and it will cut the very hardest woods. As for the across grain cuts at each end you can guarantee a neat fit by first marking with your knife then chopping to full depth with a chisel-but just off the knife mark, then finally placing the chisel in the knife groove to chop that fraction of a mill-pare in fact.Hate to say it but it looks as though your chisel was blunt too...
A smallish electric router used free hand makes it much easier and quicker, but you still need to mark /incise deeply and remove the minimal waste left with chisel. I have never had one of those jigs meant to be used with a router so can't comment on it but suspect it would be a bit finicky, unless there were dozens to do.
Nice photographs- you got a new camera?
Sir Philip..
No Derek, that is not very clean, and we don't mention those "screws". I now have many old screws for the first fit.
I get two sets of screws. One set for the first install. Then when finished, I use the 'new ones' at final install.
Hi Philip
The chisels are sharp. The Tasmanian Oak is a bit brittle and interlocked. It is not easy to work - needs a Marcou plane! - but it will look good at the end.
For the long grain I switched to a heavier knife with a thicker blade. This is less inclined to follow the grain. I agree that a cutting gauge would (usually) do a better job here, but I used it to go as deep as I could, and this wasn't deep enough.
Here is the second door mortices ..
View Image
To all ... keep the comments coming. I really don't mind the criticism of my work - that's how we learn. Anyway, it was intended as a way of getting discussion going. Later I will pull together all the helpful hints and put them together in an article for us all.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek,
In picture 20centered1 the hinge is pushed together a bit on the pin -- only at the bottom.
Then, scrolling back up from that picture, I think I see that the cause is uneven mortice depth, deeper at the bottom (in the picture) than the top.
Just me? It's probably too small to even mention.
Not criticizing, just noticing 'zall.
--jonnieboy
In picture 20centered1 the hinge is pushed together a bit on the pin -- only at the bottom.
Then, scrolling back up from that picture, I think I see that the cause is uneven mortice depth, deeper at the bottom (in the picture) than the top.
This one?
View Image
?? Can't see it.
One thing about using the router plane across the grain the way I have is that you are ensured that you will have an even depth.
Any suggestions about morticing or presenting hinges differently?
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek,
Nice to hear from you, Derek. Sometimes I can't help but be amazed at my own hubris. I couldn't do a hinge mortice like that for love nor money. So of course I don't have any suggestions for presentation. I was just gabbing about something I thought I saw, but don't know if I saw but know nothing about either way.
--jonnieboy
Derek,
I do love that cabinet.
--jb
Derek,
It appears in the photo that the hinge's knuckles are very slightly off-set from one another, at the bottom of the hinge- as if the two leaves of the hinge are being sprung apart at the bottom. Might be a trick of the lighting, or of the polish of the hinge. I think that is what the poster is looking at.
My momma had a saying for occassions like this (and friend philip's comment ;-) ), "Any body looking THAT close, is looking too DAM' close!"
Cheers,
Ray
Derek, great photo essay as always!
I have never used any layout tools to install butt hinges. Once they are located I drill pilot holes with a Vix-Bit and screw them to the surface with temporary steel square drive screws and then knife around them to layout the hinge gain then unscrew and remove the hinge, chisel and then set the depth with a small router plane. Or more likely fire up the old Bosch trim router with a 1/4" bit and cut close to the line and clean up with a chisel. I then re-install them with proper brass screws as required.
I try to avoid any transfer of measurements if at all possible (thank God for story poles..) since I can always create error when none existed before!
Yah, I must say that drilling screw holes for hinges can be irritating even with a nice light weight cordless, and the Vix bit concept is mighty handy. I have never had the real thing but made my own version of the Vix thing to suit screws used for Military chest fittings. If you have not found a fst accurate way of installing small brass screws after making a few of those you are doomed never to find one.
Not to mention the driving of screws TWICE, may de laud save us all...Will, get yourself some parrafin wax (candle wax) and never break a quality brass screw again....
Is a "Vix" bit the one where the bit rotates inside a spring loaded tube?
FWIIW I mortise my hinges with a chisel and router plane. Abou a hundred more and I'll catch up on neatness!
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