fitting doors/hinges

[Matthew Hills]

I'm replacing some doors on a cabinet, including the hinges. I was planning to use a similar (3/8" partial overlay) hinge:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Images/products/149654_230.jpg

I wanted to see what procedure others use when installing this type of hinge. I have the doors cut slightly wide, and did a test fit with the hinges mounted to the doors with a single screw.
I haven't yet attached the hinges to the cabinet body. It seemed like the spring in hinge keeps the hinge slightly over-closed (so the doors want to close extra hard). This seems to make mounting to the frame a bit more difficult, as the small leaf doesn't want to lie flat.

[Eiji Fuller]

I think I would cut the doors to fit the opening with the desired reveal, shim them in place and then mount the hinges.

[Peter Quinn]

I used these in my kitchen reface last year. I attached the hinges to the doors, put the doors in the hole and gave a lottle push forward and to the hinge side. The springs are not so strong that they offer much resistance. I left an 1/8" clearance on the top and bottom, slightly more on the knob side. It might be advisable to back bevel the rabbit on the knob side and top/bottom to avoid seasonal movement issues, or run a large enough reveal to compensate so they don't rub in the sticky months if you live in a place affected by such things. DAMHIK. The reveal is actually all blind with overlay doors so its function is in no way aesthetic.

The other strategy I used was to mount the hinges to the doors. put the doors in place OPEN so the springs are not acting, hold the door in place with one hand and mark a few screw locations on the frame with an awl in the other. Then pilot these holes with a drill, hang the door with at least one screw in each hinge, close the door and add the rest of the screws. It takes a little coordination and works better on smaller doors but it does let teh hinges lie flat.

[Phil Phelps]

That looks like the common 3/8" inset, spring loaded hinge. Attach the hinges to the door and then slip a 4d finish nail between the hinge to keep it slightly open . Align the door to the stile and mount. When finished, open the door and the nails fall free and the door snaps into place.