What am I doing wrong installing butt hinges?

[Brian Penning]

Installing butt hinges for the 1st time so bear with me....
Got the perfect initial fit-up with a 1/16" gap all around but upon mortising and installing the hinges there's no gap on the hinge side due to the hinges now being flush with the door and the frame.
How do i get the 1/16" gap on the hinge side? :confused:
Thanks for any and all replies.

[Neal Clayton]

you sure you don't have them screwed in backwards?

at the point that the hinge faces are parallel to each other (fully closed) there should be a slight gap between them. if you install them backwards the faces will go all the way together, though.

[Greg Wease]

Sounds like your mortises are too deep. Try shimming under one side with a piece of veneer (or a slice of business card). A 1/16" gap is on the wide side in my opinion.

[Brian Penning]

I had the mortises too deep. Dunno why the instructions were to set the bit height on my lam trimmer the thickness of the hinge leaf. When I did the other door and left the hinges a bit proud they came out good.
Live and learn.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Were they meant to be mortised in. Some hinges are not.

[Peter Quinn]

I had the mortises too deep. Dunno why the instructions were to set the bit height on my lam trimmer the thickness of the hinge leaf. When I did the other door and left the hinges a bit proud they came out good.
Live and learn.

Thats the key with most butt hinges, just a bit proud. Like .010" proud per side. Flush leaves them a little tight. At work we use nickles to set the gap, which generally measure around .045". A full 1/16" is a bit heavy for custom work though not terrible IMO.That factory made crap generally goes for a 1/8" gap so they can't miss and you can't tell if they do. Formica samples available from most places that sell it are also a good shim for fitting an inset door.

I always fit a test stile to insure the gap is correct before working on a live door. Always test. Always. Did I mention always? Cheap insurance and time well spent. Or at least sneak up on it. DAMHIK.

[Roger Jensen]

There are two types of butt hinges, sweged and non-sweged. No one ever explained this to me. I thought they were all the same.

I asked a similar question here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1258829. Look for the post from Horton Brasses. He explains the difference.

Good luck.

Roger

[Neal Clayton]

never heard that term either. good to know.

fwiw the hinges i use from house of antique hardware would then be considered 'non-sweged' since they do have a 1/16 to 3/32 or so gap when fully closed.

[Chris Friesen]

Just for future reference...