35mm euro hinge jig

[Drew Sanderson]

Which 35mm hinge jig do you recommend?

[Charles Lent]

I'm assuming you want a jig for boring the three hinge holes. I have Sommerfeld's and like it. It's very repeatable and easy to use, even in the field.

Charley

[Chip Lindley]

For Eons I have bored the 35mm hinge holes with an aux. table mounted on my DP. A fence places the hole the specified distance from the door edge. Left and right flip stops place the hole the right distance from the door ends. I do not use "dowel" hinges, so each door is drilled for mounting screws with a Vix bit centered in the hinge holes. A whole kitchens-worth of doors can be bored and hinges attached in about 45 minutes.

My DP jig works great until I find a huge bargain on a Grass or Blum hinge boring machine. The day will surely come!

[frank shic]

i use the hinge boring jig that mounts to the drill press sold by woodworker's supply which allows for quick and easy boring for the inserta hinges which require only manual (albeit FIRM) pressure to install. chip, it's funny you mentioned the grass hinge boring machine - i've got three of them lol. got two of them off of craigslist and bought the manual one from true32.com but i don't use any of them for hinge boring because the grass hinges have a slightly different configuration.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I bought a Drill Right from Home Depot for about $11.00 that came with a 35mm forstner bit.
I used that plastic jig to make a jig similar to this:
http://www.amazon.com/Rockler-Concealed-Hinge-Router-Jig-It/dp/B001DSXWUI

Chuck the bit in the drill press and set the depth & it works like a champ.

Having a large aux table & good fence goes a long way towards making it easy.

[Dan Bowman]

I hope this isn't a hijack, as it seems in context. Sommerfeld's jig has an offset adjustment to slightly vary the hole distance from the door edge for hinges with different overlays. Is this necessary, and if so, is there a guide giving the offset for different hinges?

[Charles Lent]

The offset adjustment on the Sommerfeld jig allows you to install the hinges on overlay doors with different overlay dimensions. You make the correct setting based on the door overlay dimension. It's very simple and accurate, even in the field, when using a hand drill instead of a drill press. Each bit in the jig is spring loaded and has a hex head. You put a hex driver bit in your drill that engages each bit to drill the hole. It is designed with built-in stops so you never drill too deep. The jig is almost a no-brainer to use. It produces the required 3 holes with exactly the right position relationship to each other and the correct depth. The only settings or adjustments are for the overlay. There's even a line on the jig to line it up with a centerline for the hinge location on your door. Two lever clamps that are built into the jig lock the jig in place. You drill the three holes, remove the jig, and install the hinge. It's that easy.

Charley

[Mike Heidrick]

Sommerfeld user here too. Charley has teh use covered. Gave the Jig It Rockler one away after getting it. My buddy likes the jig it one, it was free ;)

[John Carlo]

I use one from Rockler. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10871&source=googleps&utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Google
It's not cheap but clamps securely, is simple to align and set up, and gives repeatable accuracy. I used it on my first cabinet project with no problems at all.

[Drew Sanderson]

Thanks everyone!

[Steve Griffin]

I'm quite happy with Chips method myself, with one small variation.

To drill the two screw pilot holes, I made a small jig, which basically has a 35mm hole and a edge stop. Takes seconds to line it up with the 35mm hole and vix bit the two holes.

-Steve

[Thomas S Stockton]

Chip
I tried to PM you but your box is full. I have a grass unipress I'm looking to get rid of shoot me a pm with your email if you are interersted.
Tom

[frank shic]

keep in mind that the ecopress bores for grass hinge pattern NOT blum.

[Ron Bontz]

I went through this a while back. I went with the Sommerfeld jig because I could take it with me and it was cheaper than the Blum jig. I built a padded case for it. Otherwise a jig set up on your drill press will work if everything is done at your shop. Vix bits are wonderful things. Best of luck.

[Nick Lazz]

I hope this isn't a hijack, as it seems in context. Sommerfeld's jig has an offset adjustment to slightly vary the hole distance from the door edge for hinges with different overlays. Is this necessary, and if so, is there a guide giving the offset for different hinges?

Yes it is for different overlays. Blum lists the offset with each hinge to obtain whatever overlay the hinge you have is capable of.

[Malcolm Wheeler]

No problems here - one jig to drill the hinge cup hole as well as the screw holes on either side.

[Lee Schierer]

Pardon the slight thread hijack.

Does everyone know that instead of buying the special 35 mm bits you can use a standard 1-3/8 Forstner bit for the socket holes? 35 mm equates to 1.378" diameter while a 1-3/8 is 1.375 diameter. The .003 difference makes for a snug but fully usable hole and comes at a cheaper price than they typically want for the special 35 mm bits.

[Mike Goetzke]

Pardon the slight thread hijack.

Does everyone know that instead of buying the special 35 mm bits you can use a standard 1-3/8 Forstner bit for the socket holes? 35 mm equates to 1.378" diameter while a 1-3/8 is 1.375 diameter. The .003 difference makes for a snug but fully usable hole and comes at a cheaper price than they typically want for the special 35 mm bits.

Works Just fine.