Securing small hinges in hard-to-access location

[Phil Stone]

I'm finishing up a router table, and I have a small access door on the side (to get at the switch wiring and top-mounting bolts). The opening looks like this:

395411

You can see I've placed the two hinges for the door where I want them. The opening is 3-1/2" high. I can get into that spot with a small routing plane to make the mortises, but I can't really figure out how to drill/drive the mounting screws. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I know that if I get a little off with the holes, the hinges might not function well. It's not accessible with a drill of any kind (maybe with a flex- or right-angle-head, but I don't really want to spend $25 extra just for this). I suppose I can just make a centered-as-possible hole with a small nail and hope for the best, but I'm wondering if there are better solutions.

Can hinges supporting a door this small (made of 3/8" ply) perhaps be epoxied in place?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or ideas. Thanks!


Phil

[Andrew Hughes]

Ditch the hinges and make friction fit inset door. You can add a goofy shop made handle, path of least resistance. When it comes to shop improvements :)

[Bruce Page]

Ditch the hinges and make friction fit inset door. You can add a goofy shop made handle, path of least resistance. When it comes to shop improvements :)

I agree. You could add a couple of rotating blocks to hold the door in.

[Jim Becker]

Can't you get a stubby manual screw driver into that space? That said, I'd also do the "friction fit" door thing with maybe a couple of flat, thin "turnbuckles" that rotate on a snug screw to insure it doesn't vibrate out. Hinges and the effort behind them is somewhat of a waste on something that's rarely going to be opened at all. And a non-hinged door that's completely removed will make your maintenance access even easier.

[Bill Dufour]

Magnets to hold the door in place. A couple of wood lugs on the bottom to go behind the face frame
I have a pneumatic pancake drill for these situations when screwing electric boxes to studs in existing plaster walls. I use a 1/4" pneumatic ratchet to drive hex head screws. Finally a 1/4 ratcheting box wrench.
Bill D.

[Phil Stone]

Can't you get a stubby manual screw driver into that space? That said, I'd also do the "friction fit" door thing with maybe a couple of flat, thin "turnbuckles" that rotate on a snug screw to insure it doesn't vibrate out. Hinges and the effort behind them is somewhat of a waste on something that's rarely going to be opened at all. And a non-hinged door that's completely removed will make your maintenance access even easier.

The problem isn't so much with driving the screw as it is pre-drilling the hole accurately.

The irony of this is that I wanted to practice hinge fitting. I think I'll try that another time and go with magnets.

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone.

[Gary Kman]

Make the opening 3/4" taller, install your hinges on a 3/4" X 3/4" stick, glue in place.

[Lee Schierer]

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but why not remove the hinges from their present location. Insert the door in the opening and mount the hinges on the door face and panel face?

[Phil Stone]

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but why not remove the hinges from their present location. Insert the door in the opening and mount the hinges on the door face and panel face?

That would have worked, but I wanted to practice fitting hinges the "right" (hidden) way. Once I got unstuck from that idea, the simple solution (magnets) became the most attractive.

[Lee Schierer]

That would have worked, but I wanted to practice fitting hinges the "right" (hidden) way. Once I got unstuck from that idea, the simple solution (magnets) became the most attractive.

For a pilot hole you can tap a small gauge nail into the location for the screws and then pull it out with pliers.

[Bill Carey]

I've had good luck with this flexible shaft. https://www.amazon.com/Makita-B-51873-Flexible-Impact-Holder/dp/B01FHTWKPQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1540558932&sr=8-4&keywords=flexible+shaft+drill

(https://www.amazon.com/Makita-B-51873-Flexible-Impact-Holder/dp/B01FHTWKPQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1540558932&sr=8-4&keywords=flexible+shaft+drill)

[glenn bradley]

The problem isn't so much with driving the screw as it is pre-drilling the hole accurately.

The irony of this is that I wanted to practice hinge fitting. I think I'll try that another time and go with magnets.

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone.

Inexpensive and will solve other problems in the future.

https://www.amazon.com/Milescraft-1302-Drilling-Attachment-Magnetic/dp/B000KICSGQ/ref=pd_sim_469_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000KICSGQ&pd_rd_r=e6f90138-d98b-11e8-bcf9-d56d64501878&pd_rd_w=iffwk&pd_rd_wg=o4HF2&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=18bb0b78-4200-49b9-ac91-f141d61a1780&pf_rd_r=VJ9W9WCGJ2S0GR33BT0Z&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=VJ9W9WCGJ2S0GR33BT0Z

https://www.amazon.com/Milescraft-2320-Metal-Stubby-Drill/dp/B001JEOIHW/ref=pd_bxgy_469_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001JEOIHW&pd_rd_r=f00c757c-d98b-11e8-943e-3f50e486d3b4&pd_rd_w=YqsuP&pd_rd_wg=OkoiF&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=95PEZMXDFFN0P2XTBCN8&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=95PEZMXDFFN0P2XTBCN8