Blum Hinge Template Jig

[Patrick Kane]

Does anyone have experience with Blum jigs, specifically the universal template jig? I have a kitchen project coming up, and the installation of hardware has thrown me for a loop on previous smaller builds. I like Blum's hardware a lot and have zero complaints, but the installation instructions for many of their products leave me wondering if some authority should be on their way to strip me of all my degrees and send me back to grade school. Im not a cabinet maker or pro, but if this makes mounting and installing all Blum hardware effortless and perfect then it seems like it would be worth the $250 I would spend on a used set. Anyone have experience with this or similar commercial jigs?

[Tom M King]

I can't see that saving $250 worth of time for one set of cabinets. I only built one set of cabinets a year, for 33 years, for each house, and always got by fine with a fence, and large table on the drill press for hinge hole drilling, and a ever shortening piece of plywood for mounting slides in cabinet boxes (set the top ones, and rip for the ones below those, etc.

[jamil mehdi]

What hardware are you having problems with? I use the tandem slides and face frame overlay hinges regularly. I've also used the Aventos and Aventos HL hardware for appliance garages. None of it needs a jig. I'm happy to help if it's a problem with specific hardware.

[Jared Sankovich]

Not sure why you would need a jig for hinges. If the openings are square and the doors are sized to each opening its straight forward offsets for all the mounting locations.

[Patrick Kane]

I think it covers slides mostly, but also covers hinges. Haha clearly I’m not the only one that struggles with hardware mounting judging by the thread below mine.

This thing is $500-600, so I’m guessing someone at Blum thought this was an effective means of installing their products. Just curious if the real world experience matches those expectations.

[Dave Sabo]

Not sure why you would need a jig for hinges. If the openings are square and the doors are sized to each opening its straight forward offsets for all the mounting locations.

Because they never are square- either the openings or the doors. And sometimes you're retrofitting a door onto an old drawer cabinet and there are no system holes. And if you're using the mounting plates with 5mm bushings or euro screws , the 32mm spacing and vertical alignment is critical as they don't really go into holes that are "close enough" like reg. screws. Or, you're matching an old cabinet with wonky spacing to a new door. Or vice versa. This makes it easy to transfer the layout from one to the other, precisely.


Patrick, I use the jig all the time. It makes quick work of Aventos systems and Tandem slides, especially on in-situ cabinetry. Just got finished installing 7 rollout drawers in a pantry for a client. The jig was invaluable for keeping all the runners aligned on either side of the cabinet.

I can see it being useful for small batch layout of DIY cabinets too. At reg. price it's a bit of a luxury though. If I were building from scratch I'd take an hour or two and refine my 32mm system layout so that I didn't really need a jig at all. These jigs are really designed for field use.

If you can find a complete set of 4 laterals, connector, and the bits for 250 -run and give them your money.

[Jared Sankovich]

We are talking new here not retrofit. And I'd hope the doors and openings are square or damn close.

I was talking about drilling the cabinets for the hige plates. I assume everyone has a hinge machine/attachment/jig for drilling the doors.

Assuming inset, bore the cup centers 2.5(or whatever) off the ends and using a scrap of hardboard and a vix bit drill the plate centere 2.5 (or whatever) + the reveal. Overlay are the same but + the overlay. Takes 30 seconds a cabinet.

[Dave Sabo]

We are talking new here not retrofit. And I'd hope the doors and openings are square or damn close.

I was talking about drilling the cabinets for the hige plates. I assume everyone has a hinge machine/attachment/jig for drilling the doors.

Assuming inset, bore the cup centers 2.5(or whatever) off the ends and using a scrap of hardboard and a vix bit drill the plate centere 2.5 (or whatever) + the reveal. Overlay are the same but + the overlay. Takes 30 seconds a cabinet.


You're probably correct. But then again, maybe not.

Patrick hints that it's a new build, but doesn't exactly say so. He could be painting an existing kitchen and getting new doors, or even re-using the old ones but upgrading to concealed hinges. It's also just as likely he doesn't have a hinge boring machine or jig for that either.

Euro Limited makes a good entry level, but still professional grade borer.
Blum's ecodrill is first rate but double the cost.
Hettich's is the best in my view , priced in between.

Kreg has recently come out with an inexpensive jig that I haven't used, but assume works fine for non production work.

[Jared Sankovich]

You're probably correct. But then again, maybe not.

Patrick hints that it's a new build, but doesn't exactly say so. He could be painting an existing kitchen and getting new doors, or even re-using the old ones but upgrading to concealed hinges. It's also just as likely he doesn't have a hinge boring machine or jig for that either.

Euro Limited makes a good entry level, but still professional grade borer.
Blum's ecodrill is first rate but double the cost.
Hettich's is the best in my view , priced in between.

Kreg has recently come out with an inexpensive jig that I haven't used, but assume works fine for non production work.

The kreg sure looks flimsy, though i assuming works well enough and is relatively cheap.

I have the cmt boring head version on shelf some where. Its intended to mount in a drill press and works like a poor man's mini press. It bores and drills in one pass. Ive never bothered to use it since I have a couple pneumatic borers, but it seems well built.

[Patrick Kane]

I ended up buying it based solely on Dave’s response. Please don’t lead me astray, Dave! Just kidding. I looked at it this way: 1)Either it helps me a ton, because cabinets aren’t my thing, 2)it’s not that valuable and I resell for $250 or at a slight loss. It is the arm
And the four laterals. I think it only has the 5mm bit with the stop collar, so I might need to buy the other bits you mentioned.

I actually don’t have a hinge borer. I don’t have a hinge boring jig either. It looks like this jig will line up the mounting holes for the concealed cup hinges, and give you the center point for the cup. After that you have to manually drill out the mortise for the hinge. I’ve only installed hinge hardware a dozen times, but I remember it being somewhat time consuming with layout/marking before going to the drill press. I was probably doing it inefficiently, but this hinge/slide jig seems like it’s dead simple to use—for dummies like me—and leads to everything being dead nuts on.

Two near future projects actually. One is a new build where this might not be as critical. The other are replacing the doors, drawers, and hardware on my mom’s kitchen. She doesn’t want to rip out the lowers because she loves the original stainless steel countertop from the late 40s that my grand parents put in. I’m guessing this jig will be worth it’s weight in gold on that build.

This is completely off topic, but you two debating minutia leads me to ask it. Is there a good resource for a pro building cabinets using contemporary methods? I’m not talking about norm making some red oak kitchen set in the 90s. I’d love to watch a guy from start to finish using a well-equipped non-cnc shop.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Find up a copy of Danny Proulx's book "Baking Your Own Kitchen Cabinets." His simple method blows everything else out of the water! Sure changed how I built cabinets.

[Dave Sabo]

I ended up buying it based solely on Dave’s response. Please don’t lead me astray, Dave! Just kidding. I looked at it this way: 1)Either it helps me a ton, because cabinets aren’t my thing, 2)it’s not that valuable and I resell for $250 or at a slight loss. It is the arm
And the four laterals. I think it only has the 5mm bit with the stop collar, so I might need to buy the other bits you mentioned.



:eek: pressure is on me now. Guess I'll have to take the jig off your hands if it doesn't work out, or you just don't like it. There is a 2.5mm ? with 5mm stop collar for it also, and maybe a center pin- can't remember if that comes with this jig or another.

This jig will only transfer the hinge centerline from cabinet plates to the door or vice versa. Does nothing for the cup layout on the door itself. With the amount of doors you've got , I'd strongly consider one of the portable boring jigs. The Blum and Euro can be modified for dust collection which is a big help. Kreg doesn't have indexing stops so I'd pass on that one even though it's cheap.


More than you'll ever want or need on 32mm: ( Danny's book is a good primer too )

https://davelers.com/32mm/Systems/3872.html

https://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base_images/ms/Process32_041204.pdf

[Jared Sankovich]

Can't help with any resources. I think everyone does it slightly differently anyway.

I will say that you should at least check the local used market for a hinge borer before buying a jig. I paid less than the cost of a hettich jig for my two pneumatic borers combined (and one included a 7 spindle head).

[Dave Sabo]

If you got a working single phase boring machine for $100- $125 than you you should do a happy dance, buy a lottery ticket, and thank your lucky stars.

That is some kind of find and Patrick should not count on finding such a deal . Although, Blum used to give them away if you ordered enough hinges.

Plus, they aren't very portable. Indispensable if you have a shop and build door on a regular basis. Two projects in the next 12 mo. hardly warrants the space or expense for most guys.

[Jared Sankovich]

If you got a working single phase boring machine for $100- $125 than you you should do a happy dance, buy a lottery ticket, and thank your lucky stars.

That is some kind of find and Patrick should not count on finding such a deal . Although, Blum used to give them away if you ordered enough hinges.

Plus, they aren't very portable. Indispensable if you have a shop and build door on a regular basis. Two projects in the next 12 mo. hardly warrants the space or expense for most guys.

I actually got 2 for $100 each. I'll admit it was a good price. Though one is a hettich with hettich pattern head. But I've passed up a few more local machines in the $300 to $400 just in the last year.

[Bob Jones 5443]

OP mentions hinges but attaches an image of a guide for slides.

Returning to hinges, I’m using Blum concealed cup hinges 71B3550 for full overlay doors in a frameless cabinet. I found an incredibly straightforward, content-rich video by Peter Millard that told me more than I picked up from hours of poring through other sources:

https://youtu.be/-Y6MEQlFEhQ?si=KeSKOdKFqRJz8I91

He refers to a drilling guide made by Grass. It’s a simple aluminum-looking hook-on thing that sells on Amazon.uk for £3 or £4. But on the US site, it’s $37. Crazy, but I might just break down and get it.

Jig Template for Kitchen,Bedroom,Bathroom Cabinet Hinges and Mounting Plates by Grass
Brand: Grass (this is not a link; I couldn’t figure out how to put one here. But pasting it int Amazon gets you to the product.)

Does anyone here have one of these? I’m toying with the idea of making one myself, but I’m no metalworker. I know: I just found a nice strip of maple, 0.065” thick, in the scrap bin. I think this could work nicely if I glue on two 3/8” pieces for fences. Wish me luck.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Well, I did it. The glue is drying on the first fence now.

I’m setting myself up to build more of this type of door in the future, although I have no idea why or when I might do it.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Even if I never build another cabinet with soft-close doors, working through the steps of making my little drill guide helped me develop a thorough visual understanding of a procedure that was abstract at best beforehand. I now see it intuitively. The Blum instructions didn’t get me there.

[Warren Lake]

never had more than baltic templates I made for diff hinges. If was drilling in the thousands then I would have put hardened inserts in the jigs.

[andrew whicker]

Even if I never build another cabinet with soft-close doors, working through the steps of making my little drill guide helped me develop a thorough visual understanding of a procedure that was abstract at best beforehand. I now see it intuitively. The Blum instructions didn’t get me there.

Yeah, the Blum (and other manufacturers) don't do a good job explaining Euro cabinetry.

I think everyone has a sharp learning curve. I don't know why suppliers and vendors can't clarify the product. It's not nearly as complicated as they make it out to be.

[Warren Lake]

I use nylon inserts on the cup hinge holes and put some glue in first.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Not sure what the scope of the project is or how much you plan to do in the future but I have gotten by here and there with intermittent cabinetry work by using *gasp* the el cheapo plastic Kreg jig that comes with a forstner bit and you chuck it up with a cordless drill. It works fine for one off stuff and is low barrier to entry and takes up basically no space. I've also set up with a table and fence and stops on the drill press and that works, though without the multi drilling head or another jig then you still have to do the screw pilot holes / inserta holes. I am typically all for finding a well built machine for tasks and keeping it set up whenever possible, but this seems like an easy problem to solve without a dedicated setup if it's not something that's consistently part of your work / a one off.

Speaking of hinge boring presses, I got one for free a few years back - an old Red Baron with Blum pattern boring, 3 phase (which I have.) I don't have enough consistent cabinetry door work or have enough excess space to keep it set up and in place, so it just hasn't been a priority and it's still sitting in my garage. I'm sure they are fantastic in a cabinetry shop; not sure it's worth the real estate and expense if you have to spend much just for inconsistent hinge boring work. Just my 2 cents.

[Warren Lake]

have a blum, they work great.

[Bob Jones 5443]

I didn’t use the Kreg jig. Don’t own one, and I didn’t feel comfortable surrendering the line-up to a jig that “conceals” the actual dimensions from me. (Setting 4????)

I needed to learn the size and location of both setups: cup hole and the mounting plate holes. It turns out each involves just a simple couple of numbers. Once those finally became clear to me, I had two choices: 1) write the numbers down and remember where they are, or 2) make a physical palm-size template. I did the first one, then did the second one.

What I came away with is a question. Why can’t Blum — or for that matter, almost all of the smiling YouTubers claiming to show us how to mount these hinges — just provide a scale drawing of the sizes and locations? How hard is that?

[Bob Jones 5443]

I use nylon inserts on the cup hinge holes and put some glue in first.

The glue sounds like a good idea.

[Bob Jones 5443]

never had more than baltic templates I made for diff hinges. If was drilling in the thousands then I would have put hardened inserts in the jigs.

I didn’t try to drill through my thin maple template’s holes. Instead, into the holes, I position a spring-loaded gadget I picked up on impulse at Rockler a few years ago. I made the template holes the right diameter to seat the pointed end of the gadget. Then, holding that end firmly down with my left hand, I pull the other end up about 10 mm and release. The spring drives the sharp bottom end down and makes a little divot to start the drill for the pilot holes.

[Kevin Jenness]

I haven't found the Blum or Grass hinge tables occult, but I always do a mockup. If you settle on a particular type of hinge the arm cranks, tab distances and baseplates will soon become familiar but the mockup will save you every time.

I have set many hundreds of euro hinges and baseplates with a drill press and fence and a story pole. The Blum jig at issue is not a bad idea but certainly not necessary. The Blum Ecodrill jig is useful for tall doors. https://www.woodworkerexpress.com/blum-ecodrill-description-blum.html?y=US&msclkid=2ba08c5d2edb15ecaf4deafe24239152&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP%20-%20Shop%20-%20Cabinet%20Hinges%20and%20Lift%20Systems-Hinge%20Accessories&utm_term=4579259773630356&utm_content=10409407%7CBPM311000%7CEcorill%20For%2 0Hinge%20Cup%20Boring%7CCabinet%20Hinges%20and%20L ift%20Systems%7CHinge%20Accessories%7CBlum%7C%2433 9.04 For drawer slides plywood spacers work well.

[Warren Lake]

Bob, I have a starret centering punch, you push it fires. Its an excellent thing, gets lots of use. My templates were too thick to use that on. For the amount I drilled the baltic worked okay. they were getting sloppy. Ive had to drill tons of holes past and for those jigs it was baltic and hardened inserts. 3/4" long inserts in 3/4 baltic, press fit held in with epoxy scratched up the outside metal really well before gluing in.

[Bob Jones 5443]

I haven't found the Blum or Grass hinge tables occult, but I always do a mockup. If you settle on a particular type of hinge the arm cranks, tab distances and baseplates will soon become familiar but the mockup will save you every time.



I forgot to mention that I did make a mockup of one hinge/mounting plate assembly. It worked on the first try (probably because I pre-planned all the dimensions to excruciating detail. Beginner, remember?).

I still have a question or two about making the famous Blum fine adjustments. I couldn’t turn the vertical adjustment screw on the mounting plate, and I haven’t yet tried the tweaks for the other two dimensions.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Bob, I have a starret centering punch, you push it fires. It’s an excellent thing, gets lots of use. My templates were too thick to use that on. For the amount I drilled the baltic worked okay. they were getting sloppy. Ive had to drill tons of holes past and for those jigs it was baltic and hardened inserts. 3/4" long inserts in 3/4 baltic, press fit held in with epoxy scratched up the outside metal really well before gluing in.

I didn’t know about the Starrett centering punch until your post. I looked it up just now. It looks like a great tool. Clearly the knockoff carried by Rockler is an imitation. I think I paid $5 or $10 when I saw a basket of them at the checkout register.

Anyway, with that tool in hand, I was able to choose a hole size for my little wooden template/guide that fits the spring punch just right. For now. I don’t except a 0.060” thick maple part to be indestructible forever.

For a more durable guide, using metal inserts would be a nice idea. Kind of the Kreg pocket hole idea. For my limited purposes, though, I’ll bet money I’ll never make such a guide myself. In a cabinet shop, you’d want one for the less experienced employees to use.

[andrew whicker]

I have a ~1/2" thick clear plastic rectangle with the 35 mm hole and the two "Mickey Mouse ear" holes that was made on a CNC.

I then build different stops that I bolt onto the edge of this jig that allow me to change the distance from the door edge (the jig has female threads on the edge). I'll have to take some photos, but basically I can change the offset to whatever I need.. like say I buy a Half Crank hinge, a 0 mm base and I need X overlay. Whatever offset of the "Mickey Mouse" pattern is required after the math (and prototypes) I use to build the correct edge piece. My edge ends up looking like U, that is I make a block of MDF for my edge and put a dado down the middle length wise that is the same width as my 1/2" thick plastic jig.

Once I make the edge, I label it and I have it forever. So I only have to go thru the time consuming process once. Also, (at least theoretically) I write down all of my actual results (hinge and base combo along w/ reveal or overlay) so that I know what I did and can recreate as necessary with very little brain power.

Really, you only need the template once for the 35 mm hole and only use the jig for the smaller screw holes. I say this because you can poke your 35 mm drill bit and get the center of that hole. Once you have that you go over to your handy drill press that you've already built a big flat sheet good surface top for.. you need one of those. Then you clamp on your fence to where ever it needs to be to align with your poked center. Then you clamp your stop on the fence that puts your hinge holes at the right height along the doors. Then you can drill all the 35 mm holes for top or bottom. Re-set the stop and do the other side.

If you make the small holes / Mickey Mouse ear holes the right diameter on the jig you can easily use a centering / plunge drill bit to make quick work of them too

[andrew whicker]

Here is a photo. My phone camera is only working in portrait mode right now.. so the focus is weird.

523480

[Bob Jones 5443]

Here is a photo. My phone camera is only working in portrait mode right now.. so the focus is weird.

523480

Elegant. You must make a lot of doors. Thanks for sharing your guide.