European hinge help....

[Clisby Clark]

I've got a few cabinet jobs coming up and would like to look into using European style hinges. Is there a good online reference or tutorial for using this hardware? I don't have a drill press yet, so I've been looking into the LV and Rockler 35mm boring systems. Can anyone share their opinions on these jigs or any other information that could help a Euro-rookie? thanks

[Jim Becker]

I tried the Rockler setup and found it to be less than satisfactory for the 35mm drilling. The bit, itself, was poorly made. I switched to using good tooling from Lee Valley in my drill press and haven't looked back. Once you make a setup template to set up the DP's fence, it takes mere seconds to be ready to drill for the cups.

[Mike Heidrick]

Do you have a finewoodworking.com membership by chance? Marc Spagnolia made a video on installing Euro-Style hinges.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Lee Valley tools work as advertised if they don't returns are never a problem. I don't have this jig but it looks like it would do what you need.

This tool only performs one task and at the cost of $150 you are probably somewhere near half the cost of a drill press. The drill press can be used for many different tasks.

Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of Lee Valley (live about 1 1/2 hours from their Home Office) but in today’s economy getting the biggest bag for your buck is a consideration we all must all contemplate.

My .02

Greg

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Clisby, as has been posted above, purchase a drill press and a good 35mm bit.

In Canada, a good bit is in the $40 dollar range.

I'm in the middle of a two year project where once a month, a group of 6 women make a complete set of kitchen cupboard doors for a non profit housing co-operative.

They borrow my shop for a weekend, cut the doors, edge band them and drill all the hardware holes. They have to match up with existing cabinets, which is no problem since the cabinets were made in the 32mm system.

Buy a drill press, a good bit, make yourself a fence and do yourself the ultimate favour, go metric with your measurements.

The system is metric, and everything works best when you don't have those odd rounding or approximation errors.

regards, Rod.

[Jason Whitaker]

about 3 months ago we refaced our kitchen and part of that was using the Euro Hinges. I cannot agree more with previous posts on using a DP.... it really made it a snap once everything was set to drill the cups. With some of the sales going on right now, I suspect you could get a decent DP for a pretty good deal.....maybe Santa could help out.

[William OConnell]

A drill press is the way to go and what I use
I would avoid the jigs myself since all you really need in a pinch is a corded or cordless drill and a 35mm bit.
I've done many jobs with the latter method with no problems whatsoever.
You said you have a few cabinet jobs coming up and I'm not sure what a few is as far as how many doors
Its not the rocket science some believe it is. Its basically drilling a hole with a steady hand and can be done quite quickly

[Joe Chritz]

You can use a 1 3/8" bit, which is easier to find and usually cheaper. What I do on all cabinet doors that use a 35 mm hinge (which is most I do) is to attach a fence to the drill press table and use a stop. Once set it is simple to slid the door into place and drill the hole.

I haven't used any of the hand held jigs but don't see any reason why they wouldn't work. However, a drill press is so handy for so many other things I would likely put any jig money to a drill press. In fact, I have a very old table top Rockwell that I am setting up just for hinge holes.

Joe

[Lee Schierer]

You can use a 1 3/8" bit, which is easier to find and usually cheaper.

Yep a 1-3/8 bit is only about .003 inches smaller in diameter than a 35 mm bit and the hinges fit nice and snug.

[David Giles]

If you choose to use a drill press, there are a couple of key dimensions. The edge of the hole to the edge of the door determines the overlay. It varies by hinge type, I think. 4-7mm are typical values.

Drilling the two smaller holes can be done on the drill press or by hand. I've had good success installing the hinge in the center hole, square up the hinge bracket to the door edge and drill the two side holes with a Vix bit.

[Bill Reed]

Get a Blum Ecodrill, which allows you to drill all three holes in a matter of seconds with perfect alignment. I've used mine to install hundreds of hinges and have never screwed one up.

[Joe Chritz]

If I remember I will post a pic of the jig I have for finding the correct location of the hole. It is basically a piece of 3/8 polycarbonate with a hole for a punch at the correct offset. On the plastic are lines marked off at 1/2" intervals from the center in each direction. Simply line up the correct offset from top of bottom and give the punch a tap. Nice dimple in the correct spot.

Joe