I like jigs, fixtures and setup blocks almost as much as I dislike rulers, verniers and protractors.
Nearly all my woodworking errors are a product of measuring tools that did not get the job done. [big grin]
I’ve hung cabinet doors many times, but always in the workshop on the bench. Even so, I often have found myself using up most or all of the vertical travel adjustment on face frame hinges to get proper alignment.
I am now refacing my entire kitchen. If the doors are not uniformity of the same height, it will look like a drunk sailor installed them.
I have viewed many videos and I have never seen a fixture to assist in hanging the doors on already installed cabinets.
I made a simple jig. It is just a 24” long x 4” wide piece of 3/4” plywood which I clamped to the bottom of the cabinet. It is shown in the first image with the existing cabinet door in place. The existing doors have a 3/4” reveal on the bottom. For the new doors I am reducing the reveal to 1/4”. To make the fixture work I attached a 1/4” thick piece of MDF to the plywood, leaving enough uncovered so that the ply reaches to the back of the cabinet. That allows the board to remain level.
It worked even better than anticipated. With the hinges hooked in place the door remained balanced. I used a vix bit to pre-drill and then drove in the screws. The door ended up with a 1/4” reveal on the face frame.
There may be other methods that work as well. I doubt that they would be as easy to make as this.
For the lowers, I will make the piece shorter (about 3” overall). I will add a 3/4” block so I can clamp it and have it remain level. I will also have to abandon the bar clamp. I think my Kreg vise-grip style pocket hole clamp will work and still allow access to the lower hinge screw.
I’ve only used this for one door. If my opinion of the jig changes, or if I modify it further, I will report.
Nearly all my woodworking errors are a product of measuring tools that did not get the job done. [big grin]
I’ve hung cabinet doors many times, but always in the workshop on the bench. Even so, I often have found myself using up most or all of the vertical travel adjustment on face frame hinges to get proper alignment.
I am now refacing my entire kitchen. If the doors are not uniformity of the same height, it will look like a drunk sailor installed them.
I have viewed many videos and I have never seen a fixture to assist in hanging the doors on already installed cabinets.
I made a simple jig. It is just a 24” long x 4” wide piece of 3/4” plywood which I clamped to the bottom of the cabinet. It is shown in the first image with the existing cabinet door in place. The existing doors have a 3/4” reveal on the bottom. For the new doors I am reducing the reveal to 1/4”. To make the fixture work I attached a 1/4” thick piece of MDF to the plywood, leaving enough uncovered so that the ply reaches to the back of the cabinet. That allows the board to remain level.
It worked even better than anticipated. With the hinges hooked in place the door remained balanced. I used a vix bit to pre-drill and then drove in the screws. The door ended up with a 1/4” reveal on the face frame.
There may be other methods that work as well. I doubt that they would be as easy to make as this.
For the lowers, I will make the piece shorter (about 3” overall). I will add a 3/4” block so I can clamp it and have it remain level. I will also have to abandon the bar clamp. I think my Kreg vise-grip style pocket hole clamp will work and still allow access to the lower hinge screw.
I’ve only used this for one door. If my opinion of the jig changes, or if I modify it further, I will report.
