Popular Woodworking_-_November 2019

48 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING

Adjusting Butt Hinges

5

on the door, you will remove stock
at the bottom of each mortise.

Adjusting a Door Relative
to the Cabinet’s Face
In most cases, a cabinet door should
hang fl ush with the face of the cabi-
net. If it’s slightly behind the cabinet
face, you can move it out by remov-
ing one screw from one of the leaves
on the cabinet, pulling the door
toward you just a hair, and drilling
a new hole. Then insert the screw.
Repeat with the other hinge(s) until
the door hangs fl ush.
If the face of the door is protrud-
ing from the cabinet, you’ll need
to widen the leaf mortise on the
cabinet. Remove the door from the
cabinet and set a marking gauge
to the width of the leaf plus the
amount by which you need the door
to move back. Mark this on the cabi-
net, score the wood fi bers at the top
and bottom of the mortise with a
knife and square, then chisel out the
waste. Drill new holes as necessary,
insert screws, and check the fi t.
If for some reason you cannot
widen the mortises on the cabinet,
you can fall back on Plan C: planing
the excess from the door’s face. But
this is a last resort.

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Fixing the Gap Between

Door and Cabinet

If you made your mortises too deep,

the door will likely bind instead of

opening. We call such doors “hinge-

bound.” The fi x for this is to shim

the hinge out. The material you use

for this may vary depending on the

amount of shimming you need, the

fi nal fi nish, and (to be brutally hon-

est) the materials you have available.

The crudest trick to shim a hinge

by just a hair is to cut a piece of

masking tape as long as the mortise

and stick it in. If you need more

thickness, add a second piece. This

surprisingly simple fi x will often do

the trick.

A common material for slightly

thicker shimming is cardboard. Peo-

ple generally advise against using

cardboard because it can compress,

but if you use dense stock, such as

the fl aps of screw boxes, you can

often solve the problem. A dab

of glue will help hold the shim in

Choosing Butt Hinges

FIXED OR LOOSE PIN? In many

cases the choice will depend on the style

in which you’re working, but generally

speaking, a loose-pin hinge makes it

easier to fit large doors: You can remove

the pin and take the door off for planing

without the need to unscrew the hinge

leaf from the cabinet.

SIZE When ordering hinges, take the

width of the leaves into account along

with the length. Otherwise you may find

the leaves exceed the thickness of your

door. It’s best to leave as much meat as

possible at the back of the door stile,

behind the hinge, to avoid break-out.

BRASS OR STEEL? Many hinges

are available with different metal plating,

and sometimes with a variety of finish

options such as antique brass or oiled

bronze.

QUALITY Technically speaking, a

good butt hinge will have a pin that

fits snugly between the leaves. Any

sloppiness in this fit will complicate

your job of getting a door to fit precisely

in its opening.