POPULARWOODWORKING.COM ■ 472 A Vix, or centering, drill bit ensures
your screw holes will be centered.
3 The door needs to move up slightly
in order for the bottom gap to equal
that of the side gap.
4 There’s a small cavity at the bot-
tom of the hinge mortise now, as I
lengthened the mortise at the top.tion that does not require mortising
and is made with slots that allow
the door to be adjusted up or down,
as well as in or out of the cabinet
relative to the face frame.
While these surface-mounted
butts are inexpensive, quick to
install, and easy to adjust, I’ve never
overcome the sense that they are
a kind of cheat. One of the joys of
using butt hinges is seeing them
cleanly fi tted to their mortises.
Cutting mortises takes just a few
minutes when you’ve mastered the
technique. It’s also a satisfying job.
No matter how meticulous you
are with your layout and mortising,
some doors are going to need ad-
justment. That’s where a few tricks
of the trade come in.
Hedge Your Bets
When installing doors with butt
hinges, start by inserting only as
many screws as you need to hold
the door fi rmly in place while
checking the fi t. I usually put the
door leaf on with two screws—one
in the top hole, one in the bottom,
leaving the center hole to be drilled
later on. This way, if I have to alter
the position of the hinge, I can drill
a hole in just the right place, then
fi ll the original holes and re-insert
those screws later.
For the second leaf—the one that
goes on the cabinet—I usually use
just one screw per hinge to start. I
drill and insert the top screw for the
top hinge and the bottom screw for
the bottom hinge. If there’s a third
hinge (as there often is with doors
48 " and taller), I use one of the holes
(any one of them will do).Adjusting a Door
Up or Down
Warning: the faint of heart should
skip this paragraph. If a door needs
minor adjustment, a good rap with
a hammer will often do the trick. To
move the door down a hair, open the
door fully and hit the top of the hinge
stile; to move it up, hit the hinge stile
at the bottom. Depending on the
type of wood you’re using and the2
3 4
hardness of the metal screws (brass
being softer than steel), you should
see a little shift in the position as the
wood below (or above) the screws
compresses slightly, the screws bend
a tiny bit, or both. Obviously this
trick demands care. If you hit the
door too hard you may damage the
door or the cabinet, break screws,
or damage the hinge. That said, it is
often just the ticket. To keep the door
in its new position, drill a second
hole for each leaf on the cabinet and
insert those screws.
If you need more than slight ver-
tical adjustment, you will probably
have to lengthen the mortise of each
leaf. Decide where the resulting
small gap will be less visible—on the
cabinet or on the door—then mark
the amount to be removed with a
square and marking knife, and trim
with a chisel. Note that if you want
to move the door up and are going
to lengthen the mortises on the
cabinet, you will remove stock at the
top of each mortise. If you’re going
to adjust the length of the mortises