Cabinet guys!… 35mm cabinet hinges… bore before finish or after

[EastHumboldt]

Replacing all my kitchen cabinets. Already Built and installed all the carcasses. I’m using these 35 mm hinges to mount the new doors which are 3/4” shaker style solid wood stiles with 1/4” center panels. Mounting on solid alder 3/4” inch face frames. I have a 35 mm boring jig, so the job looks pretty simple.

My question is, if I bore the hinge mounting holes before I apply finish to the doors, will the finish make it difficult to get the hinges in the holes? If I bore the holes after I apply finish of course I run the risk of marking up my finish. For those of you who do this all the time, How do you do it? I’m finishing the doors with two sprayed coats of the finish in the pic.

 

[TaperPin]

Definitely drill first - that finish dries quite thin so it won’t interfere with the hinge cups, and it helps prevent scratches in the final finish.

The things to watch out for with compact hinges like that are lack of adjustability and getting the correct overlay size. I build cabinets all the time, but always mock up a few doors to make sure the adjustment range and overlay will work with the desired reveals - it often surprises new cabinet makers that the margin of error in hole placement, face frame dimensions and others is so tight.

It’s not uncommon to have at least one doors in a new kitchen that warps beyond the hinge’s adjustment range. For every 10 doors I’ll make an extra and leave it unfinished just in case.

I’m surprised to see the Varicure. I’ve probably sprayed 80 gallons of Chemcraft lacquer, but haven’t worked with the Varicure RAC at all. Since it’s a flat sheen there will be a lot of the stuff that makes it flat down in the bottom of the can - definitely take as long as needed to mix it all in and strain well.

You have the finish so I’m not talking you out of it, but the Chemcraft pre cat lacquer is quite easy to spray - perhaps the easiest finish to spray. With a little practice it goes on so consistently that new finishers can get very nice results with full gloss. We tend to avoid satin finishes just because all that crap that has to be so well mixed each time.

If you’re to this stage you must be glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[TaperPin]

Just remembered another hinge quirk. Those compact hinges require the door to have a little room to move sidewise as it’s opened - and the hole has to be quite close to the edge of the door - you’ll see that as you mock up a door or start to hang them before finishing. Definitely make sure all the reveals and dimensions are correct before drilling them all and then finding out the hinges won’t work. Some cabinet doors are so close to a wall or other cabinets that compact hinges bind and just won’t work - the fix is usually a full size hinge. Hinges are simple, but there are over 100 different size and construction variations - the Blum catalog is downloadable and is almost 400 pages long.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Thanks for the tips. I do plan on mocking up and checking out the jig settings and overlay. This is my first set of cabinets, but I’ve been spraying finishes for years. I’m quite used to having to mix the crap out of those with suspended flattening agents. I use gloss nitro lacquer on all my guitars, and I’ve come to hate the man who invented the gloss finish. Every. Tiny. Flaw. Shows. Up.

 

[TaperPin]

Thanks for the tips. I do plan on mocking up and checking out the jig settings and overlay. This is my first set of cabinets, but I’ve been spraying finishes for years. I’m quite used to having to mix the crap out of those with suspended flattening agents. I use gloss nitro lacquer on all my guitars, and I’ve come to hate the man who invented the gloss finish. Every. Tiny. Flaw. Shows. Up.

Gloss does make a guy question his sanding equipment - friendships have been won and lost over it. Lol

Since you have the finishing and wood prep figured out, you’re over the hump, I think of that as the hard part. Right now is a great time to build the cabinets yourself - cabinet costs are at an all time high, and quality is as low as I’ve ever seen it across many different brands. Then there are the crazy differences in installers since warehouses have gobbled up carpenters under $25/hr - you never know what you’re going to get right now.

The last knotty alder cabinets were a pair on both sides of a fireplace spec’d as kitchen height tops with full height doors - I was worried about even the slightest door warpage maxing out the compact hinges and sure enough, the second from left pokes out a little at the top. This house is very dry and as they sat for a few weeks the first door warped a little to match the second and the clients decided against using the spare door or swapping over to a full size hinge.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I don’t have any doors that are hung edge to edge like that. I did that deliberately, because I was worried about exactly what you’re talking about. So I have a stile and a 1 inch gap between every door. Lotta room for slop. Btw the hinge in the picture is a cheap Home Depot copy, but the ones that are actually going on the doors are Blum compacts with a half inch overlay.

I’m excited about getting the doors on. I’ve been looking at my dishes and cereal boxes for about two months now.

 

[magtech]

Nothing annoys me more than imperfect cabinet doors on my cupboards. Top not straight-edge level, ugh. Gap not perfectly parrallel, fml. Too much overlay from door edge to side,or the overlay isnt equal, why me.. doors look crooked, and hinges are out of adjustment, kill me now.

To get perfect looking cupboards with a perfect fit door and quality craftsmanship is a rare feat. I think I've made 20 cupboards and the first 10 doors still bug me to this day.

 

[Jmanley13]

Replacing all my kitchen cabinets. Already Built and installed all the carcasses. I’m using these 35 mm hinges to mount the new doors which are 3/4” shaker style solid wood stiles with 1/4” center panels. Mounting on solid alder 3/4” inch face frames. I have a 35 mm boring jig, so the job looks pretty simple.

My question is, if I bore the hinge mounting holes before I apply finish to the doors, will the finish make it difficult to get the hinges in the holes? If I bore the holes after I apply finish of course I run the risk of marking up my finish. For those of you who do this all the time, How do you do it? I’m finishing the doors with two sprayed coats of the finish in the pic.

View attachment 713198View attachment 713199

Manage a big cab shop, we 100% of the time drill the hinge holes before finish