Kitchen door hinge holes

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hi all, I've read around this forum a bit about this. Looking like a job for a hinge cutter instead of a forstner bit maybe? This is to do with some mods / additions to an existing kitchen so it has to have doors to match those already in place from some years ago. We managed (finally) to find the same doors but they are not cheap! Three of the doors will need the circular recesses to be cut for hinges. My questions are, what are the chances of getting the holes in without messing up, if I just use a cordless drill hand-held? Can a plunge router, which I could borrow, drive a hinge cutter or forstner bit? (Drill press would be best but expensive for a single job!) Any advice please? Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Terry
 
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Ar, just found a bit more info. Looks like forstner bit in router is a shortcut to A&E! This is because of the high speed of the router. You can get router bits for hinge cutting but they look to be about half way to the price of a cheap drill press. Are cheap drill presses (where you attach your own drill to a press thingy) any good please? Or, as per my first question, can this be done hand held do you think?
Cheers,
Terry
 
You could try buying the kosher hinge cutter, and then have a few practice runs on some scrap material of the same thickness.....the cutter will score its path before actually drilling so you can tell if you are holding the drill square.
However, a pillar drill is really the way to go, as often enough you can set the drilling depth too.
John :)
 
Never tried this, but saw it as a tip somewhere years ago. Get a scrap piece of ply or mdf, drill a hole through it with the hinge cutter, then clamp that to the place you want the hole. It acts as a guide so you can use a hand held drill.
ETA there are cheap pillar drills for sale at Lidl soon. Might be Monday I think.
 
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Ah thanks John, Dave54.
Good advice.
I'll have a look in Lidl on Monday.
Also looked at this :
http://www.screwfix.com/p/energer-enb672dbt-290mm-pillar-drill-230-240v/1009j?_requestid=174115
Just a thought. These hinge recessed into the circular holes are (I think) cos eg midfield isn't strong enough to to just screw hinges onto. However the doors I'm fitting are solid oak so could it be that some other type of hinge might be used which just screws onto the face of the door without the 35mm circular recess I wonder?
- Terry
 
Thanks Dave54.
Since I last posted I've unwrapped more of the stuff that came with the washer dryer. One particular door will attach to an integrated washer dryer from AEG. They've included hinges which need a recess, but if I don't use these I'd have to find something else which would attach to the fittings on the Integrated WD. So I think it's going to have to be recesses for this door at least, so maybe one of those pillar drills needed.
Thanks very much,
Terry
 
I have always cut with a standard hinge cutter in a cordless drill, never had a problem.
 
Thanks foxhole.
I'll get the hinge cutter bit and stick it in my cordless drill and have a play using some scrap, for starters
Doors are about 178 quid a pop that's why I'm giving this a good coat of thinking-about!
Regards
Terry
 
Or you could make a template for a router equipped with a plunge bit that you can just clamp in the right location on the doors..?
 
Dave54, I looked at our local lidl and they have the pillar drill - not sure for a total of six holes (3 doors).
Still thinking about it.
Chud, yes thanks I've been thinking about templates. I've actually drilled a hinge hole in a bit of spare wood about 30 x 15 centimetres, 20 mil thick (as are the real doors) and fitted this to the upper hinge on the washer, to sort of simulate the top corner of the door, hoping to get an idea of its positioning. Based on this I'd aim for the top hole in the real door about 2 mil lower and 1 mil nearer the edge than this test piece to line up ok.
Only thing is (unless the test piece was a funny bit of wood, and I think it was just a bit of pine), the hinge cutter seems to be losing its edge after only 3 test holes!
Regards, Terry
 
Can someone tell me what kind of hinge needs a round hole? I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
 
I have always cut with a standard hinge cutter in a cordless drill, never had a problem.
I generally use a 35mm router cutter (made specifically for hinge boring) in a plunge router with the speed turned down to 8000 to 10000rpm. The side fence and its' fine adjuster allow me to align and drill consistently whlst the fine adjustment on the plunge depth allows me to control the depth of cut precisely. There is a slight tendency to twist as the cutter enters the workpiece which is maybe best controlled by clamping the router to door. No need for templates, just a combi square and a tape to mark the hole drilling positions.

I have to agree with Dave, though. A cheap pillar drill with a TCT hinge drill and a simple baseplate and fence (piece of MDF with some 2 x 1 PAR softwood screwed on) is the easiset way to go if you don't need to be mobile.
 
Can someone tell me what kind of hinge needs a round hole? I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
Stop thinking butt hinges, as found on room doors:
Butt Hinge.jpg

and instead think of kitchen cabinet hinges:
Kitchen Cabinet Hinges.jpg

which require flat bottomed round holes to be drilled in the doors (if in doubt go take a look in your own kitchen)
 

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