I have been to a number of DIY type websites, even watched the Router
Workshop show on hanging doors. There is one thing that NONE of them ever
say. They all talk about positioning of the hinge along the edge of the door
(although some just say to position them!!!) from top to bottom but non say
how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting them back far enough to just
clear the barrel would put them entirely through the thickness of the door
so they would be seen on the other side. Looking at the ones around my
house, the barrels are set out away for the door a ways. What is the
standard? There must be one. I have read articles that gave really helpful
advice such as "buy a commercial but marker" or "buy a commercial router
template". That's not much help if you want to make your own template. I
need a measurement. A recent thread about his brought to mind the idea that
a template would be quite easy to make but, it occurred to me, I could quite
easily make a template to fit the hinge but, where to position it, I do not
know. There are those of you out there that have done one to hundreds of
these things. Enlighten me please.

"CW" wrote in message
k.net...
I have been to a number of DIY type websites, even watched the Router
Workshop show on hanging doors. There is one thing that NONE of them ever
say. They all talk about positioning of the hinge along the edge of the
door
(although some just say to position them!!!) from top to bottom but non
say
how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting them back far enough to
just
clear the barrel would put them entirely through the thickness of the door
so they would be seen on the other side. Looking at the ones around my
house, the barrels are set out away for the door a ways. What is the
standard? There must be one. I have read articles that gave really helpful
advice such as "buy a commercial but marker" or "buy a commercial router
template". That's not much help if you want to make your own template. I
need a measurement. A recent thread about his brought to mind the idea
that
a template would be quite easy to make but, it occurred to me, I could
quite
easily make a template to fit the hinge but, where to position it, I do
not
know. There are those of you out there that have done one to hundreds of
these things. Enlighten me please.



I haven't done "hundreds", but I've done a few - all without a router. I
just made sure the hinges and (interior) doors were the same dimensions as
the others in the house and used the other doors as a guide to get my
placement and spacing. A router and template would have been nice, but all
I had was a limited budget, a hammer and a chisel. Worked out pretty well.
Caulking and painting the doors helped mask my inefficiencies with the
chisel.

Now that I have a router, I'd probably do it the same way to keep from
having to buy the guide. Maybe. I'm always looking for a good reason to
buy more tools.

Hope this helps.

--Hedley
--Binge in Moderation

"Hedley" wrote in message
. net...

I haven't done "hundreds", but I've done a few - all without a router. I
just made sure the hinges and (interior) doors were the same dimensions as
the others in the house and used the other doors as a guide to get my
placement and spacing. A router and template would have been nice, but
all
I had was a limited budget, a hammer and a chisel. Worked out pretty
well.
Caulking and painting the doors helped mask my inefficiencies with the
chisel.

Now that I have a router, I'd probably do it the same way to keep from
having to buy the guide. Maybe. I'm always looking for a good reason to
buy more tools.

Hope this helps.

--Hedley
--Binge in Moderation

Thanks for the reply. Yes, copying the existing doors would be a way to go
but, there must be a standard. I look at it as, if I were starting from
scratch, do I know everything I need to know to do the job? In this case, I
would have to say I don't.

"Hedley" wrote in message
. net...

I haven't done "hundreds", but I've done a few - all without a router. I
just made sure the hinges and (interior) doors were the same dimensions as
the others in the house and used the other doors as a guide to get my
placement and spacing. A router and template would have been nice, but
all
I had was a limited budget, a hammer and a chisel. Worked out pretty
well.
Caulking and painting the doors helped mask my inefficiencies with the
chisel.

Now that I have a router, I'd probably do it the same way to keep from
having to buy the guide. Maybe. I'm always looking for a good reason to
buy more tools.

Hope this helps.

--Hedley
--Binge in Moderation

You are welcome, CW.

The cynic in me says "what standard?" although I'm sure there is one.

I've lived in some places that may not have been so standard. And I should
clarify that I was replacing doors in an otherwise unmolested door frame. I
was putting in 6-panels to replace flat door to dress up the joint a little.
I'd lay the new door atop the old door and transfer the cut-out lines so as
to keep the door frame cut-outs matched up.


"CW" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks for the reply. Yes, copying the existing doors would be a way to go
but, there must be a standard. I look at it as, if I were starting from
scratch, do I know everything I need to know to do the job? In this case,
I
would have to say I don't.

"Hedley" wrote in message
. net...

I haven't done "hundreds", but I've done a few - all without a router. I
just made sure the hinges and (interior) doors were the same dimensions
as
the others in the house and used the other doors as a guide to get my
placement and spacing. A router and template would have been nice, but
all
I had was a limited budget, a hammer and a chisel. Worked out pretty
well.
Caulking and painting the doors helped mask my inefficiencies with the
chisel.

Now that I have a router, I'd probably do it the same way to keep from
having to buy the guide. Maybe. I'm always looking for a good reason to
buy more tools.

Hope this helps.

--Hedley
--Binge in Moderation

CW wrote:
I have been to a number of DIY type websites, even watched the Router
Workshop show on hanging doors. There is one thing that NONE of them ever
say. They all talk about positioning of the hinge along the edge of the door
(although some just say to position them!!!) from top to bottom but non say
how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting them back far enough to just
clear the barrel would put them entirely through the thickness of the door
so they would be seen on the other side. Looking at the ones around my
house, the barrels are set out away for the door a ways. What is the
standard? There must be one. I have read articles that gave really helpful
advice such as "buy a commercial but marker" or "buy a commercial router
template". That's not much help if you want to make your own template. I
need a measurement. A recent thread about his brought to mind the idea that
a template would be quite easy to make but, it occurred to me, I could quite
easily make a template to fit the hinge but, where to position it, I do not
know. There are those of you out there that have done one to hundreds of
these things. Enlighten me please.

The hinge gain setback varies depending on the door thickness, hinge
screw hole location and number, and to accomodate deeper casing.
Usually the gain ends up being about 1/4" in from the edge.

If you're making a template/jig you probably should allow for some
variance as the actual door thickness and hinge leaf size vary,
regardless of the nominal size.

R

CW wrote:
I have been to a number of DIY type websites, even watched the Router
Workshop show on hanging doors. There is one thing that NONE of them
ever say. They all talk about positioning of the hinge along the edge
of the door (although some just say to position them!!!) from top to
bottom but non say how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting
them back far enough to just clear the barrel would put them entirely
through the thickness of the door so they would be seen on the other
side. Looking at the ones around my house, the barrels are set out
away for the door a ways. What is the standard?


It depends on the thickness of the casing. You need to set the pivot point
out far enough for the door to stand proud of the casing when opened 180
degrees.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 03:16:13 GMT, "CW" wrote:

how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting them back far enough to just
clear the barrel would put them entirely through the thickness of the door
so they would be seen on the other side. Looking at the ones around my
house, the barrels are set out away for the door a ways. What is the
standard? There must be one. I have read articles that gave really helpful
advice such as "buy a commercial but marker" or "buy a commercial router
template". That's not much help if you want to make your own template. I
need a measurement.


I have three different commercial (3 hinge) hinge templates and they
leave a reveal of about 1/4" (of wood showing on the door) when using
3 1/2", 4" or 4 1/2" butts.
If you are running butt pockets to fit existing jambs, it's more
important to match the inset of the hinge pocket on the jamb. Measure
from the edge of the jamb (not the casing) to the inside edge of the
hinge butt. Match that to the doors (assuming you're using the same
size hinges). If you don't match the jambs you can have the following
problems. If you make the pocket too close to the edge of the door
the door will hang out beyond the jamb when it's closed. If you
don't inset the pocket far enough, the door will hit the door stop
when you try to close it. Match the jambs.

If you are making a template you can put a guide stop on the bottom of
the template so that it rests on the hinge side of the door. This
will allow you to use the same template for the door and any jamb you
might need to run. On the jamb you let the stop rest against the edge
of the jamb. This will give you a matching inset on both the jamb
and the door.

Good Luck.


Mike O.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. For replacement of existing doors, yes,
the advice to match what is already there would be the best approach. I have
found (the hard way) that assuming anything about how something was built
will bite you in the butt. For new construction, the 1/4" reveal sounds
about right judging from the ones I have measured around the house.

"CW" wrote in message
k.net...
I have been to a number of DIY type websites, even watched the Router
Workshop show on hanging doors. There is one thing that NONE of them ever
say. They all talk about positioning of the hinge along the edge of the
door
(although some just say to position them!!!) from top to bottom but non
say
how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting them back far enough to
just
clear the barrel would put them entirely through the thickness of the door
so they would be seen on the other side. Looking at the ones around my
house, the barrels are set out away for the door a ways. What is the
standard? There must be one. I have read articles that gave really helpful
advice such as "buy a commercial but marker" or "buy a commercial router
template". That's not much help if you want to make your own template. I
need a measurement. A recent thread about his brought to mind the idea
that
a template would be quite easy to make but, it occurred to me, I could
quite
easily make a template to fit the hinge but, where to position it, I do
not
know. There are those of you out there that have done one to hundreds of
these things. Enlighten me please.

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 03:16:13 GMT, "CW" wrote:

I have been to a number of DIY type websites, even watched the Router
Workshop show on hanging doors. There is one thing that NONE of them ever
say. They all talk about positioning of the hinge along the edge of the door
(although some just say to position them!!!) from top to bottom but non say
how deep along the thickness (setback). Putting them back far enough to just
clear the barrel would put them entirely through the thickness of the door
so they would be seen on the other side. Looking at the ones around my
house, the barrels are set out away for the door a ways. What is the
standard? There must be one. I have read articles that gave really helpful
advice such as "buy a commercial but marker" or "buy a commercial router
template". That's not much help if you want to make your own template. I
need a measurement. A recent thread about his brought to mind the idea that
a template would be quite easy to make but, it occurred to me, I could quite
easily make a template to fit the hinge but, where to position it, I do not
know. There are those of you out there that have done one to hundreds of
these things. Enlighten me please.


Uhhh... Duh...

I've done at least 50 of them, but I never actually stopped to think
about it. As far as I know, there's no particular standard, so long
as they are set to the same depth. I put the backside of the hinge
1/4" from the edge of the door, but it's more what just looks right on
the first one, and then mortising the others to match than any hard
and fast rule. If I remember correctly (though it was about ten years
ago, so my recollection is a little hazy) I got the 1/4" figure from
just measuring the distance on another door that was already hanging.
Double-checking the doors in my house just now is kind of re-enforcing
that memory- they're all at 1/4".

You don't even really need a template, though it might be easier. I'd
feel pretty confident suggesting that you just set a combination
square to 1/4", then run it down the edge of the door where your hinge
is going with a pencil seated in the groove on the end, then mark your
horizontal measurements.

"Prometheus" wrote in message
news

Uhhh... Duh...

I've done at least 50 of them, but I never actually stopped to think
about it. As far as I know, there's no particular standard, so long
as they are set to the same depth. I put the backside of the hinge
1/4" from the edge of the door,

but it's more what just looks right on
the first one, and then mortising the others to match than any hard
and fast rule. If I remember correctly (though it was about ten years
ago, so my recollection is a little hazy) I got the 1/4" figure from
just measuring the distance on another door that was already hanging.
Double-checking the doors in my house just now is kind of re-enforcing
that memory- they're all at 1/4".

The 1/4" is what I have measured on the doors in my house and I did find a
site that actually said. 1/4".

You don't even really need a template, though it might be easier. I'd
feel pretty confident suggesting that you just set a combination
square to 1/4", then run it down the edge of the door where your hinge
is going with a pencil seated in the groove on the end, then mark your
horizontal measurements.

I'm considering doing 6 or 7 doors. A router template should take about ten
minutes to make. Worth the time.

If you make your own template, nail or screw a 1/8" (or a little more) over-hanging spacer on top of your template. Fit it over the door and route your hinges. When you position the template into a new jamb, the 1/8" spacer will provide clearence for the door crack at the top and locate the hinges opposite the door hinges. If you are using old jambs, you could match your template to the jamb hinge spaces using your 1/8" spacer. There should be enough paint and crude around the old hinge spaces, that a fresh router cut would just clean it up.

Chuck