Replacing European hinges

8 years ago

I'm replacing the hinges in a medicine cabinet, and have a bit of a dilemma. I went to great lengths to get hinges where all three holes (cup and two screws) on the door side are a perfect match between the old and new hinges, so that side is taken care of. But now I'm left with figuring out where to drill the holes on the cabinet side. I made sure that the new holes would be far from the old ones by getting a different style of mounting plate, but that makes the old ones useless for getting things lined up properly.

All I can find online is instructions for doing an initial install, which involves measuring a specific distance from each end of the door and then basing the measurement on the cabinet on that. Since the holes are already in place, I would need to determine the exact center of the cup holes and I'm really not sure how to do that with the necessary precision.

Are there any techniques for this that I'm just not finding in Google?

Comments (6)

bobismyuncle
8 years ago
Most Euro-hinges have x-y-z adjustments on the mounting side, so "exact" is not needed. But, that said, your old screw holes on the cabinet should be equidistant from the center line. Measure the distance between them, divide by two and mark, then run perpendicular line using a square from the front edge of the cabinet through that point?
salex
8 years ago
Most euro hinges also have a small lip that helps with the back-to-front alignment; if yours have this, then the issue is top-to-bottom alignment. My preferred technique is to mount the hinge cups on the door, clip/attach the other piece of each hinge onto the door hinge-pieces, and then hold the door up to the cabinet (again, align the small front lip for front-to-back placement). This always gets me close enough to be well within the range of the x-y-z adjustment that Bob's nephew mentioned.
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janiner
Original Author
8 years ago
You were both correct, but we ran into another issue:

We had it all figured out and were about to start drilling the holes when my husband noticed that the original holes are drilled into a block of something, which is most likely not present in the rest of the area. You can see metal threads behind the holes from the original hinges, and nothing but air behind the holes for the shelf supports.

So what do we do now? I have been unable to find a hinge that matches the holes on both the door and the cabinet body; this one matches the door and I had thought that having the new holes far from the original ones would reduce the chance of having the holes rip out or otherwise damage the cabinet. But now we're realizing that the metal is not strong enough to support the hinges on its own (these were cheap-o to begin with so you know they did not put in anything extra just in case).

Is there any way to salvage the situation or have we hit the dead end that says "replace the whole thing"?
salex
8 years ago
Sorry, but I can't quite picture what you're describing. Could you post some photos?
I suspect that adding/replacing the blocking will allow you to make use of what you have, but sometimes it's just easier to start over.
bobismyuncle
8 years ago
Try http://www.wwhardware.com They have about 40 pages in their catalog of euro hinge options, diagrams, dimensions, mounting systems, and carry multiple brands. They also have an 800 number that will answer questions. They sell these hinges in two parts, the door part and the cabinet part and you mix-and-match. So you can just order the mounting plates, saving even more. Even better, I have found the prices very good. I've got an order in for 24 hinges now, on its way to me today.
janiner
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, Bob's Nephew, I'll check them out.

Salex, here's a picture - let me know if this helps.