Introduction: DIY Concealed Hinge Jig

By FS Woodworking

Hi everyone, in this tutorial I will be showing you how I made my concealed hinge jig.

One of hinge types is the European concealed hinge. They can be used on wooden or melamine cabinet doors or closet doors. They are quite strong and fully adjustable. They require a special hinge boring bit though for their installation and a drill press for offset and depth accuracy. But there are times where I wanted to install that kind of hinges on cabinet doors and I was away from my shop so I didn't have access to a drill press. A small to carry jig was all I wanted.

So this jig is consisted by two parts. The wooden part that is attached on the cabinet door with a clamp and acts as a guide for bit and the hinge boring bit that has to be modified so it can have a depth stop.

Here is a video of the jig construction, please take a look at it if you like.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

  • 12 mm thick Baltic birch plywood
  • 2.0 x 0.8 cm strips of hardwood
  • Hinge boring bit
  • Tape measure
  • A hinge for testing
  • Pencil
  • A pair of calipers
  • A drill
  • A few 16mm wood screws
  • A clamp
  • 14 mm diameter copper pipe
  • (1x) 38mm x 3mm washer
  • Copper pipe cutter
  • (2x) 16 mm machine screws with washers and wing nuts
  • Box cutter
  • Jig saw or copping saw
  • Radial arm saw or miter saw
  • 8 mm drill bit

Step 2: The Jig Base

Cut a (10 x 26 cm) rectangular piece of 12 mm thick Baltic birch plywood. In order to cut it you can use a radial arm saw or a miter saw set to 0 degrees angle.

Step 3: Grooves

We do not really need to make an adjustable jig because 90% of the hinges require the same offset from the door edge, but why not include the other 10%? At this point you can decide if you want your jig to be adjustable or not. If you want it to be just stick to this step, but if you do not want it to be adjustable you can proceed to step 6.

We need to make a fence for our jig so when we place the jig on the cabinet door, to give us the same distance from the center of the hole to the edge of the cabinet door. That distance is usually 22mm.

Follow the provided plan to make two grooves on the plywood. These grooves must be 20mm wide and 8mm deep. You can make the grooves with your radial arm saw by lifting the blade 4mm above the table or on your table saw using a miter sled.

Step 4: Continuing on the Base

Now we need to make two slots on the jig for the machine screws to slide through. The exact dimensions for their placement can be found on the provided plan. Use a 8mm drill bit to start drilling two holes, one on each side of the slot and then use your jig saw to open the slots. Finally use a file to clean up any rough edges onside the slots.

Step 5: The Fence

For the fence we will use a strip of 0.8 x 1.9 x 50 cm hardwood.We need to cut two 10 cm pieces of it and fit them inside the grooves on the jig and one more 26 cm long for the fence.

Mark the two 10 cm pieces at 3 cm from their end and drill a 8 mm hole for the machine screws. Pass the machine screws through the holes and the slots on the jig and secure them with two washers and wing nuts.

Finally glue the long hardwood piece on the two smaller ones as shown here and secure it on them with two small screws. Let the glue cure and after its dry you will be able to adjust the fence back and forth just by untightening the two wing nuts and sliding the fence where you want it.

Step 6: The Hole

Drill a 35mm hole on the jig for the bit. Again dimensions provided in the plan.

Step 7: Hinge Boring Bit

Now it all depends on the bit you have.Your bit must make 12 mm deep holes. But considering that the washer will not stop on your actual work piece but on the jig we have to also include the thickness of our plywood to determine the distance from the edge of the bit to the stop washer. So 12 mm the depth of the hole plus 12 mm the thickness of the plywood, the washer must be 24 mm from the edge of the bit. I needed to cut a 1 cm piece of copper tube. Pass your bit through the tube - spacer and place the washer above the spacer. Then cut another piece of copper tubing and place it above the washer.

Step 8: Finished!

Attach the bit on your drill making sure its all tight and the spacers do not move up and down and drill some test holes to see if the depth and offset is correct.

Thank you all for stopping by.

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