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transferring hinge placement to new door

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MarkJames

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
I think I need a better (faster) method to transfer hinge placements when replacing a door. In an ideal world, I would like to template all three hinges simultaneously, and maybe even better than with a story stick.

Anybody got anything you feel like sharing?

I ran into an issue today (Sunday), not having a few tools on hand..and it got me thinking.

Side note: recalling the recent thread on mortising for hinges, I had neither a router nor my multitool on hand. Doooh! Sunday night job for a family member....lovely.
 
#4 ·
I pull the hinges from the jamb first. Insert the new slab into the door opening and raise it to the proper reveal/height using a shim of sorts. Mark the top and bottom of the existing jamb hinge mortises on the new slab. Also at that time note any tight spots on the slab that will need planing as well.

Set the door on edge (i use 5 gallon buckets one or two on each side to steady) and use a hinge jig like this one to route your new mortises - setting jig for depth and hinge dimension:
http://www.contractortalk.com/reviews/door-hinge-template-ryobi

Put the door back in place on the previous shim and set those new hinges. Easy Peasy with the right jig. (yes, I'm sure there are fancier ones out there - but it doesn't sound like you do thousands of doors a year). Now do your lockset carving/tooling in place.

Hope this helps.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
conductor said:
I pull the hinges from the jamb first. Insert the new slab into the door opening and raise it to the proper reveal/height using a shim of sorts. Mark the top and bottom of the existing jamb hinge mortises on the new slab. Also at that time note any tight spots on the slab that will need planing as well.

Set the door on edge (i use 5 gallon buckets one or two on each side to steady) and use a hinge jig like this one to route your new mortises - setting jig for depth and hinge dimension:
http://www.contractortalk.com/reviews/door-hinge-template-ryobi

Put the door back in place on the previous shim and set those new hinges. Easy Peasy with the right jig. (yes, I'm sure there are fancier ones out there - but it doesn't sound like you do thousands of doors a year). Now do your lockset carving/tooling in place.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I do that sometimes.

For the last couple doors, I tried something a bit different: I left the complete hinges on the jamb, using them to score the hinge placement on the new door. Before loosening the hinges from the old door, use blue tape to identify the offset position. This is easy with a solid floor surface, since you can tape down your shim setup. Doesn't work if there's carpet. It worked pretty well for the situation I was in.
 
#6 ·
MarkJames said:
Sunday night job for a family member....lovely.
Click to expand...
For an impromptu situation like that where I don't have all of my toys, I'll pull the old slab, leaving the hinges attached to it. Remove the latch hardware, lay the old slab on top of the new one and score the hinge locations with a utility knife.

That gives perfect relational positioning, and also allows for "tracing" the old shape onto the new one (with appropriate corrections) for those cases where the jambs aren't a perfect rectangle.
 
#7 ·
MarkJames said:
"...hinge jig"...duh, I'm heavy on the wine tonight.

Can you lay one of those over existing hinges (all three) and lock down the placements, backsets and all? Is it that simple?
Click to expand...
Yeah I believe the hinge blocks slide, I've never used that specific one, I just searched hinge jig.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Tinstaafl said:
For an impromptu situation like that where I don't have all of my toys, I'll pull the old slab, leaving the hinges attached to it. Remove the latch hardware, lay the old slab on top of the new one and score the hinge locations with a utility knife.

That gives perfect relational positioning, and also allows for "tracing" the old shape onto the new one (with appropriate corrections) for those cases where the jambs aren't a perfect rectangle.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did last night. First I had to rip 3/8 off the entire door...no rip guide with me, so I used a toe-kick skin as a guide. No router bits or vix bits, either...little annoyances like that. Oh, and it was at the end of day with rain approaching. Fun, fun. :laughing:
 
#11 ·
Tinstaafl said:
For an impromptu situation like that where I don't have all of my toys, I'll pull the old slab, leaving the hinges attached to it. Remove the latch hardware, lay the old slab on top of the new one and score the hinge locations with a utility knife.

That gives perfect relational positioning, and also allows for "tracing" the old shape onto the new one (with appropriate corrections) for those cases where the jambs aren't a perfect rectangle.
Click to expand...
Yep. I do the same, as long as the old door lined up properly. If not I make a slight adjustment. Slap on my jig and hand router away.

"Gettin jiggy wit' it."
 
#12 ·
MarkJames said:
I think I need a better (faster) method to transfer hinge placements when replacing a door. In an ideal world, I would like to template all three hinges simultaneously, and maybe even better than with a story stick.

Anybody got anything you feel like sharing?

I ran into an issue today (Sunday), not having a few tools on hand..and it got me thinking.

Side note: recalling the recent thread on mortising for hinges, I had neither a router nor my multitool on hand. Doooh! Sunday night job for a family member....lovely.
Click to expand...
For rehangs I split the hinges and leave the jamb side of the butts on the jamb. I tape a nickle to the head jamb and measure off the nickel to the top hinge. There's a couple bucks of spare change in my door box for this purpose. I then hook the top hinge and measure the other ones. I do it this way because there is always a solid point to either butt my tape to or hook it off of.

When cutting I hook the top of the door and route the hinge with a single pocket template. I screw half the butt to the door, hook my tape off it, and measure for the rest. I make the templates exact size so the template references off the mark with no offset to gauge.

I don't transfer marks from the old door because often the mortises are sloppy and inaccurate. I have used a story stick or a piece of drywall tape as a story stick. Normally I'm all about direct measurements but in this case the tape is much faster and I'm just used to it.
 
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