Cabinet Hinge Placement: Measure Before You Drill

Cabinet hinge placement has two separate measurements: the hinge center's distance from the top or bottom of the door, and the cup hole's distance from the hinge-side edge. Choose the exact hinge and mounting plate first, then set both measurements from its drilling sheet and a test fit, not from one universal offset.

The expensive mistake is treating a convenient layout number as a hardware specification. A hinge can sit at the right height but still leave the door rubbing because the cup setback, plate or overlay is wrong. This guide follows one concealed-hinge layout procedure rather than comparing hinge styles.

All workshop photographs below are AI-generated editorial examples. They are not measured installation records or CarpDraw results. Use the dimension diagrams for the labeled geometry and the hinge maker's current sheet for drilling.

Keep these measurements separate

Measurement	What you measure	Status and decision
Vertical position	Door top or bottom to hinge cup center	Project-specific; check rails, shelves and hinge load guidance
Cup diameter D	Width of the circular cup bore	Hardware specification, not a choice based on door height
Edge gap TB	Door hinge-side edge to nearest edge of the cup bore	Hardware-specific; also called boring distance in some catalogs
Cup center setback	Door edge to center of the bore	Calculated as TB + D/2
Cup depth	Inside face to bottom of the bore	Hardware-specific; verify against actual door thickness
Plate setback	Cabinet front reference to plate fixing line	Hardware and application specific
Overlay	Door overlap beyond the cabinet opening	Measured or designed, then matched to hinge and plate

For an illustrative 35 mm cup diameter (1.378 in / 3.5 cm) and a 5 mm edge gap (0.197 in / 0.5 cm), the center is 22.5 mm from the door edge (0.886 in / 2.25 cm). The calculation is 5 + 35/2. It does not mean every hinge should be drilled at that center distance.

Keep the manufacturer's metric values as the working values when the jig and hardware are metric. The inch conversions here are rounded for reading, not replacement drill sizes. Do not swap a nearby imperial bit for the specified metric cutter merely because the numbers look close.

As a concrete hardware example, Blum's 2025 Concealed hinges catalog lists the screw-on CLIP top BLUMOTION 110 degree hinge 71B3550 on page 10. The application drawings show a cup depth of 13 mm (0.512 in / 1.3 cm) and an overlay table using boring distances from 3 to 7 mm (0.118 to 0.276 in / 0.3 to 0.7 cm). Those entries belong to that hinge system. They are not permission to use any of those distances with any plate or door.

Open the current Blum hinge catalog and installation downloads and match the part number, door thickness, overlay and plate before choosing a row. If your hinge is a different product, use its own document.

Mark vertical positions before setting the jig

Start with the door's inside face up. Mark its top, bottom and hinge edge on removable tape. Measure to cup centers, not the end of a hinge arm or the edge of a metal flange. Those are different references and can move the holes even when both people say the same offset.

The diagram gives one illustrative layout: a door 762 mm high (30 in / 76.2 cm), with centers 100 mm (3.94 in / 10 cm) from each end. The center spacing is therefore 562 mm (22.13 in / 56.2 cm). This explains the arithmetic. It is not a standard for all cabinet doors or a claim that two hinges can carry every door of that height.

Before accepting those positions, hold the door against the cabinet in its intended closed position. Transfer each proposed hinge height to the cabinet side with the designed top and bottom gaps included. Check for a fixed shelf, top or bottom panel, face-frame rail, drawer runner, pull-out basket or internal fitting where the arm and plate need space.

On a frame-and-panel door, check the cup and fixing screws against the stile, rail joint and panel groove. A center that looks tidy on the front may cut into a joint on the back. On a slab door, check thickness and the screw-holding material. The cabinet plywood guide helps separate panel selection from the final hardware choice.

For a replacement door, record the existing centers only after checking that the old installation worked. Copying a sagging door's layout and damaged holes preserves the problem. If the replacement hinge has a different drilling pattern, matching the original hole diameter is not enough.

Make one test setup, then drill the doors

I would make a test piece before drilling a finished door, even for a small job. A matching offcut costs less than patching a visible breakout. Use the same thickness and material, not a thicker softwood scrap that hides a depth mistake.

A cabinet mounting plate is not located by simply copying the door cup's edge distance onto the cabinet side. These are different parts of the mechanism. The plate's vertical position also has to agree with the installed door position, including its intended gaps. Label your template accordingly: door template or cabinet-side template.

Check depth, seating and fixing holes

A cup bore can have the correct diameter and still be wrong. If it is too shallow, the flange may not seat. If it is too deep, the cutter or its center point may mark the finished face. Do not cure a shallow bore by tightening the hinge screws until the metal pulls into the wood.

For arithmetic only, an 18 mm door (0.709 in / 1.8 cm) minus a 13 mm bore (0.512 in / 1.3 cm) leaves 5 mm (0.197 in / 0.5 cm) of nominal material. This does not establish a safe drilling margin. Actual thickness, cutter geometry, panel grooves and the hinge maker's minimum door thickness still control the setup.

Inspect the test hole with the hinge removed. Check the diameter, depth and edge gap directly. Then fit the cup and confirm the flange sits flat. Check the screw length and the required pilot-hole size and depth for the supplied fixing. A screw-on cup, an expanding fixing and a press-in fixing do not share an interchangeable installation method.

Do not assume existing fixing holes can be reused just because the new cup fits. Misaligned screws can pull the hinge sideways or damage the material. Stripped holes need a suitable repair or a revised fixing plan before the door goes back into service.

Test the swing before calling the job done

Support the door during fitting and make small adjustments, one direction at a time. First check that the cabinet is level and square enough for the intended reveals. A twisted box or bowed door is not solved by driving all adjustment screws to their limits.

Blum's CLIP top BLUMOTION adjustment sheet separates side, depth and height adjustments. This is a useful reminder to identify the screw before turning it, rather than assuming every concealed hinge works the same way.

Close the door slowly. Check the hinge-side edge, the gap to its neighbor, the top and bottom, and the handle's path near walls or appliances. Open it to the angle needed for daily use. A door that opens enough for a hand may still block a pull-out tray. Recheck with the actual internal fittings, not an empty cabinet.

For room-level planning, use the kitchen cabinet dimension reference before committing to the overall cabinet layout. Door swing and handle clearance need room outside that cabinet envelope as well as space inside it.

Mistake	Likely cost	Better check
Confusing cup edge gap with center setback	A misplaced bore and possibly a new door	Write both values and the radius calculation
Copying a generic vertical offset	Hinge arm or plate hits a shelf or joint	Transfer proposed centers to the actual cabinet
Selecting the plate after drilling	Wrong overlay or adjustment near its limit	Choose the hinge and plate as one set
Repeating an untested jig setting	The same error across every door	Complete one sample and one fitted door first
Using more hinges without checking load guidance	False confidence on a heavy or wide door	Follow the maker's quantity and application guidance

Put the approved layout in the workshop brief

Once the test door works, record the approved settings before moving the jig. A good brief lets another person reproduce the installation without guessing which edge was your reference. Photograph the fitted hinge and include the measured layout, but do not treat the photograph itself as a drilling template.

The manual method is a dimensioned sketch plus a hardware schedule and a tested sample. Its bottleneck is keeping those references consistent when doors, overlays or hardware change. The CarpDraw blog has further drawing and workshop-planning guides, but no photo-based drawing should be treated as a verified hinge drilling schedule.

Check CarpDraw's current information before choosing a workflow. This article does not rely on generated production drawings, automatic hardware selection or CAD export.