My uncle swore by using a 10 penny nail instead of a 3 dollar tool to set hinges...

Back in 2018 my uncle Jimmy told me to skip buying a hinge jig and just use a 10 penny nail as a spacer. He said he'd been doing it since the 80s and it worked perfect every time. Tried it on a set of oak cabinets in my kitchen remodel and ended up with hinges all crooked and doors that wouldn't close right. Has anyone else had a handyman tip like that totally fail on them?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.andrew14d ago

My uncle swears by that nail trick too and I tried it on some maple cabinets and it looked like I installed the hinges blindfolded lol. Ended up with one door that opened crooked and another that just straight up stuck to the frame. Cardboard shims are the real MVP for sure. I feel like these old school tips worked great when people were building stuff out of whatever lumber they had lying around but on modern hardwood they just highlight every mistake you make. Spent an entire weekend fixing my mess with a chisel and a lot of bad words.

perez.willow14d ago

Did you try the nail trick on softwood too or just oak? I feel like oak is so unforgiving compared to pine where you can just muscle things a bit. My dad tried that nail trick on some old fir doors and it worked okay but the hinges were still a tiny bit off on the top ones. We ended up using a combo of a nail and a folded piece of cardboard to shim it straight. Truth is those old school tips usually worked on cheap wood where mistakes didn't show as bad but on hardwood every little gap is like a spotlight on your mess up.