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For those that have installed European style hinges, which size forstner bit have you used? I'll be installing Blum compact hinges with the cup measuring 35mm by the spec sheet. I've looked around and some places are selling the 35mm forstner bits marked as 1-3/8" also ... slightly smaller than the metric spec. For those that have installed, are the tolerances that good on the hinges where the difference of ~0.002" between metric and standard makes a difference?
I have a 1-3/8" at home already and would hate to buy an unnecessary toll if I don't need it. Thanks in advance.
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1 3/8" is fine
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08-09-2017, 07:30 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-09-2017, 07:31 AM by fredhargis.)
I used 1-3/8" and couldn't find that it was a problem. 1 3/8" is 34.925 mm, or something like that.
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My experiences agree that the 1-3/8" wood-boring bit works fine. The purpose-made carbide tipped bits work better for the long term if you're drilling in melamine coated particleboard. The brad point on some bits may be a little long if the door thickness is thin.
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The hinges specified 35mm and I found that on Amazon.com for very little money, so I ordered that.
https://www.amazon.com/Rok-Hardware-Bori...rstner+bit
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(08-09-2017, 07:53 AM)Cooler Wrote: The hinges specified 35mm and I found that on Amazon.com for very little money, so I ordered that.
https://www.amazon.com/Rok-Hardware-Bori...rstner+bit
Can't beat that price with a stick.
Paid more than that from a commercial hardware supplier decades ago.
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Probably ok for the money but the main picture in the ad certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of the product.
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(08-09-2017, 06:06 PM)jlanciani Wrote: Probably ok for the money but the main picture in the ad certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of the product.
The vendor has the initials "ROK", which I assume means "Republic of Korea". I bought a couple of different size bits over the past two years and my experience has been good. It took about 3 weeks to arrive so it may have been shipped directly from an offshore warehouse.
I bought some spade bits from Sam's Club for a very low price. When I eventually got to use one the shaft was not true and it wobbled so bad that it was unusable. About half of the bits were garbage in the same manner.
So cheap bits are fraught with risks. Amazon is really good about taking back products if unsatisfactory so I took the risk and my experience has been good.
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Thanks for all the input ... instead of playing around, I just bit the bullet and ordered a 35mm carbide tipped bit through Amazon. Just out of curiosity, I did pull out the digital calipers and my 1-3/8" bit and measured ... 34.85mm. I was just worried the Blum hinges would be made to an exact spec and the 1-3/8 it wouldn't work.
