Cabinet doors
The 35 mm cup hole in the right place, the first time and the twentieth.
A concealed hinge is unforgiving. The cup has to be 35 mm, a set distance in from the door edge, and square to it — and the mounting plate on the cabinet side has to line up with it. Measure and mark by hand and you will get away with it on one door; by the fourth you have a kitchen where nothing sits flush. This plate clamps to the work, and the holes are already in the right place.
Read this first: it is a guide, not a drill.
The jig positions the holes. You still supply the drill, and for the cup you need a 35 mm Forstner bit. That bit is included in the “jig + 35 mm bit” options and not in the “jig only” ones — take the plain jig if you already own one. Each of those comes as a single or a 2-pack.
It is built around the standard European pattern: 35 mm cup, 48 mm between the cup screws, 32 mm between the mounting-plate screws. That is what the overwhelming majority of cabinet hinges use — but hold your hinge against the drawing below before you order, because the odd brand does its own thing.
Both halves
Door cup and cabinet plate
3, 4, 5 or 6 mm
Edge distance, set by the screws
Aluminium plate
80 × 85 mm, 12 mm thick
Clamps on
Fence rail and two thumb screws
Read the plate
Every number on it means something
The bottom half is the door: the big semicircle is the 35 mm cup, the small hole at its centre is the pilot, and the two round holes either side are the hinge’s own fixing screws at 48 mm apart. Along the fence are the holes marked 3, 4, 5, 6 — that is the distance in millimetres from the door edge to the edge of the cup, and you pick it by which pair the thumb screws go through.
The top half is the cabinet: two rows of slots for the mounting-plate screws, 32 mm apart, which is the same 32 mm system the rest of your cabinet hardware is drilled to. The little 3-4-5-6 scales beside each slot set how far in from the edge those screws land.
The setting that matters
Edge distance decides whether the door shuts
Move the cup closer to the edge and the door swings wider but sits tighter to its neighbour; move it in and you gain clearance but lose opening angle. Most hinges are specified at 5 mm, some at 3 or 4, and thicker doors sometimes want 6. The hinge’s own instructions will say.
Whatever you choose, the point of a jig is that every door gets the same number. Set it once for the job and every cup on every door lands identically — which is the difference between doors you adjust and doors that already line up.
Drilling it
Set the depth stop before the first hole
A hinge cup is normally 12–13 mm deep — check yours — and a 16 mm door leaves you very little behind it. The Forstner bit has a collar you can set, or clamp a stop on the drill; either way do it on a scrap first. Going through the face of a finished door is the one mistake this job does not forgive.
Drill at a moderate speed, let the bit clear its chips, and keep the plate flat on the work. If you are drilling by hand rather than in a press, go slowly at the start so the centre spur bites before the rim does.
Check your hinge
Hold it against the plate before you buy
Lay your hinge on the drawing: the cup should be 35 mm across, its two screws 48 mm apart, and the mounting plate’s screws 32 mm apart. If that is what you have — and it almost certainly is, on anything from a flat-pack kitchen to a cabinet shop — this jig is drilled for it.
Where it will not help: 26 mm cup mini hinges, hinges with a 45 mm screw spread instead of 48, and any surface-mounted or barrel hinge, which is a different job entirely.
Straight answers
What it will not do
It does not hold itself. Two thumb screws pull the plate against the fence rail and the work, which is enough for a steady hand, but it is not a quick-clamp jig. On a run of doors, a small F-clamp on the plate is worth the extra second.
It does not set the depth. Nothing here stops the bit going too deep — that is the drill’s job, or the bit’s collar. Test on scrap.
One cup size: 35 mm. The most common by a long way, but not the only one. If your hinges are 26 mm, this is the wrong plate.
The bit in the kit is a supplier bit, not a named brand. It does the job in MDF, chipboard and softwood. If you are boring hardwood all day, a good Forstner will cut cleaner and last longer — take the jig-only option and put the money there.
No published tolerance. The maker does not state a machining tolerance and we will not invent one. What we can say is what is cast into the plate and shown in the drawing above.
Single or 2-pack
Pick the kit, the colour, then how many
Jig only — the aluminium plate, its fence rail and two thumb screws. Take this if there is already a 35 mm Forstner in your box.
Jig + 35 mm bit — the same jig with a 35 mm Forstner (78 mm long, round shank) so you can start on the day it arrives.
Red or silver changes nothing but the anodising. Red is easier to find on a bench covered in offcuts; silver looks less like a toy if that matters to you.
Every combination also comes as a 2-pack, and the reason is not “buy more”: on a run of doors, leaving two jigs set up saves the setting. Put one on the 5 mm holes for the doors and one on the cabinet rows, and you stop re-adjusting between every pair. Two hands, two jigs, no thinking.
The specifics
What you get
Plate
Aluminium alloy, 80 × 85 mm (3.15 × 3.35 in), 12 mm (0.47 in) thick
Cup
35 mm, with a centre pilot and the hinge’s two fixing screws at 48 mm
Mounting plate
Slotted holes on the 32 mm system, two rows
Edge distance
3, 4, 5 or 6 mm, set by which holes the thumb screws pass through
Forstner bit
35 mm cutting diameter, 78 mm (3.07 in) long — in the “jig + bit” options only
Clamping
Fence rail plus two thumb screws
Colours
Red or silver — identical plate
Quantity
Single, or a 2-pack of the same colour and kit
Not included
The drill, a depth stop, the hinges and their screws
Not published
The alloy grade, the machining tolerance and the bit’s steel — the maker gives none, so we quote none
Questions people ask
Before you order
Will it fit my hinges?
Measure three things: the cup should be 35 mm across, its two screws 48 mm apart, and the mounting plate’s screws 32 mm apart. That is the standard European pattern and what this plate is drilled for. A 26 mm cup or a 45 mm screw spread will not line up.
Do I need the bit?
You need a 35 mm Forstner. If you already own one, take the jig-only option and save the difference. If not, the bundled bit gets you going.
How deep should the cup be?
Usually 12–13 mm, but check the hinge you are fitting — and check the door thickness. On a 16 mm door there is not much left behind the cup, so set a depth stop and test on an offcut.
Which edge distance do I pick?
Whatever the hinge specifies — 5 mm is the most common. Closer to the edge means a wider swing and less gap; further in means more clearance and a narrower swing. The important part is using the same number on every door.
Can I use it for the cabinet side as well?
Yes — that is the top half of the plate. The two rows of slots put the mounting-plate screws on the 32 mm system so the plate lines up with the cup you just drilled.
Does it work on a drill press?
Yes, and that is the best way to use it — the jig locates the hole and the press keeps it square and to depth. It works handheld too, which is the point of the fence.
Red or silver?
Same plate, same holes. Only the anodised colour differs.
Is the 2-pack worth it?
If you are hanging more than a few doors, yes — and not mainly for the price. Two jigs means one stays set for the door cups and one for the cabinet rows, so you are not re-setting the edge distance every time you change ends. For a single door or a repair, one is plenty.
Will it mark a finished door?
The thumb screws bear on the plate, not the door face, but a jig clamped to a lacquered surface can still leave a mark. Put a strip of masking tape under it on anything already finished.
Shipping & returns
Delivery in 7–15 business days from the time you order — that window already includes the 1–2 business days we take to process. Tracking is emailed as soon as the carrier scans the parcel. Shipping & Delivery.
30-day returns. Items must be unused and in their original packaging. Email support@nexuratool.com to start a return.
Nexura Tools
Tools for repair, maintenance and the jobs in between — chosen for specs we can verify.
