European hinges gap problem

3/16 is a bit much, but 1/8” is pretty common. My hinges can usually adjust for it. If you think about it, on the non-hinge side you will have rubber bumpers. The bumpers are about 1/8” thick too, so the gap is symmetrical.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

How far in did you drill your cup holes from the edge
of the doors?

You have to get that right (23mm generally) or the
door may bind if the hole is in too far from the edge.

Also, you are using half-cranked hinges, right?

With a non-cranked hinge the overlay at 23mm is
a bit less than a full overlay, so when cabinets are
put side-by-side, there’s about 3mm between the
doors.

With a half-overlay cup hinge hole drilled at 23mm
the 3mm gap is supposed to fall in the centerline
of a 19mm melamine panel. The overlay is actually
more like 3/8”.

Easing the edge of the door should be all that is
required but if the drilling of the cup holes is
too far in, then you have a problem.

What thickness are the door stiles?

I haven’t used the face frame euro hinges, but on the inset (cranked) euro hinges, you run into problems with stiles thicker than 22/23mm. The edge binds when you open it if the stile is thicker than that.

Hafele.com have technical drawings on their website with all relevant dimensions for drilling etc.

-- Do or do not, there is no try

^ Sorry, scratch that, I thought you had inset doors, not half overlay.

Are they the 8º crank half overlay hinges?

-- Do or do not, there is no try

Some of the inexpensive one-piece hinges (hinge and baseplate in one) have up to a 3/16” gap like that. They also have a “throw out” when they open which can cause them to bind like that too.

It’s best to use a two-piece hinge. I personally like the Blum CLIP hinge, but many others will do fine. The gap is tight and there is no throw-out so the hinge can be set with very little side clearance and it won’t conflict.

-- "Hard work is not defined by the difficulty of the task as much as a person's desire to perform it.", DS251

I have used the two piece and they are very “forgiving” as far as misalignment goes. You can usually get them aligned and symetrically adjusted with little effort!

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

Thanks for the responses, everybody!

The stiles are 19mm, so that’s doesn’t seem to be the problem, and the cups are inset right about at 3/16 from the door edge, so that doesn’t seem to explain it either. Sounds like the problem may be that I’m using cheap one-piece hinges. Fortunately, I’ve only made three prototype doors (out of 28 for the whole kitchen I’m redoing), so I’ll chalk this up to the price of education.

DS251, is this the kind of Blum hinge you’re talking about?
http://www.hardwaresource.com/hinges/CABINET+HINGES/European+Hinges+-+Blum+Hinges/Blum+Clip+Top+Hinges/Blum+120+Degree+Clip+Top+Hinge%2C+Straight-Arm+Style

They’re a little spendy at $2.99 each – any other brands anyone might recommend that would be a little more economical?

-- Miles

Hafele has some economical hinges that work fine.

This is an industry supplier that has prices lower, in general,
than you’ll see at retailers that serve the handyman market.
http://www.baersupply.com/baer/wg-index.jsp

Yes, that is the hinge I prefer. Though, you would need the winged baseplate for face frame mounting as well, so that is only part of the cost

Depending on where you live, there are several less expensive options. I would first explore a wholesale source for them to get the price down. Here's a good place to start.

Also, there are some no name brand hinges that are knock offs of this one that work just as well in most cases. Some of these get down into the $1.50 range for the plate and the hinge.

-- "Hard work is not defined by the difficulty of the task as much as a person's desire to perform it.", DS251