"Festool System - Making a CD Storage Cabinet"

I have worked around this work area in the past week, stopping only to manually buff the surface and check the tackiness of the oil. I will wait a few more days before doing the final rubbing out, but in the meantime I will install the knife hinges.    Here I am scoring the bottom and top pieces with the thickness of the doors. I have cut these pieces out of oak which I have also stained an ebony black.
	I have installed a 3/8" straight bit and have zeroed it to the board.  The arrow points to the knife hinge which I have placed on the plunge stop. This will allow me to plunge exactly to the depth to allow for flush mounting of the hinge.
I have clamped the base to the table and am routing the hinge mortises. I am using the router's fence to position the mortise at the front edge of the board.  This router is so light and well balanced that I have no trouble keeping the base plate on the base — and level. The blue tape shows me the stop point — I couldn't find my white marking pencil. This works well.
	This is the first time I have used the Festool router's fine adjustment attachment. It is cool. The standard fence guide is ("A"). I set this by eye so that the fence is adjusted to the bit. I then slide the fine adjustment stop ("B") on so that it is coupled with the fence guide. I am using the adjustment wheel to fine tune the fence position.
I have made the cuts and now use a sharp chisel to clean away the rounded corner.
	I use the same setup to rout the mortises in the top and bottom ends of both doors. This is where the fine balance of this machine really helps.
The screws for these fine hinges are brass, so I am careful to drill holes for the screws. Even then, I managed to strip the heads on about five. I would have used a steel screw of the same size to start the hole, but this time, couldn't find one to fit.
	Did I mention that I have never installed knife hinges before, so I am guessing as I go?  Here I have the case upside down and am positioning it over the top plate that now has one half of the hinges mounted.
I have placed the one door in position and have put the bottom (top) in place, held with a spring clamp for the moment.
	Well, I didn't allow for the space for the hinges when I cut the doors to length. I have slid a piece of 1/4" plywood (arrow)  to show me how much I am off. I will trim the doors by that amount tomorrow and then try again.    The knife hinges have very little tolerance. Too tight, and the door won't swing. Too loose, and the door will fall off. Maybe it is best that I use this trial fitting to cut to the exact allowable length. If you look at the hinge itself, it allows for about 1/8" play before it comes undone. Should I have used a different type of hinge? Maybe, but these heavy brass hinges sure look right.