Watched a guy at a hardware store fix a crooked cabinet door in 30 seconds

I was at Home Depot in Austin last weekend picking up some drawer slides, and this older guy in the aisle just showed me how he adjusts hinges with a single screwdriver. No level, no measuring, just eyeballed it and the door was dead straight. Totally changed how I think about alignment on my own jobs. Anyone else had a random stranger teach them something that simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyatt7711mo ago

Oh man, that's the best kind of shortcut. Had a guy at the lumber yard show me how to mark a cut with just a pencil held sideways against the board, saved me from hauling out a speed square every single time.

tyler6141mo agoTop Commenter

Three weeks ago I tried that exact trick and it bit me in the ass on a mitered baseboard cut. @wyatt771, I get the convenience factor and I respect the old school knowledge, but that method is way too unpredictable for anything that needs precision. The pencil will shift slightly depending on how you angle your hand and the pressure you apply, so you end up with a cut that's off by an eighth inch or more. I've seen guys swear by it for rough framing studs and such, but for finish work or anything with a tight tolerance, it's a gamble every time. Speed square takes me 2 extra seconds to grab out of my pouch and gives me a dead nuts 90 every time. I'd rather spend those 2 seconds than waste 20 shaving down a bad cut.