To fit hinge pins into your dollhouse scale doors, take a craft nail, or a dressmakers pin and check that it will fit through the top and bottom of the frame with roughly half its length continuing into the top and bottom of the door. If you are using dressmakers pins, trim them to about 1/4 to 3/8 inch in length and carefully file the pin end to a sharp point using a file or coarse sandpaper. Mark the thickness of the door on the top and bottom of the armoire frame, measuring in from the front edge. This mark will show you how close to the front you must place your pin in order for it to enter the door. Fit your door into the frame, holding it away from the sides of the frame with a folded piece of paper as a shim if necessary. Using forceps or tweezers, center the point of the pin just in from the edge of the door, and centered on the door thickness you marked on the top or bottom of the armoire frame. Carefully drive the pin or hobby nail, straight down into the door. Make sure you line the pin up straight with the front and side edges of the frame, otherwise the pin may poke through the front of the door. If you have difficulty handling short hobby nails or shortened pins, you may want to use a Push Nailer which makes it easier to center and insert craft or ship building nails.
Repeat the insertion of the pin or nail on the opposite end of the door, making sure the door is square in the frame with a slight gap between the frame and the hinged edge of the door. Gently check to make sure your door swings freely on its new hinge. If it sticks, you may need to sand the hinged edges some more, or you might be able to bend the hinge pin gently in the door, by inserting a thin metal ruler near the hinged edge of the door to help adjust the door spacing. If all else fails, remove the hinge pin and try again.
hinge both doors using pins and check to see that they open and close smoothly before gluing the top and bottom of the cupboard or armoire in place. (see next step)
