Cabinet Door Hinge Question

I really like the look of surface mount hinges on rustic-looking cabinets. Ones like this or this. But if I understand correctly, the inside mount or euro-style hinges allow adjustment in different directions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have an inset door with this type of surface mount hinge, there is not one molecule of margin for error, right? So if the door hinge isn't mounted exactly right, you're hooped, right? It's not like you can take it off and redrill holes 1/64 " away......? Am I missing something here?
 
You probably have 1/64-1/32 wiggle room in this type of hinge. You can shim a little with a piece of paper/foil, but not much. Also I've found usually my holes aren't all perfect, and you can alter which ones you tighten up first, shift the door a little then tighten screws, and make some very minor adjustments. You could also elongate the holes in the hinge a little. Nothing like the euro adjustable hinges though.

You can drill/plug screw holes/redrill if you really botch it up. I've tried some once and didn't have the best results, I found them tricky to get right. Think I'd probalby cut the doors flush on 4 sides and plane every side down if I did it again.
 
There is some adjustment possible, but nowhere as much as with the Blum /Euro style.

Think of it this way. If you shim under a hinge on a 12" door, and change the angle a bit, by the time that adjustment travels over the width at an angle, you do get a bit more movement than just the thickness of the hinge. As Jeb said, if you cut your parts a little big, you can hang them and then plane to fit. On a 2" wide stile or rail, a variation of 1/32 or 1/16 may not be perceptible, but on a 1/8" gap, it will jump out at you.

I would recommend that you go for the style you want in hinges, and you'll learn along the way how best to fit it. And if it isn't perfect first time out, then you can look back later and see how you've grown.

I have pieces I made when I started out that I look at now and groan, but there they are, still doing their job.
 
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