I have a gate going to my backyard that I want to re-hang so that it swings in the opposite direction. Doing that means that I have to completely remove and reinstall the hinges. This is a wooden gate, hanging on wooden posts. The trouble is, I'm not really sure how to do it properly so that everything is level and opens straight. How do you actually drill the hinge holes in the right positions on the post and the gate?
I was thinking something like take measurements for the height of both post hinges, then clamp them to the post and get a dowel the diameter of the hinge pins that's long enough to run from the top to the bottom. I could run that through both hinges to keep them lined up and then use a level on the dowel to get it straight, then drill through the screw holes in the hinges and bolt them in place.
Then I could put hinge pins and gate hinges back on. For the gate, maybe I could drill one hole for the top hinge, and bolt it temporarily to the top hinge through that hole. Then try to clamp the bottom hinge on or something and get the gate leveled, then drill the rest of the holes through the hinges. Unless the hinges are too wobbly by themselves for the gate to hang level with the holes lined up properly.
Does this plan make sense? Does anyone have a better one?