I’ve got this kitchen cabinet that’s very old, with a strange type of hinge I haven’t seen at the Home Depot, etc. , not exactly sure how to describe it…but the problem is this: over the years, the screw fell out and someone kept putting a bigger and bigger screw into it. Now the hole in the wood behind the hinge is wider than the hole in the hinge, so I can’t put a new screw in it (it won’t fit through the hole in the hinge if it’s wide enough). Short of making a new cabinet door, is there any way I can fix this?
Drill it out enough to be able to shove a dowel and some glue into it. Cut off the excess once it’s dried, drill a pilot hole, and screw right into that.
Numerous ways to repair the hole. Wood fillers will do. A common approach is to widen the hole and glue in a piece of wood dowel, even a common pencil might work. Various other types of inserts are available. Another trick is to wind a small piece of wire around the screw threads. Sometimes a plastic drywall anchor will work fine. If you can do nothing else a tightly wound piece of paper or cardboard glued into the hole might work.
Is it a traditional hinge or a Euro hinge (two piece with a clip). For euro hinges, you can get a repair plate like this:
No idea what you would call it, but it doesn’t look like that (or any other hinge I’ve ever seen). I’ll see if I can find a pic of it later.
I wasn’t sure if wood filler would work once I drilled into it, but I’ll give it a try.
Got it in one.
Does the hinge look something like this?
I think it’s one of these:
https://www.hingeoutlet.com/products/pivot-door-hinges-top-and-bottom-heavy-steel-multiple-finishes-available?variant=14380583714865&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwISlBhD6ARIsAESAmp7EI-Zvq_MaftrCWF4K9SN9P1FOKTiEmhA7k3VjtSxWPSf88Sk-dpcaAiI3EALw_wcB
I would not recommend wood filler. It probably won’t be strong enough to hold up over time. I’d use the aforementioned technique of drilling out the hole to make it uniformly round and gluing in a dowel.
You don’t even need a dowel. Dip the ends of a bunch of toothpicks in wood glue and shove as many as you can into the hole. Allow to dry, saw or cut off the ends sticking out and use a normal wood screw to secure the hinge.
That’s what I suspected, too, but I’ve never done it before.
Yeah, I’ve used wood shavings that I found on the shop floor for the purpose, but dowel works best, IME.
IMHO, the drill/dowel method is “best.”
But the toothpick method works surprisingly well for low stress applications.
You can also use golf tees instead of toothpicks.
It’s sort of the in-between for the toothpicks and the dowel.
For the right sized hole tees are dowels and, usually, made of maple to boot.
Nice link. I’m now getting ads for Hinge Outlet in my browsing. 
I wonder if that’s the Hinge Outlet in the same shopping area as Spatula City?
So I used the dowel method two days ago, and so far at least it’s been holding up just fine.
Just some additional notes:
First, in some cases all you need is a longer screw. Many cabinets don’t have enough wood to do that though.
Second, the right wood filler will do the job. Not all fillers are actually structural, and some of them will eventually set hard but it takes time. Screws can pull out easily before they set. OTOH some of them will set so hard you’ll have a tough time drilling or screwing into them. The dowel is usually the best way to do it, but a simple wood filler can be made with sawdust and glue. Simple PVA based white glue or wood glues are fine. Fill the hole, and screw the hinge in but prop it shut in the right position for a day or two to until the glue is fully set.
The dowel idea is standard, and works well. You could have also just re-positioned the hinge.