Thanks for the information Micheal. I've tried these too, but I used the Incra system. I found that they stretched patience to the max.
Hinges - Second Attempt!!
16
For those of you who saw it, my first try was a disaster! But I finally got some shop time to try again and thought I'd share the process, it's as simple as can be…
Started by ripping a strip out of what I'm told is Poplar drawer sides.
Then after a good sanding, to clean up the 70 or 80 odd years of life these things have endured, I cut the strip into four pieces
Two of these pieces are essential only for construction purposes, and I begin using them right away in the drilling of the pivot holes
The two extra pieces give me a nice, flat surface on the bottom. Staggering the clamps also gives it a good sense of balance. I eyeballed these to the center of the pieces, and checked how the holes appeared on the bottom side.
With these drilled correctly I then used a bit of the dowel
to mark the depth of what will basically be box joints, up to this point.
Transfer those marks to the "faces"
then mark the "fingers"
If you'll note, I'm using those same "extra" quarters again to keep my rule from falling of these little things as I mark! As far as measurements, I'm a hack, and very seldom measure anything. In this case, the original strip was close enough to nevermind 1 1/4" so the fingers will be 1/4", three on the fixed end, two on the moving half.
After marking waste from want, I drilled some "maneuvering" holes for the scroll saw
and then it's off to the scroll saw. Here I'm about halfway through…
Success!! LOL!! I've invented the box joint with a hole through the middle!!
But we're talking hinges here, so I take this and round-around the first half of the "swing" using a nail as the temporary pivot
Remove the nail, flip the joint around, and cut the second half of the swing.
After a little vise and file work to round the whole joint nice, I mark an appropriate "hinge shape", and drill some undersized pilot holes for the 1/8" doweling I'm going to be using to attach this to the latest box. Hopefully that will reduce the stress inflicted on these small parts
And now the most critical step of all, the one I neglected the first time around which caused this whole redo in the first place! The "moving" half of the hinge needs to be enlarged a little, so it's free-turning
With that done, I use those ever-present extra pieces to hand-clamp the hinges together while I tap in the pins
And there you have them!
Trim off the excess, some final clean up and sanding, and these are ready to be attached. Since these lie flat on the back when the box is closed, and only open a little more than 90 degrees they should work out pretty well for box tops. 
Started by ripping a strip out of what I'm told is Poplar drawer sides.
Then after a good sanding, to clean up the 70 or 80 odd years of life these things have endured, I cut the strip into four pieces
Two of these pieces are essential only for construction purposes, and I begin using them right away in the drilling of the pivot holes
The two extra pieces give me a nice, flat surface on the bottom. Staggering the clamps also gives it a good sense of balance. I eyeballed these to the center of the pieces, and checked how the holes appeared on the bottom side.
With these drilled correctly I then used a bit of the dowel
to mark the depth of what will basically be box joints, up to this point.
Transfer those marks to the "faces"
then mark the "fingers"
If you'll note, I'm using those same "extra" quarters again to keep my rule from falling of these little things as I mark! As far as measurements, I'm a hack, and very seldom measure anything. In this case, the original strip was close enough to nevermind 1 1/4" so the fingers will be 1/4", three on the fixed end, two on the moving half.
After marking waste from want, I drilled some "maneuvering" holes for the scroll saw
and then it's off to the scroll saw. Here I'm about halfway through…
Success!! LOL!! I've invented the box joint with a hole through the middle!!
But we're talking hinges here, so I take this and round-around the first half of the "swing" using a nail as the temporary pivot
Remove the nail, flip the joint around, and cut the second half of the swing.
After a little vise and file work to round the whole joint nice, I mark an appropriate "hinge shape", and drill some undersized pilot holes for the 1/8" doweling I'm going to be using to attach this to the latest box. Hopefully that will reduce the stress inflicted on these small parts
And now the most critical step of all, the one I neglected the first time around which caused this whole redo in the first place! The "moving" half of the hinge needs to be enlarged a little, so it's free-turning
With that done, I use those ever-present extra pieces to hand-clamp the hinges together while I tap in the pins
And there you have them!
Trim off the excess, some final clean up and sanding, and these are ready to be attached. Since these lie flat on the back when the box is closed, and only open a little more than 90 degrees they should work out pretty well for box tops. 1 - 20 of 20 Posts
I wanted to Thank Everybody for their kind words and comments!! First chance I've had in days…Life, you know…seems like every time I try to go On-line, the phone rings or something…:-0 Seriously though, it was my pleasure…
To give credit where credit is due, I got the idea here, on LJ's, from Boxman. Somebody commented on one of his lovely boxes' hinges and he laughingly answered that "if you can make box joints, you can easily make these!" As somebody who's made a few, I took it to heart and gave it a try. I did send him a PM to thank him for the inspiration, but haven't heard back from him…? I hope he's alright…?
Lew: To be honest, I don't know what kind of Scroll Saw I've got. The motor has a plate that says "REXON", it also came with a product plate that I never mounted and I couldn't find it to check, sorry. I CAN tell you it's been a work horse! Bought it in "93, for $110 new, at one of the old Wood Worker's Warehouses. I'd imagine I've cut a line several miles long over the years, inch by slow inch, through thin wood and thick, hard wood and soft…
dustyal: You could go any size you want as far as the "splay" of these things. For the thickness, the barrel of the hinge has to be kind of meaty, these are wooden hinges, after all! I see no reason why the wings couldn't be thinner, however. I was thinking of trying to taper them away from the barrel, but that's still in the R&D department…;-) I couldn't help but notice Doug Krueger's recent "Box Affliction", where he used some marvelous wooden hinges of his own design, and his thinking might affect mine…
The question I have about these hinges is "How strong ARE they?" I'm reminded of this that I made for grins and giggles about 25 years ago
Without breaking this short bit of chain, I'll never know its breaking point, and I've never had the heart to do it.
The same holds true for the hinges…MC
To give credit where credit is due, I got the idea here, on LJ's, from Boxman. Somebody commented on one of his lovely boxes' hinges and he laughingly answered that "if you can make box joints, you can easily make these!" As somebody who's made a few, I took it to heart and gave it a try. I did send him a PM to thank him for the inspiration, but haven't heard back from him…? I hope he's alright…?
Lew: To be honest, I don't know what kind of Scroll Saw I've got. The motor has a plate that says "REXON", it also came with a product plate that I never mounted and I couldn't find it to check, sorry. I CAN tell you it's been a work horse! Bought it in "93, for $110 new, at one of the old Wood Worker's Warehouses. I'd imagine I've cut a line several miles long over the years, inch by slow inch, through thin wood and thick, hard wood and soft…
dustyal: You could go any size you want as far as the "splay" of these things. For the thickness, the barrel of the hinge has to be kind of meaty, these are wooden hinges, after all! I see no reason why the wings couldn't be thinner, however. I was thinking of trying to taper them away from the barrel, but that's still in the R&D department…;-) I couldn't help but notice Doug Krueger's recent "Box Affliction", where he used some marvelous wooden hinges of his own design, and his thinking might affect mine…
The question I have about these hinges is "How strong ARE they?" I'm reminded of this that I made for grins and giggles about 25 years ago
Without breaking this short bit of chain, I'll never know its breaking point, and I've never had the heart to do it.
The same holds true for the hinges…MC
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
