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26K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  PaBull 
#1 ·
How not to do a wooden hinge

I recently posted a project of a box with a wooden hinge where I said "I wouldn't do it the same way again". The best way to explain why is to explain how I did it. Yes, I know there are a lot of other ways of doing this, but I did it this way regardless - call it an experiment if you like.

I made my box in a workshop that is part of the local education system. One of the odd constraints that put on me is that I was not allowed to use the table saw - the person in charge cut my wood to width, but that was it. Instead, my challenge was to use the router. The thing is, I was initially unsure what bits would be available so I designed everything to use a rebate bit, and not to use a cove bit for the hinge recess as I should have. That gave me corners in my recess requiring a teardrop shaped hinge with a corner to go into the recess. I didn't take a decent photo, so there is a sketch below (together and exploded).

Font Auto part Rectangle Automotive exterior Drawing


To make the hinge pieces, I started with a 12 mm x 12 mm square length of wood (12 mm = 1/2 "). I routered a rebate into a scrap piece of timber and strapped my wood into this, then used a router with a roundover bit having a bearing tip. I did one corner, rotated the wood, did the second, rotated again and did the third.

Table Wood Handheld power drill Tool Wood stain


Once it was shaped, I cut the hinge segments and marked centre for drilling. This is probably where I went the most wrong because to get centre, I put each segment into a rebate 6mm (1/4") deep and used a ruler across the surface to draw one line, then rotated the segment in the rebate before marking the second line.

Font Parallel Rectangle Diagram Slope


While this method is perfect in theory, it is perhaps not so in execution. It means that I marked relative to the point rather than to the curve. I should perhaps have used either a hermaphrodite caliper or a centre marking tool such as that which I have sketched up below.

Rectangle Triangle Parallel Font Metal


Next, I made up a simple and very rough-and-ready jig to hold the segments in place on the drill press, and I drilled right through three segments and into, but not right through, the end two.

Wood Tool Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Wood Handheld power drill Floor Flooring Gas


Next came the rebate in the box. I was able to hold base and lid together in the vise with another long piece of wood for the router fence to run along. Note the G-clamps used to limit the length of the router cut that could be made. The rebate was made by plunge routing using, as said before, a 12 mm rebate bit.

Wood Table Flooring Floor Workbench


You can see the resultant rebate below with the hinge just sitting on the box. By this time, the ends of the hinge have also been rounded to suit the rebate.

Wood Rectangle Hardwood Artifact Composite material


All that is left is assembly. First I glued the assembled hinge into the base.

Bag Strap Fashion accessory Wood Pattern


Then I glued the top to the appropriate hinge segments. Now this is a big reason why I might not make the hinge this way again. You can see that I do not have the top glued into the lid frame. This came about by accident, but proved to be a blessing because even without the top in place, applying suitable pressure between the hinge and the lid frame was tricky. In fact, the photo below is my second attempt because the first attempt failed.

Wood Shelf Floor Flooring Hardwood


So, Lessons learned:

1. My hole through the centre of the hinge was not accurate enough - I had to use a drill a fair bit larger than my brass rod to get the all the segments to go together.

2. I was initially worried that I would notbe able to hold round dowel firmly enough in the drilling jig to stop it from spinning when drilled. I now think that was an unnecessary concern.

3. The glue-up was really tricky. Of course, it would have been simpler if I'd left the brass rod out of the hinge until all the bits had been glued into their respective parts of the box. Yes, I'd have had a hole to fill, but it is end grain and unlikely to be noticed (or could even be turned into a feature). However, that really only works if the hinge runs the full length of the box. Because mine is shorter, the edge of the rebate gets in the way so I didn't think it would go in well.

4. I had to make my hinge shorter than the length of the box because I used a rebate bit rather than a cove bit - the rebate would have been visible with a full length hinge and I didn't want that.

So that's it. Next time I'll do it one of the ways other on LJs have suggested.
 

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#2 ·
Making the Inlay Lid

Now I said in my previous blog, about the hinge on this box, that I probably wouldn't make the hinge quite the same way again. But I was very happy with the way the inlay worked and that is worth repeating. So, this is how I did it.

The first thing that I needed to do was pick the size of the forstner bit that I wanted to use. I chose 35 mm (about 1 3/8") because it just felt right in proportion to the size of the top. Then I marked the centre of the top which is the centre of the first hole drilled. Next I marked the centres of eight more holes, equally spaced 45° apart and each 35 mm (one diameter of the forstner bit) from the centre of the top. The photo below is of the top with the central hole already drilled and the other eight centres punched.

Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Then just drill the other eight holes and use a chisel to clean up a few pieces of waste not taken out with the forstner bit. All holes were about 3mm (1/8") deep.

Brown Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain


Now for the inlay pieces. I made a template out of a scrap of plywood of the petal shape to mark out for cutting, though I ended up using another piece of plywood with a 35mm hole drilled in it to re-mark the curve because it was just cleaner than my template (and easier than fixing my template). Rather than make one petal at a time, I found two pieces of wood, one light and one dark, about 35 mm square and long enough to manhandle safely. Now this is where I guiltily hang my head and admit that I got so involved in the process of making the inlay pieces that I forgot to take photos of the critical steps. So instead I had a bit of fun with sketchup and drew up the little sketch below:

Rectangle Parallel Slope Table Automotive exterior


If you can't read the writing on the sketch, the steps are:
1. Cut away the waste around the petal (using the band saw), leaving about 1 mm to be taken off using the disc sander
2. Sand the curve to the correct size and smoothness on the disc sander
3. Make cuts into the wood parallel to the petal surface to make multiple pieces (about 6 of each colour to give me some spares) about 5 to 6 mm (say 1/4") thick.
4. Cut the pieces off the block of wood. At this point each piece is a wedge shape with an extra bit on it.
5. Cut, or sand, off the extra bit to give wedge shaped pieces, and sand the wedge to size. At this point I was putting the wedge pieces into the inlay rebate in order to get the size right and I did begin to wonder whether I needed the central octagon, but I decided to continue with the design that I originally had in mind - which leads to step 6.
6. Mark and cut the line for the octagaon.

The photo below shows the templates used and some of the spare bits left over at the end.

Brown Textile Orange Wood Rectangle


Next was to make an octagon out of the same wood as the rest of the box, and then it's off to glue it all together.

The glue-up was interesting because I used Titebond polyurethane liquid glue. It's funny stuff because it states that rubber gloves should be used, and it foams up as it sets. I was sure to use some wax wrap between my top and the board that I used to apply pressure when I clamped it all up! Well it came out of the clamps looking like this.

Petal Wood Rectangle Gesture Flooring


Now if you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed that I glued petals and an octagon that were 6 mm (1/4") thick into a rebate that was only 3mm (1/8") deep. So that left a bit of material to be removed which I did with a smoothing plane. And the end result, before finishing, is as below.

Brown Petal Textile Flower Rectangle


And that's it. I hope this blog is useful to someone out there.
 

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#3 ·
Making the Inlay Lid

Now I said in my previous blog, about the hinge on this box, that I probably wouldn't make the hinge quite the same way again. But I was very happy with the way the inlay worked and that is worth repeating. So, this is how I did it.

The first thing that I needed to do was pick the size of the forstner bit that I wanted to use. I chose 35 mm (about 1 3/8") because it just felt right in proportion to the size of the top. Then I marked the centre of the top which is the centre of the first hole drilled. Next I marked the centres of eight more holes, equally spaced 45° apart and each 35 mm (one diameter of the forstner bit) from the centre of the top. The photo below is of the top with the central hole already drilled and the other eight centres punched.

Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Then just drill the other eight holes and use a chisel to clean up a few pieces of waste not taken out with the forstner bit. All holes were about 3mm (1/8") deep.

Brown Wood Rectangle Hardwood Wood stain


Now for the inlay pieces. I made a template out of a scrap of plywood of the petal shape to mark out for cutting, though I ended up using another piece of plywood with a 35mm hole drilled in it to re-mark the curve because it was just cleaner than my template (and easier than fixing my template). Rather than make one petal at a time, I found two pieces of wood, one light and one dark, about 35 mm square and long enough to manhandle safely. Now this is where I guiltily hang my head and admit that I got so involved in the process of making the inlay pieces that I forgot to take photos of the critical steps. So instead I had a bit of fun with sketchup and drew up the little sketch below:

Rectangle Parallel Slope Table Automotive exterior


If you can't read the writing on the sketch, the steps are:
1. Cut away the waste around the petal (using the band saw), leaving about 1 mm to be taken off using the disc sander
2. Sand the curve to the correct size and smoothness on the disc sander
3. Make cuts into the wood parallel to the petal surface to make multiple pieces (about 6 of each colour to give me some spares) about 5 to 6 mm (say 1/4") thick.
4. Cut the pieces off the block of wood. At this point each piece is a wedge shape with an extra bit on it.
5. Cut, or sand, off the extra bit to give wedge shaped pieces, and sand the wedge to size. At this point I was putting the wedge pieces into the inlay rebate in order to get the size right and I did begin to wonder whether I needed the central octagon, but I decided to continue with the design that I originally had in mind - which leads to step 6.
6. Mark and cut the line for the octagaon.

The photo below shows the templates used and some of the spare bits left over at the end.

Brown Textile Orange Wood Rectangle


Next was to make an octagon out of the same wood as the rest of the box, and then it's off to glue it all together.

The glue-up was interesting because I used Titebond polyurethane liquid glue. It's funny stuff because it states that rubber gloves should be used, and it foams up as it sets. I was sure to use some wax wrap between my top and the board that I used to apply pressure when I clamped it all up! Well it came out of the clamps looking like this.

Petal Wood Rectangle Gesture Flooring


Now if you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed that I glued petals and an octagon that were 6 mm (1/4") thick into a rebate that was only 3mm (1/8") deep. So that left a bit of material to be removed which I did with a smoothing plane. And the end result, before finishing, is as below.

Brown Petal Textile Flower Rectangle


And that's it. I hope this blog is useful to someone out there.
Thanks for the tutorial. I would really like to try this. After I read this several more times…
 

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