What do you call the thingy joint that swings

Seems like gluing the tip of the dowel to the bottom of the hole wouldn’t work. It’d hold the dowel but wouldn’t allow any rotation. I think you need some sort of pivoting hinge, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything that does just what you want. There’s this knife hinge from Woodcraft, that might work.

oh yeah – duh!

then maybe the glue just goes on one side of the mirror (so one side the dowel is firmly glued in) and on the other side the dowel just slips in to the hole.

the knife hinge is too big for a pocket mirror unfortunately

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Alternatively you could probably use a small brass bolt and nut as the pivot. Mortise/counterbore space for the bolt head and nut. Unfortunately that would leave the hardware showing.

Sorry, that’s about all I can think of. I’m sure someone will have a better idea.

You could use those brass male and female fasteners that hold the pages in those notebooks and folders, you should be able to find them at office supply stores. they would show but they could be polished and probably look pretty good.

-- Lumberdog.. Michigan

Well they won’t show if you don’t drill all the way through. But i figured a wood dowel would be the best because it would definitely hide better than a piece of brass – though i don’t object to using brass/metal ect

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”then maybe the glue just goes on one side of the mirror (so one side the dowel is firmly glued in) and on the other side the dowel just slips in to the hole.”

This is how I’d do it:
In the bottom half of the little clamshell I’d bore two concentric holes with a larger diameter bored in the bottom of the piece and the thru hole a scant clearance for a dowel.

In the top half I’d bore a flat bottomed hole that would let me glue the dowel in place.

Then I’d turn a wood ring that slipped snugly over the dowel and fitted with a slip fit into the larger diameter bore in the bottom half of the clamshell.

Then I’d make a plug that would fill the larger hole in the bottom half.

Then:
Glue the dowel in the top piece
SLip the bottom half over the dowel.
Glue the ring onto the dowl Insert and glue the shallow plug into the remaining bore of the bottom half of the clamshell

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

I’ve seen some people use rare earth magnets as the pivot. You could also use a small steel standoff/rod as the “dowel” on one side. Maybe a 1/4” diameter. Epoxy it in. One the other side drill a stopped hole and glue in a 1/4” diameter rare earth magnet at the bottom of the hole. That would make a perfect hinge that has a benifit of being able to take it apart.

-- Jeff , Illinois Please...can I stay in the basement a little longer, please!

You could use something like these Roto-Hinges, but you’d need to find one small enough. Not sure how thin you’re going. Hope this helps.

-- Matt - http://breakingboardom.wordpress.com/

Bingo!! Way to go Matt.

You could make you own buy drilling a hole through a dowel, then cutting it in half. Putting a bolt through the middle of the two parts of the dowel. Then put a nut on the end and glue each half of the dowel to each side of the mirror, taking care not to get any glue on the thread of the bolt.

-- Mark, Lithuania, http://www.woodworkers-online.com

a lot of these suggestions are nice but only good for larger items imo. i may have not mentioned it in the first post, but I am trying to make these swing joints for pocket mirrors to give to my bridesmaids. so the pocket mirror is maybe 3.5” total. i don’t want to contemplate suicide drilling 1/4 dowels and having them split on me :P

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it’s a great solution, for sure. but at $10/bearing, that’s $20 a mirror, and I need to make 5 of these things.

i really just need to know what the name of the joint i want to make is called, because i am pretty damn sure this done with a dowel

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Have you considered calling and asking the person who makes the ones in the link you supplied? They may tell you what they used. Or you could ask as a potential customer just wondering what they used so that you’d know it’s constructed with something that won’t break easily. Worth a try. Or you could try making your own smaller version of the Roto-Hinges that I linked above.

-- Matt - http://breakingboardom.wordpress.com/

How thick is the wood you’re going to be using? Maybe that will helps us brainstorm a little better too.

-- Matt - http://breakingboardom.wordpress.com/

It could be that it is just a dowel glued on one side and tightly pressed on the other. I’ve never tried to pry one apart – ‘cause if I’m wrong I would have to buy it!

The next best guess for me is the magnet idea already proposed.

-- Steve - Impatience is Expensive