# Box with Inlay lid



## Tootles (Jul 21, 2011)

*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).










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.










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.










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.










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.



















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.










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.










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










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.










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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## Tootles (Jul 21, 2011)

*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.










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.










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:










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.










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.










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.










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


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tutorial. I would really like to try this. After I read this several more times…


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## DaddyZ (Jan 28, 2010)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Nice !! its so cool to do your own inlay !!!


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## USCJeff (Apr 6, 2007)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Nice method. I've done very little inlay without using an inlay bushing and template. Broke my 1/8" spiral last week. Sigh.


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## MShort (Jan 15, 2009)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tutorial on this inlay project.


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## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


One day, One day, one day!


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Great info thanks for sharing this great idea,

I have the idea of making a coffee table out of Knotty alder and inlaying a Tx 5 point Walnut star in the center so I'm wondering if this same method would work for straight lines as well?


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## Tootles (Jul 21, 2011)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone.

Blackie, I purposely did a pattern with rounded shapes because I just don't know how to go about doing an inlay with pointy bits! Perhaps the person to ask is Mike (Stefang) who did this box that provided so much of the inspiration for mine,

I did think of just using a scroll or jig saw to cut a hole right through the lid piece so that the pattern would have been visible both inside and out. That might work for a table but I didn't do it for my box because then I would have needed to get the pieces accurately sized both top and bottom. I might have been confident that I could do the inlay, but I wasn't that confident!

Of course, I could have halved the thickness of the lid piece into which I cut a hole for the inlay and then laminated on another half-thickness piece on the underside to hide the pattern from below. This would never have been detectable in my box, but I figured it was just too hard.

Other than that, it's just a matter of using forstner bits and drills to remove as much waste as you can and then using chisels or something to essentially carve out the final shape. Again, I just didn't want to go there. I was happy with the look of the pattern I came up with and I was also happy that it was quite easily achievable.

So, if anybody wants to post a tutorial about how to do an inlay that has sharp points, you definitely have an audience of two because I'm just as interested in Blackie


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## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Good tutorial mate. Clear detailed and above all useful.


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Thanks Tootles

I read he plans on doing a blog can't wait to view it.

I don't know much about CNC I think that might be an option but I don't know enough about it, just caught wind of it yesterday from reading a magazine, I think it involves turning your router into a robot.


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## Tootles (Jul 21, 2011)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Blackie

If you want to know about CNC, Lis is the person to ask I think. While I know a little about it in principle, I know very little in the context of a hobbyist's woodwork shop.

Using a router, either in some CNC machine, or even just by hand with a jig does work for inlays. There is a good example of that here. What I haven't quite figured out, however, is how to get the sharp point when you are working with a rotary cutter that would be probably at least 1/8" diameter. But that' the beauty of LJs - somone out there knows.


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Tootles, I ran across this video I think you will find interesting, it's a lengthy video but well worth the viewing, I think it may answer your quest as well. What I did was watch it in increments.


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## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


For home built CNC you might want to take a look at Spalm's blog, here


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Wonderful blog. Thank you for your time.


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## Tootles (Jul 21, 2011)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


Well, between Spalm's mind blowing home built CNC (thanks for the link Martyn) and the very interesting video that Blackie suggested, I think I might have quite accidentally stumbled onto a relatively easy way of doing an inlay. I'm not sure I have the patience to do an inlay one piece at a time as shown in the video and, let's face it, I've many more important machines to acquire than a CNC.

The one thing I can say about my inlay is that it was relatively straight-forward (dare I say easy?) to do and also quite quick. It took me less than a day (six working hours) from start to glued and, because of the communal nature of the workshop that I was working in, it would have been a somewhat interrupted day at that.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


I started reading this thinking ho-hum but the more I read the more interested I got.
Great job. You've given me a lot of food for thought on ways to do some things.
Thanks again for the post.


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## PaBull (May 13, 2008)

Tootles said:


> *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.
> 
> ...


What a clever way to do that nice inlay. I love it!!
Pb.


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