Hinging Around

[Messman]

I was asked to make a box for someone recently that has some scroll work in it and I am in the planning stage and was thinking about the hinges. Well I thought make them out of wood, you just made yourself a simple box joint jig, you could use that to make hinges as well. So here is the trail hinge. I need to figure out how to keep my drill bit straighter in my peice of crap drill press so it don't drift on me, but I am happy with the over all results. I will probably round over the edges all the way around for the real ones but let me know what you think of it and if you have made wooden hinges tell me how you have made them.

[NHokpic]

I've made lots of hanging picture frames using the same set up... yes do round the ends with a router bit and make sure your matching pieces are loose in the joint. I always use a single long piece of wood and cut the joints on my scroll saw so the pieces match perfectly in grain and color.
As for the drilling process... my plans instructed me to only drill into the 1st 2 fingers on both sides, that way the pin can not slide through and fall out. If you only drill into 2 fingers, push the pins in and they will stay in. I leave the pins longer and cut them off flush with the width.
Too drill straight, I use hand screw clamps to hold the pieces aligned. If you don't have hand screws, any clamp will do by placing longer boards between the clamps and the wood (like a sandwich). Hope this helps - good luck with your project - and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I think I might have posted an example of one of my frames if you search my work on this site.

[oily]

I often use the same system for hinges. I only drill the top and bottom and I drill the pin hole before I cut the hinge.

[Harry]

I have never seen wooden hinges cut like that before Rob, do you use some sort of template.
Excellent work, on those pieces by the way.

Harry.

[oily]

I have never seen wooden hinges cut like that before Rob, do you use some sort of template.
Excellent work, on those pieces by the way.

Harry.

Thank you for the compliment.
On the square hinges I either hand draw them with ruled straight edge or any word processing program that will let you make tables or grafts.
Just make two columns and however many rows you want

[tdub4ever]

I draw a pattern out and glue it to my stock, then drill the hole, then cut the hinge. If i make a 1/2" hinge I lay the piece flat on my bench and put a 1/4" piece of scrap down and let the bit ride on it. Works great! Don

[NHokpic]

Good work Oily - I also draw mine out on the wood and cut. The only difference is that my frames hang.

[JamesHuntsville]

Hinges

Chris,

If you have router table or some way to secure your wood, you need to get a set of bull nose bits in 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch, and 1/2 inch. You can round over the edge of the wood you want to cut the pins and tails in and not have to spend a lot of time sanding. Incra sells hinge drilling jigs. It comes with a 1/8 inch bit the right length,or you can purchase a set of 12 inch long bit's in the sizes you need. Check it out on the Incra web site, but get a set of bull nose bits for rounding your board before cutting the slots. Check out the Incra Hinge Crafter.

Jameshuntsville