Thread: Fixing hinges to boxes.

G'day Stinky,

Long time between talks.

Remove screws and hinges.
Refit lid to base.
Now try and fit hinges loosely by sliding into the rebates.
I guess you might have one that goes in easily and one the is just a fit or tight.
You can use a little paper/card gasket material if one is a little sloppy to just give a snug fit. If a tight one, thats where you ease a little material.
Once you have them fitting well but not fastened, make sure they are parallel when seated fully in the rebates - a rule across the back of them will tell you.
On the loose hinge you may have to put the packers top and bottom to get the pair of hinges nice and even - they have to be in the same position relative to one another on the box and in the same plane.
Then when re screwing the hinges you may need to use some slivers of the off cut timber to plug the holes to get the screws and therefore the hinges where you want them.

Hope that helps!!

What Barnsey said! I've found that using a couple of business cards as spacers is extremely helpful. if they slip around too much a little bit of masking tape helps to hold them in place.

cheers
Wendy

"<" is a better arrangement than ">". I.e. having a slight gap at the back where the hinges are is better than having a gap at the front. Paper shims, or thin pieces of wood are the way to go to pack out a too-deep hinge mortise.

The other thing to check is the flatness of both the lid and the top edges of the box: both should be perfectly flat before you can get a good fit. I use a handplane to ensure the top of the box are flat.

G'Day,
This won't help solve your current problem but when I set up the box and lid I put a single fold of paper in between the box and the lid at the back edge, clamp the box shut, fix the hinges then remove the paper.
The box closes tight at the front and the gap at the rear usually has disapeared .
These are the last effort finished today and up at the Florist shop for Mothers Day
Andrew

Originally Posted by ravlord13

G'Day,
This won't help solve your current problem but when I set up the box and lid I put a single fold of paper in between the box and the lid at the back edge, clamp the box shut, fix the hinges then remove the paper.
The box closes tight at the front and the gap at the rear usually has disapeared .
These are the last effort finished today and up at the Florist shop for Mothers Day
Andrew

Am I missing something here. If you have clamped the box shut, (I assume you mean clamp the lid to the box) How can you fix the hinges if the lid is clamped on the box? sorry I am a bit thick sometimes but maybe you could make it a bit clearer for dum dums like me.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

Ok
So what do I need to do to get the lid to close back down again? I don't want to start moving any more material until I know the solution.

Thanks.

Check that you have the screws sunk into the hinge fully and not sitting proud of the hinge. This can be a problem with getting the lid to close fully and sit properly on the box. Sometimes it helps to chamfer the back, top edge of the box to allow the hinge to close fully. Sometimes the hinge fouls up on that edge if fitted too closely. Using the correct size screw can make things work too. Good luck.

Munruben, that was exactly the question I had. How do you fit the hinges in when you have the top clamped to the bottom?

Then I assumed the hinges were probably screwed onto the outside of the box rather than recessed between the top and the bottom.

Is this how it is done? Seems very simple but perhaps risky of splitting the wood in the side if the lid levers things a bit. ?????

Check the pictures of the open boxes, the hinges are on the outside, as he said this wont help but is showing stinkey another way to fit the hinges

Thanks, I knew that all along, was just checking to see if you were all paying attention.

perhaps that site may help ~ http://www.hingedummy.info

Originally Posted by Sculptured Box

perhaps that site may help ~ http://www.hingedummy.info

Bookmarked it.

Hi all .....

thanks for the responses ...... it would appear that not all is lost.

I will need to go out and have a fiddle until I get it right again. I have attached a clear image of what happend. The top picture is when the hinges were first fitted and the second as a result of removing more material from the mortise to house the bottom hinge in the hope that the gap would level out.

Thanks for the link Tony .... I have bookmarked it for reading tomorrow ..... my quick view unfortunatley doesn't seem to unearth how to rectify "When good hinges go bad" !!!

John .... the screws did sit somewhat proud of the counter sink on the hinge, however when I noticed that the box opening was greater at the hinge end of the box I sighted along the gap and it didn't appear that the screw heads were fouling each other.

Just so I don't keep making it worse:

1. Is it the common view that I have taken out too much material out of the bottom mortise and if I were to chock it up slightly the gap will close?

2. Should I take some more out of the top mortise?

3. Should I just install a clasp to keep the damn thing closed?

Cheers

In all of the excitement I forgot the image!

Ok folks ..... here are some picks of the completed box ....

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...976#post717976

The issue with the hinges was solved in about 10 seconds by Nine Fingers. The trick appeared to be just to place a few pieces of paper at the hinge end and then apply a little pressure to close the box. It appeared to put some stress on the hinges and the box closed perfectly without the need for removal of the hinges.

It goes to show that it is worth while joining a club ..... this invaluable information was provided by Nine Fingers last week at a Geelong combined club event ..... great opportunity to share and gain knowledge.