Make your own hinges... a tutorial

[Wild Dingo]

Okay so I was out in the shed and thought maybe its about time someone did a tutorial with pics of how to make a timber hinge
So given Ive made precisely 4 hinges ;) I thought why the hell not I? So in an effort to assist others to see how easy this is the following is a pictorial tutorial on how to make wooden hinges to your own design. The following is just a basic how to however the design you create can be as fancy or as plain as you like

Now Ive just realized that others have done similar KPH has his HERE (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=32590) and includes a pdf which is linked through from the best of Ubeat (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=375945#post375945) but these are my take on this wonderful little thing called making our own wooden hinges ;)

This tutorial being in picture form will take a couple of posts to cover so bare with me as I write and upload

In this tutorial I start with a strip of Jarrah 1in x 1/4in x 2ft and a strip of white wood cut to the same demensions (no idea what its called but I think its maybe balsa) but end up using a couple of hinges in the white wood since Id already prepared some ;)

So First... cut the strips on the table saw (1in x 1/4in)

Second... cut to length on the bandsaw (3in)

Third... check the look and fit of the peices while dry

Fourth... begin glue up with the outside desired peices (in this the Jarrah is the outside)

Fifth... continue till the stack is glued up... lining up as you go

Okay hang five for the next installment :cool: okay maybe a tad longer than five this dialup :rolleyes:

[Wild Dingo]

Okay next step is to...

Clamp that sucker! and gently break it apart so they wont glue together as you need two separate peices

Now this is where I change to the one I prepared earlier ;)

So here they are two hinge parts

then its to the belt/disc sander to smooth of all that excess glue and make it look sexy

Draw your hinge outline onto the side

Then to the bandsaw to cut that pattern out

Next tutorial in a few ticks... maybe? :rolleyes: yes the majik of dialup one minute real quick an flash the next drippingly slow :p

[Wild Dingo]

Moving right along students!

Rightio we have two separate hinge peices shaped as we want them right? right

So next its to the bench for a check of the fit

Then to the belt disc sander to curve those hingey bits over

Then to do a check again

Then onto the drill press (size 3 drill bit or equal to the size of the skewer you use)

To be continued!!!

[Wild Dingo]

So now we have our hinge and the skewer

So we slide the skewer into the hole to check the fit and movement of the hinge on angles that you will use

You may find that you will need to zip back to the bandsaw or the belt/disc sander to make some fine tuneing adjustments

Then when your happy slot it in using a tad of glue over the skewer and dribble some into the end holes of the hinge

Then snip the ends of the skewer

The end is nigh!!! ;)

[Wild Dingo]

Yes this is it... your homemade beautiful wee wooden hinge is made! :cool:

So just wipe on whatever your gonna finish it with give it a loving rub... with this one hinge I used I simply wiped it over with some Marveer gave it a tach of lovin and whalla!

Then stick it up somewhere so you can look at your handywork

Here my young grandson see the hinge and smiles "goodoh poppy!!" :D Hes so happy with it hes reachin out of the pic to play with it! :p

Easy as eh?! :cool:

The size of the hinge is determined by the needs you have and therefore for a small box you would make it less than 3in to begin with and for a larger box the hinge would of course be made with larger peices... to do so will mean larger skewers to compensate for the heavier larger wood in the hinge itself but thats no big problem either buy them or make your own ;)

However I like the 3in length as it gives me finger room with the cutting and sanding I can make it 3in or make it as small as I wish... go to 6in and you can then make larger hinges utilizing the whole 6in peice or smaller whatever suits your needs.

The shape of the hinge parts is simply determined by your imagination the final end use and wheather or not you are screwing it onto its mount or simply glueing it on

Make your own hinges for your boxes and such this example took half an hour to make including taking the photos this wouldnt have taken any longer to make 2 of them and hence enough for a box lig... so its not a lengthy process and is another enjoyment for what we do! ;)

There you have it my friends... woodenhinge tutorial over thank you for your attendance and good luck!

And in the immortal words of some woodnut... "WOODEN HINGES RULE" :cool:

[scooter]

Good onya Dingo, nice job well explained.


Cheers............Sean

[chrisb691]

Nice job Dingo, but what's this inches crap? :confused:


OH NO!!!! The Dingo's a POM. :D

[Wild Dingo]

Nice job Dingo, but what's this inches crap? :confused:


OH NO!!!! The Dingo's a POM. :D

You better be sayin that while bashin yer own head with a friggin 4x4 mate!! :mad: true blue ridgey didge one eyed Aussie boy here ol son! :cool:

As for the inches... mate I was borned and raised an taught everythin I knows back when Australia was a far better place back when yards feets inches and parts thereof were the only measurements known to man/woman kind!!... and am I a dinosour? YES INDEED! And proud of it! ;)

When Aussie turned stupid and everyone jumped on the bandwagon to be metric the same as all those foreign galahs I couldnt wrap me noggin around it so I happily remained firmly in the amongst the grand mob of genius's known as the "old school" brigade! :cool: Now when I use metric its cause some galah tells me what it is in metric or the damned drill bit is in metric and fits the size I need other than that I wouldnt have the bloody foggiest! :rolleyes:

And mate Im happy that way! ;) The order of the cranky ol phart survives in us that refuse to change to metric thinkin! :cool:

Cheers!

[Bodgy]

Good stuff feral canine!

Never thought about doing hinges, another challenge looms.

[gazaly]

Great stuff Shane. Well thought out and presented.

Enjoyed it heaps.:)

[Wild Dingo]

Okay just thought to update this tutorial

The hinges above can be altered slightly to make clasps... I show how I use these on a laptop case in the "Laptop case WIP" thread up in the woodwork pics section

Essentially the same method of construction is used only instead of 5 peices of 1/4in timber use 3 peices of 1/2in timber... same deal in joinin glueing and shaping... only instead of a skewer use a MAKE IT YERSELF pin to slide through the hole as it should be bigger than a skewer... also dont turn over the centre peice keep it flat and smooth so the joins a bit less obvious than the hinge was

Why use 1/2in? well basicall I want that centre peice to be good and strong the outter peices will be shaped down but the center is the pin clasp strength... would 1/4in do? probably I just wanted it STRONG! and the look sorta matches what Im doing... in other words if you think it would be just as good and look good for your purposes go for it... this method will work for any sized peices just beware of your fingers you have to grip these things while cutting and sanding and going to small could lead to blood letting :eek: the final size and shape Im doing on the bench disc sander then the rest by hand

There is no reason why you couldnt use smaller peices to make the hinge or clasp I just found that a 6in peice of 1in by 1/2in or 1/4in gave me manouvering room to shape it without gettin the old tinklers too close to cutting edges or whirling disc sanders... you can take it down as small as you feel safe doing so or you may improvise and use pointy nosed pliers or such to hold something tiny to shape it... really its up to you I wouldnt but thats just me also if you go too small I think you would possibly loose much of the strength of the hinge or clasp which is why for the new hinges on the laptop case Ive turned a chunk of Tuart down to a 1/2in pin for strength... although in this I could be wrong...

The following pics show the clasp and pin after initial shaping on the bandsaw and disc sander... once completed I will change these to show how they work... oh and the pins? believe it or not they are from the same peice of sassafrass! amazing timber that stuff! :cool:

also I like the look of a good chunk of wooden hinge and clasp ;)

Hope this helps

[Harry72]

Very good Ding, might even try them out for myself... one day!

[Wild Dingo]

Actually Harry I should be able to coment in the next few days about making a set of smaller hinges suitable to attach to a hand carved Huon handle ;)

Mind you with the bloody invasion this arvo I sorta made a bit of a cockup with the insert panel I was working on :mad: may yet be able to save it but wont know till tomorrow as its presently in the clamp again gettin the other side veneered

While the kids and missus KNOW the rules of the shed these tourist buggars have no idea... hear a machine going and RUN IN yellin out "WHATCHA DOIN UNCLE SHANE!!" :mad: bloody gits! :rolleyes: really wasnt much good on the timber or nerves I can tell yer but luckily the maniacal spinning blade missed flesh by a mere ants phart :o So I live to have at it again ;)

[wes]

Hi Dingo,
you must be as old as me, I remember inches too, still have a fold up rule with both on it mm and inches that is.
Really enjoyed the effort to edify us on the how to do of hinges and clasps.
Just wonder, has anyone made a similar wooden clasp using a ball catch ?
Those thingo's you drilled a hole and dropped it in to keep a door closed.:eek: :confused: :rolleyes: :D :)
regards'
wes

[powderpost]

I make wooden hinges for boxes and had trouble getting the right size dowels for the pivots. Then I remembered an old trick of boring a hole through a bit of 5mm steel plate, with the same size drill used for boring the pivot holes and driving stuff through the hole. Simple and very effective
Jim

[Wild Dingo]

Mate Im 49 headin fast for 50 a mere young tacker compared to some of these fellas ;) and a real old phart compared to the gnomelike nipper woodturnin git :p

I grew up in the northwest outback and the small amount of schooling I did didnt include much about anything of any interest... but I spent a fair whack of time after I left and started working with a mad Kiwi carpenter fella who was inches through and through... I hadnt heard of millimeters or that crap as the work we did and the life we led was still fast set in the 1940s! :eek: and didnt come kickin and screamin being yanked into the 20th century till I was well over 17 and by then it was too late... my life was forever firmly embedded in the old imperial state...

Now decimals I learnt pretty snappy cause it was my pay if I didnt work it out! :eek: dont know how many weeks wages I got ripped off before a shearer mate stepped in and checked it for me then took me under his wing and showed me how it worked... same bloke taught me to read and write... my grandpop had given me a dictionary with the words "you learn this thing all the way through young fella an with yer white skin you can do anything" and promptly left me to it! right mad ol blackfella was was my pop he didnt know a dictionary from a newspaper and couldnt read or write a word all his life but knew the value of learning it specially for the little 1/4 caste fellas like me who were more white to look at than black :cool: bloke was a bloody legend at all things station and horses though man was a genius with leather and rawhide :cool: ... But I just tossed it in my swag and still couldnt read a flamin word till I was about 17 or so... then I was workin at Peedamulla station on year when the shearers turned up and this bloke Jimmy Durey was among them and for the princely price of a king brown he would walk me through readin and writing every night for the shearing season... once I got a grip on it I couldnt stop

Anyway even though he taught me the readings an writings so I could understand when someone was rippin me off and taught me the decimals so I knew how much pay I was getting was right... he never showed me the mechanics of conversion of imperial to metric measurements :( Jimmys dead now and a finer shearer I never met top bloke and a great mate drank like a flamin fish and hated any liquid other than amber ale to pass his lips... but was a sad day when he passed and the world of the northwest and the shearing game was the worse for his passin :( and I lost a good mate :(

Now its too bloody late Im stuck in my ways... not complainin cause Im happy with imperials. :cool:

Anyway vis-a-vee the hinge thing... I havent yet tried the ball catch thing may be another one to have a go at eh?! ;) Im presently tryin to see how small a timber hinge I can get down to without sanding my fingers off... need to make them pretty thin to go under the handle but I may yet cheat and make them thicker and just cut the handle back a tad keep a bit of meat in the hinge I reckon :cool:

Sorry if I wombled a bit had a few an remininscin ;)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I make wooden hinges for boxes and had trouble getting the right size dowels for the pivots. Then I remembered an old trick of boring a hole through a bit of 5mm steel plate, with the same size drill used for boring the pivot holes and driving stuff through the hole. Simple and very effective

I knew that trick and have used it for other things, like making my own dowels. Somehow I've never thought of it in conjunction with small pins though. :o Thanks for the heads up!

I'd launch a greeny but apparently I have to share the love around first. :rolleyes:

[wheelinround]

:2tsup::2tsup: glad I finally got into this site top notch Ding

smaller hinges use a dremel or likewise

but if your like me with tiny bits n pieces fat fingers and athritis :doh: as well as another matter.

Me I am still feet n inches although I use metric it was coming in during my apprentiship years early 70's. Back when a thou was a thou when stuff held together. When spanners were Whitworth or/& SAE funny there has been a resurgance in guys buying whitworth spanners seems they fit metric better than metric must be the 12 sides dont tear the shyte out the heads.

[Wild Dingo]

Yep theres always more ways to do a particular thing than just one... and mate I enjoy someone tossin in other methods of achieving the end result! :2tsup:

A dremel? thats those tiny tools like what the engravers use right? mmm not real keen on them Ive got one well not a dremel but a dremel knockoff but Ive not used it much... maybe I should drag it out again?

For the hinges join I use skewers... simple skewers the missus buys for satay sticks... and more often than not they all end up in the shed! :; theres a couple of different types from what Ive gathered theres thin crappy ones that are the cheepos from woolies or coles then theres the thicker quite solid ones that cost a bit more from somewhere or other (hell I have no idea what or where she goes when she says shes "goin shoppin" its a total mystery to me!)

I showed her the first few with the cheepo ones and since then shes been bringing home the dearer thicker ones and a packet has made itself out to the shed every time. :2tsup:

A fella down the street I showed these hinges to used toothpicks.. and I wouldnt advise it personally... I suppose if you used the round ones they would be alright but to use the thin sliver type ones this bloke did well shall we say "it serves the dopey buggar right!" and admit his didnt work? well he now uses the thicker harder a bit dearer thick skewers and now it works every time. :2tsup:

[les88]

W D great post I will be making hinges using your method. The imperial V metric on the
14/02/1966, when the powers to be changed Ozz, the money was easy. But I was 31 years old and stuufed if I was going to change. So I pharted about converting the measurement back to imperial.Then one day I was drawing up a set of house plans and this was it.... no more imperial, it was hard to visualize the size of 6 meters, gee how long is that. It took a while now I am metricman so when talking to swmbo and I say the box will be 100mm height see looks blank... so 4 inches dear. :?:?:?
les

[damienhazo]

Hi Dingo,

Never thought of making a wooden hinge before but you've got me creative juices flowin' now mate! And the latch - priceless.

Thanks for the post.

Damien

[hazard]

Hi Dingo,when I want more strength in the pins for my hinges and to go real small, I use a length of brazing rod and just cut and glue in the same way as the wood pins. Works for me, Hazard

[Wild Dingo]

Hi Dingo,when I want more strength in the pins for my hinges and to go real small, I use a length of brazing rod and just cut and glue in the same way as the wood pins. Works for me, Hazard

Great idea Haz... I'll give that a whirl on the next one :2tsup:
Cheers

[rgum]

Thats bloody fantastic Shane !. I love it. A great tutorial as well.

You are now at the top of my " Give my fish away " list...if I can come over soon with SWMBO. She knows where you live ....RUN.......arghhh!:rolleyes:

Tony.

[munruben]

Excellent thread WD very educational and inspiring. Thanks, great tutorial. have bookmarked it.:2tsup:

[Knight_of_Ni]

Having never built any wooden hinges - what sort of life/durability do they have?

Are they at all practical, or just used for their aesthetic value?

Cheers,

Slade

[Caliban]

Shane
for an uneducated .25 cast blackfella. you don't do .5 bad with our lingo :cool:(although some would disagree) I must admit that lately I don't have to read your posts as many times, so either I'm learning to speak Dingo (from reading all your posts at least twice) or you are becoming less damaging to the language. :DI used to think it was just your punctuation that made your posts so interesting, but your life story and sad reminiscing explains a lot.:2tsup:
Now I'm doing it, rambling that is.Probably because I too was born in 1958, we should have a combined 50th celebration even though we're a continent apart.
I love the hinge tutorial. But can't for the life of me understand the reply about a bit of quarter inch steel plate with a hole in it.:?:?:?
What's the price of a king brown?

[Wild Dingo]

I make wooden hinges for boxes and had trouble getting the right size dowels for the pivots. Then I remembered an old trick of boring a hole through a bit of 5mm steel plate, with the same size drill used for boring the pivot holes and driving stuff through the hole. Simple and very effective
Jim

You mean this one Caliban?
What hes saying is that to get a dowel the RIGHT exact size he makes his own by way of drilling a hole through the steel plate using the SAME drill that he will be using in the hinges and then POUNDS THE LIVIN SHYTE outta some poor inoffensive piece of timber until some of it slips through the hole and therefore gives up a dowel of the SAME EXACT size diameter as the hole hes going to drill through the hinge

I have absolutely NO IDEA what the cost of a king brownie is :doh: ...since I only ever drink stubbies :2tsup:

As to the lingo thing... well I sorta started to take a bit of care of my writings on the net as so many people were having goes at me over it needing a translation and not being able to understand a word of it... that I simply decided to take a lot more care of how I write... PARTICULARILY when doing something that I think is something I can contribute to other peoples woodworking journey such as this... I really wanted people to be able to read it and UNDERSTAND it without having the translation issues.

Slade... Ive made several sets now the first went onto my artist sisters paint brush box I made a year or so back (its on here somewhere) and although Vicki opens and closes it a lot of times through a day has packed and traveled throughout the Kimberlies and now down in Albany the lid is still firmly attached at the hinges!
The last one I did the whole thing ended up something that I was happy enough to give away but not something I was happy enough to show... so I gave it to one of our daughters it was a glory box I made from scrap pine and jarrah (looked a dogs brekky that thing :doh: ) I made the thing so it needed hinges that ended up with ends 5in long and 2in wide... and its also still opening and closing happily every day

But mate I think its like anything we do... if we get slap happy and dont do the adhesion properly it will come apart or not hold up... so we do what we can to get it right and it will last.

I havent as yet used metal in my hinges since I like to go for solid allup wood in mine without using any metal at all... but perhaps one day I will? Dont know will have to wait and see eh! :;

I am expecting the dowel through these to be roughly 3/4in thick and thats why Ive given each side of the hinge 12in of wriggle room the thickness will be 3in high but probably when the sanding and shaping is done around 2 - 2 1/4in thick... okay so at the end of the shaping and sanding joining and such the hinge as a whole will probably end up around 18in long (joined and laid flat) so there will be around 7 or 8in of hinge on the top and the back... (Im thinking probably 10in top and back but Im never totally sure until I get to that point) So I think the dowel at 3/4in thick will be solid enough... spread over 3 hinges of the same size over a 50in length this should be more than enough to hold... oh I will also have raisers inside the lid attached to the sides to hold the lid up and support it thus this would take some of the weight of the hinges in the upright position

I believe they are more than adequate... for certain Ive not had a single problem using the thicker skewers. :2tsup: I think its a simple matter of using the metal as pointed out earlier by hazard :2tsup:

Cheers
Shane

PS... these will be the largest hinges by far that Ive made and I will post here the construction methods outcomes.

[martink]

I would love to claim credit for this idea but it was my beautiful fiancee who thought of this. If you want precise pins that are strong and wood then you cannot go past double pointed bamboo knitting needles. They are available in all sorts of sizes (1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm etc) and match up fine with small holes for the hinge and are damn strong.

My two cents worth...or is that my fiancee's two cents?

Ciao,

M.


P.S. Love the hinges - great tutorial - there should be more of them!

[Wild Dingo]

The fiance mate give her the credit :2tsup: sheesh young fellas just havent got it yet Martin have you... ALWAYS


ALWAYS


SHE gets the credit!!! :2tsup: learn that one and your life will be WONDEROUS!! :U

Soooo... now your telling me I have to raid her sewing gear???? STREWTH MARTIN!!! You must think Ive got a death wish or something!!! Id no more go near her highnesses sewing gear than jump into the Polar Bear enclosure! :no: :no:

AND... dont tell me to go buy my own!! do you have ANY idea at what would happen to me if I were to go into that shop and buy something for me and not for her??? DO YOU??... castration is easy compared to what this little blonde fireball would do to me if I dared try that caper... and what the bloody blue blazes do I know from anything in one of those stores?? I walk in get all glazed eyed and walk back out again generally one of the serving sheilas will race around the desk and help me back into the fresh air... sometimes Ive been known to stand at the door banging me head against it for anything up to half an hour before someone lets me out :o horrible stores them sewing gear shops :C

Oh and I agree there should be more tutorials... Niki and others do some fine tutorials about jigs and such many of which I now have snuffled :; but for tutorials of "How I do such and such" there should be more or even a section devoted to it?... great idea!! oooohhh Neil??? NEIL??? gotta question for you mate... again!! :U

[Wild Dingo]

ooooh my bad eh!! :B thats were we are already!! :doh: :U :U

[LGS]

Without wishing to hijack this excellent thread, those with a Leigh finger joint jig can make excellent hinges in quite long sets. For the pins, I have found that cutting a piece of the timber of interest to approx 1/4 larger than needed, then paring the square edges with a blade to give something like a hexagon or octagon shape, securing in a drill chuck then placing sand paper around the length and turning on the drill. Stop when they fit the hole.

Here's a pic of a pair of hinges, which incidentally, weren't used and which I am still sulking about. Sorry it's not the best photo.

Regards,

Rob

[martink]

Without wishing to hijack this excellent thread, those with a Leigh finger joint jig can make excellent hinges in quite long sets. For the pins, I have found that cutting a piece of the timber of interest to approx 1/4 larger than needed, then paring the square edges with a blade to give something like a hexagon or octagon shape, securing in a drill chuck then placing sand paper around the length and turning on the drill. Stop when they fit the hole.

Here's a pic of a pair of hinges, which incidentally, weren't used and which I am still sulking about. Sorry it's not the best photo.

Regards,

Rob

Long is good, but wide hinges would be even better, not too hard to make I suspect though where the hell do you buy a drill bit long enough to drill such a long hole for the pin:(

[rgum]

Ok Shane.

Ya had ya fifteen minutes of fame! :rolleyes: Ooooh ?.....I'm a poet

Now get me a stubbie! VB! Make that a slab ! :o
Love the hinge. :lbs:

:2tsup: :U

[LGS]

Sorry Martin, wide is what I meant. Good point on the drill. It may be possible to create the hinge fingers, then drill through the first 3 or 4 at each end. Depending on the thickness of the hinge, this may be a viable option.

Regards,

Rob

[Wild Dingo]

Long is good, but wide hinges would be even better, not too hard to make I suspect though where the hell do you buy a drill bit long enough to drill such a long hole for the pin:(

Some drill through each tang prior to join up... some drill through the entire blank once glued up... this of course depends on how wide the tangs go... I think with these particular ones I may just do them in lots of each side in one hit!... do one side then join up (dry) locate and mark the drill point through the hole and and go through the lot again... using blocks of scrap to hold the tangs apart

Should work?! Of course it will work!! :doh: :2tsup:

Of course this will PROBABLY change when I go and actually have a good hard gander at them when they are dry fitted... I think theyre going to be somewhere around 6in or so wide so maybe I will do them in 2 sections per tang? will have to wait and see now... its nigh on dark and its phissin down AGAIN!!! :~

[woodbe]

Well, you could drill the parts first, then assemble them with the rod in place. When the glue dries, remove the rod and do the shaping etc...

woodbe.

[flynnsart]

I am glad this thread was brought back for a second showing. Great tutorial Dingo!

Donna

[Wild Dingo]

Well, you could drill the parts first, then assemble them with the rod in place. When the glue dries, remove the rod and do the shaping etc...

woodbe.

Yep and some do it just like that... more ways to skin a cat than just one eh! And its a fine thing too!

Yeah Im enjoying a revision of this one... I think I'll go awandering and bring up one or two others that are great learning tools by fellow forumites... theres a bunch of talented people here... Im only a beginner by some of their standards :2tsup:

[wheelinround]

:D So Dingo's a young fella hey well I'll be here's me thinkin he's a real ol Phart yeh smewhere in his 70's:;
give me cheek will ya:boxing::smack: ya young whiper snapper

We need a historian or 10 who can dig up the old stuff n stick it in Best Of or Tutorial/Projects Section