Thread: Bevel lid/ box join?

How about a photo of your, ah, craftsmanship

In a week or so, Evanism, the whole thing is dismantled ready for a shellac sanding sealer tomorrow morning, after I make some dummy timber hinge leafs for the hinge rebates to stop the finish building up in the rebates

I'm not entirely sure what you are asking, but I hope this helps.
To fit hinges, fix the hinge using screws to the bottom of the box. Fold the hinge up and Put some very hot hotmelt glue on the top of the hinge, then lay the lid on and line it up perfectly why the hotmelt is still soft. After the hotmelt sets open the box, drill and fit the screws fixing the hinge to the lid. Then remove these screws, break the lid free and scrape off the hotmelt. Replace the lid by putting the screws back into the same holes. Finally, admire your perfect lineup.

If you have bungled it, dont chamfer the edges, thats a compromise solution. Remove the hinges and put glued up skewer sticks in the errant holes. Trim off flush. Redrill and refit the hinges in the right place.

Another alternative is to use a 3mm drill bit to widen the errant holes. Plug with 3mm dowells. Then redrill. This works better if you are out by only a tiny bit and drill bit cutting the new pilot hole keeps finiding its way back into the old.

Cheers
Arron

Thanks for this, Arron, very much appreciated. I had never heard of the hot glue trick, will give it a go

Hi,

I've used double sided tape to temporarily hold one side of the hinge to get the screw holes lined up.
But the hot melt glue method sounds like it would work better, much better hold on the hinge.

Hot melt glue - a great tip. Thanks.


Good luck with the box Dengue.

Well I went out to the green brick and purchased a Bosch 200W glue gun. I then filled the 8 existing screw holes in the lid and the box with PVA glue and toothpicks, and cleaned the lot with acetone. Used 4mm Tas Oak dowelling and a 4mm brad point bit on one which had previously been filled and re-drilled after I sheared off one of the little screws. Dowel cost $3 for a 2.4m length.

Had a few goes with the hot melt glue, without success. Initially the glue formed blobs on the hinge which were too thick. Managed to get a thin line of glue, but it did not hold the leaf of the hinge to the lid. (I am using long thin strap hinges, each leaf 6 x 35mm).

Next tried double sided tape, but only one hinge held in position - the grip was not strong enough.

Was starting to think epoxy might be the go, as a last resort

Throwing caution to the wind, I next screwed the hinges on to the lid, fitted the lid to the box, and positioned it to align with the box corners. Then clamped it with rubber bands, tipped the box upside down, then scored a very thin line on the underside of the hinge where it protruded from the box. This is the position of the hinge on the box.

Then unscrewed the hinges from the lid and screwed them to the box using the scored line on each hinge to position them.

Finally, I screwed the lid back on the hinges, and everything lined up neatly, within a smidgeon of being exactly aligned at the corners.

It has taken me two days to fit these cheap strap hinges on two boxes. I can understand now why AlexS and others use the high quality SmartHinges - all you have to do is get 4 rebates cut to identical length and depth on the box and the lid, and it fits neatly every time.

Hi there folks,

Arron, that's a top idea, with the hot melt glue stick. I've tried the double sided tape and it's hopeless. The tape falls off, just does not work. Next time I use a butt hinge I will try your idea.

Thanks, again,

Paul