Worth buying a hingecrafter without routing the hinge shape?

Hi folks,

I am planning to buy an i-box primarily for box joints on a table saw, but once I have it I'm sure I'll start thinking about wooden hinges as well. Is buying a hinge crafter to make the drilling easier worthwhile, if I don't want to route out the hinge curves and the rebates to let the hinge close? My router table setup is cheap and nasty, and I really don't enjoy using it.

I can cut the rebates with a dado blade, but rounding the outside of the hinge is trickier. I guess I could freehand sand them, which might be difficult to get correctly round, or build a jig to swivel around the hinge pin, and then sand using that...

Or I could leave the outside of the hinge square, which might actually be an interesting look and provide built in stops, but won't always suitable!

Anyone have any tips or experiences on wooden hinges without using a router table?

Cheers,

Danny

Rob Cosman makes a wooden hinge that doesn't use a router table at all : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr5Ja3Dcggg

Now that's interesting! Will have to ponder it a bit.

Realised that I'm an idiot - the hingecrafter relies on the edges of the hinge already being rounded (and rounded accurately, which will be tricky without using a router), so I will think some more about my plan for wooden hinges, potentially borrowing bits of the method above. There are a lot of very ingenious ways of making hinges out there!