FITTING THE HINGES

Summer has arrived early, it is one beautiful day almost to good to go out to the workshop, but hay any day in the workshop is a good day.

I am happy with the recovery job on the lid of the box in the last post.

Today I am fitting the hinges I made the other day.

The first step is to measure the distance from the bottom of the box and mark around the box where the lid is to be cut off, I always measure up from the base as this gives a far more accurate cut. I then cut around the lid to about half the thickness of the sides.

I always measure up from the base as this gives a far more accurate cut. The saw I have used leaves a groove of 1.2mm the thickness of two pieces of veneer.

Next I cover the area the hinges are to be seated with masking tape.

I then mark the edges for the hinge to sit. Mark equal distance from each end.

Position the hinges.

Apply tape to the back of the hinge.

Apply super glue to the taped area.

I then position the hinge on the box using a couple of scalpel/xacto knifes to insure the hinge is centered correctly.

Then use a square to make sure the hinge is seated properly and allow the super glue to set.

After the glue is properly set, using a scalpel/xacto knife cut around the hinge.

Remove the hinge.

Leaving a clearly defined section to be removed.

There are a number of methods to remove the waste, I use a small chisel to start.

After enough material has been removed with the chisel,

test the hinge for fit.

Next I use a Dremel with a Stewart Mac router base to clean out the rest of the wast, Set the depth to slightly past the pin in the hinge.

You may need to do this in several steps.

Clean both hinge recesses at the same time to ensure they are exactly the same depth. 

Then using the same saw finish cutting through the box.

As I work around the box I put wast veneer into the saw cut to hold the box and lid apart.

With the lid having been cut from the box, I then laminate the edges before finishing the hinges.

Put the top back on the box and ensure all the corners are aligned and straight.

Press the hinges into position to ensure proper fit and make any necessary adjustments.

Apply glue to both the top of the hings and the lid of the box, I like to allow the glue to sink into the wood and go tacky before pressing into position.

Clear up any excess glue and allow to dry.

After the glue has dried on the top of the hinges I then repeat the process for the bottom of the hinges.

Clean off all excess glue and allow to dry, ensuring the lid isn't glued to the box.

Thanks for visiting and if you have any comments or questions I'd love to hear from you.