The Wood Whisperer » hinges

More Tiny Door Hinges

thewoodwhisperer — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:06:48 +0000

First off, I want to thank you for all the great suggestions I received on the first hinge post. Since then, I placed a bunch of orders for various hinges, pins and other little doodads in hopes of finding the perfect solution. The one thing I should reiterate is the need for simplicity. My aim for this project is to make it as approachable as possible. And while I may still try out a few true hinge options, I am thinking the original pin concept will be the easiest way to go. And if I can get away with only using a hand drill for the entire thing, even better yet. I really don’t want the project to require a drill press.

So the first suggestion I tried was probably the most low tech of all: driving a brad nail into the door and clipping the protruding portion so it has a sharp point. Then simply push the pieces together to suspend the door in the frame. I tried it and it worked. It just wasn’t a clean and easily-controllable installation. The nails would bend a little and the uneven/ragged point caused the nail to go a little off course. It would work, but it would be a little tricky to get things lined up perfectly.

The second method I tried involved the use of these nifty little double-ended blind nails. Its not too hard to see how these will work. Simply use the provided tool to insert one end into a pre-drilled hole in the door, then insert the other end into a pre-drilled hole in the frame. What I really like about this system is the flange that separates the two sides. This acts as a spacer and prevents the nail from going too far into either the door or the frame. It also means there will be a consistent gap on the top and bottom of the door. Furthermore, the thickness of the nail means there won’t be any bending during installation. The door rotates easily and the installation is quite clean.

So I am not 100% sure that I have my ultimate solution, but its looking pretty good. One thing I definitely decided, which some of you mentioned in the previous post, is that the stock for the project is just too thick. So I think we’ll bring everything in by 1/4″. That will give us more space per cubby, and a nice 1/4″ thick door. Once again, thanks for all the help on this one. You guys are the best!

Tiny Door Hinges- Advent Calendar

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:07:37 +0000

The Advent Calendar (or Christmas Countdown Calendar) prototype is well on its way. The dado jig worked perfectly! Unfortunately though, my pre-holiday merriment was disrupted when I started to work out the hinge details. The doors on this piece are just under 1.5″ x 1.5″. With 25 of them to attach to the frame, regular hinges are just out of the question. Aaron and I batted some ideas back and forth and it seems that the easiest thing to do right now is simply use two small pins, above and below each door to act was pivot points.

You can see in this image, our main concern is the size of the door and the location of the pin. Obviously the trick is making sure the door clears the frame and opens freely. Aaron did a great job putting together these two samples that show a 1/8″ diameter pin (left) and a 3/32″ diameter pin (right). In both cases, the pin needs to be set closer to the front of the door to help the door swing more “naturally”, similar to what we’d expect from a standard hinge.

So that’s the plan so far, and frankly I feel like there should be a better solution. If you don’t order the little dowel pins pre-made, you’re going to have to cut about 50 little pins yourself. That’s a pain in the nether regions! And the smooth action of the doors will depend on some precision drilling. Nothing that can’t be handled with a few jigs and a little patience, but its not quite as “simple” as I was hoping for. We also toyed with the idea of a friction fit door attached with a leather strap. Neat, but ultimately I don’t think that’s going to give the result I want.

So, anyone have any thoughts? I am going to try to work out the drilling and pins just to make sure everything works as expected and I’ll keep you posted on that. But I was hoping a little brainstorm could yield some unique ideas about how to handle so many tiny doors. Any doll house builders out there?

62 – Gadget Station (Pt. 5)

thewoodwhisperer — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:33:32 +0000

Road Trip! I was originally convinced that the Gadget Station would call for knife hinges. But just for fun I decided to take a trip to my local Woodcraft to see what they might suggest. Well, surprise surprise! I discovered a hinge that I had never noticed before. The Soss Invisible Hinge. I actually like this hinge better and I think it will suit this application perfectly. I hope you enjoy this little review of common hinges with our friend Frank Galloway, at the Chandler, AZ Woodcraft Store.

This series is now available on DVD! Order your copy today!