Good morning,
I’m looking for some advice on how to go about fixing a strap hinge on my antique coffee chest.
one of the nails popped out and then something must have caught under the hinge and bent it.
it’s a real eye sore on an otherwise beautiful piece.
thanks, in advance.
jtsphilosopher
Replies
Hard to say without a picture. Hinges are difficult to fix once bent as they depend on fairly close tolerances to work. With care though it may be possible to dismantle it and fix though I would suspect you will need a new pin rather than trying to re-use the old one.
Apologies, I thought I had attached photos.
Tools of the trade .... I found( find) working with metal to be a daunting task with my very inadequate metal working tool selection. About 500' from my shop was a crazy German's machine shop that built robots for movies until he was bad and they deported him. I worked on a couple of projects with him and I discovered that working with metal was like working with wood if your set up for it. Your asking in the wrong department, find a metal guy!
If you can release that second nail you might be able to slide something under it to use as a fulcrum to flatten it out... mebbe start with a bamboo skewer and a small block of wood to press down on it. Replacing the missing nail (if it's gone) will be the hard part. If you still have it consider having a threaded section welded on to turn it into a bolt so it will hold better when you replace it.
If you can get the nails next to the barrel out without damaging the finish it will be even easier to straighten, and you'll be able to add an inward camber to it so it seats even flatter against the lid.