Loaded about 10 meters plus of recycled kitchen base cabinets at the landfill; 3/4 inch BB plywood throughout and all of the cabinet doors were mounted with piano hinges which I thought was a bit unusual.
I really just wanted the plywood but the hinges were a bonus so I decided to re-use them in a different format.
The hinge leaf is 3/4 inch by about 28 (variable) high and the metal is very thin; did a splendid job supporting the cabinet doors, BUT……………….
I want to chop the hinges into 2 inch lengths and use them for replacing missing/rusted ghosts of hinges on some wooden WWI..ish ammo boxes in shop storage; maybe 5 or 6 hundred boxes in various stages of deterioration; salt water environment is unkind to 90 y.o. metal and wood.
My question is, will I be wasting my time using these thin metal hinges for this application; this is not a high traffic/load situation; these boxes might be opened once a year if that, but I dont want to make hinge swapping an annual event; also new hinges are out of the question.
Thoughts????????????
Thanks.
Replies
All the discussion in the world won't tell you a tenth as much as making a test hinge and applying it to a box.
John W.
Now why didn't I think of that??
Thanks John.
skidkid, Make a small miterbox to accurately hacksaw off identical segments from the piano hinge stock.
Since the consistent 2" 'center to center' spacing will be too far apart,slice each 'blank' at the mid point of the two holes(Cut thru the joint line)
That will leave you with a 1& 15/16" blank having the two holes exactly centered above each other. After the blanks are sliced off, there won't be any waste. Of course you must drill the two leaves each with the two end screw holes needed. (approx 3/4")right and left of original center holes
It may be easier to lay out all the holes and centerpunch and drill and countersink all the new holes before slicing off the little segments. Good luck Steinmetz.
Edited 7/3/2006 1:43 am ET by Steinmetz
Edited 7/3/2006 1:46 am ET by Steinmetz
Thank you Stein,
I did think of making a jig for the boxes; some are in bad shape and will have to be rebuilt but I was only going to make a cutoff block for the hinges.
Your miter box suggestion will be much more accurate and will hold the blanks for drilling.
Pasa bon dia.
You can apply the miter box to a band saw as well Stein.
Danki Stein,
I dont have a bandsaw (yet).
Pasa bon noche.
Guten Abend Stein
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