Hinges for boxes

[Kalimna]

Greetings folks,
Having not quite decided upon a simple lift-off lid or attempting to fit hinges for the first time, I wonder if anyone could point me in the direction of some decent brass hinges for boxes? I am aware of the Brusso pieces, but I can't quite justify the price for a first attempt. However, I don't want the crud supplied at BnQ etc. any suggestions? Also, can anyone suggest a good tutorial on fitting hinges?

Many thanks in advance for helping me to finish a Christmas gift...

Adam

 

[marcros]

Adam

This is on another post that I once typed- the part numbers should still be valid.

"For hinges, if you cant find any locally, then Isaac Lord had some nice solid brass butt hinges in small sizes. http://www.isaaclord.co.uk/productDetai ... arentCat=5 part number 20440, and they do another which is not on the website 20140 which is a bit narrower. They need polishing though- they are unfinished when you get them, and you will need some screws."

if you want to split postage, or if there is a price break, I could do with a few pairs for my stock, so let me know. these are nice quality ones.

 

[marcros]

links corrected/updated.

http://www.isaaclord.co.uk/worcester-pa ... ass-hinges

http://www.isaaclord.co.uk/narrow-solid-brass-hinge

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There's a passage in Robert Wearing's 'The Essential Woodworker' on fitting butt hinges (pages 196 to 198 in the LAP edition), which is concise and well illustrated.

I too have used the Isaac Lord solid drawn brass butts, and can heartily recommend them. Very nicely made.

Edit to add - Nichelocks might be worth a try, too - https://www.nichelocks.com/Cabinet-Hardware

 

[Retire2004]

Hi Adam,
Try "Hawthorne Crafts", Ian's Neat hinges are similar to Brusso but a bit cheaper I think.
Regards
Tudor

 

[Glynne]

Both Ian Hawthorne's Neat Hinge and Andrew Crawford's Smart Hinge are amazingly good - but very expensive. They have the advantage over the Brusso quadrant hinge in that they don't need a "trough" for the arm but I only use them for very special boxes.
Both are properly engineered so they open to just past 90 degrees without a stop, but this comes at a price.
As well as Issac Lord, have a look at eBay.

 

[SVB]

+1 for the SmartHinge but they are at a price.

S

 

[Cheshirechappie]

A couple of other makers worth a try:

www.optimumbrasses.co.uk - hinges are under 'miscellaneous'.

www.marshall-brass.com - warning! the website is pretty eccentric, but the range is huge.

 

[mikebeetle]

+1 for the Neat hinges. Worth the money

 

[Kalimna]

Many thanks to all the suggestions above. I shall look through the links and hopefully get some WIP-now-finished piggies of the box up soon.

Cheers,
Adam

 

[dickm]

Our local garage has some really nice small solid brass hinges for about 99p the pair! But he does stock almost everything. And certainly cheaper than the average sheds. One advantage of life in the backwoods! When they are not under water......

 

[Kalimna]

Greetings folks,

A quick update on the query I asked earlier on this year. The christmas (2015) gift box has now been finished and is with my brother and his wife. Only 4 months late... Overall I am quite pleased with it, though there is a gap down one of the outside corner mitres, a slight misalignement of the lid and a few 'issues' with the insert tray. With most of my projects, I try and include a different (and new) skill each time, and for this one it was the fitting of hinges. Overall, I am happy with the result, but the mortices are a little bit loose, so something to practice on. And perhaps the alignment (and polishing) of the screw heads needs work also...
I was particularly pleased with the tray as it floats into position (in both orientations) with the air gently swooshing out. I watched it do this far more than is perhaps normal!

So, a few specs and photos. The main wood used was a single plank of black walnut, with banding (thick and thin) in the form of some rippled ash that i saved from a firewood pile in a holiday cottage somewhere in Dumfries. The lid holds a piece of hornbeam from a local sawmill, and the insert tray has sides of brown oak (also from local sawmill) with a base of afromosia and handle inserts of purpleheart. The tray sits on a ledge (not sure if there is a 'correct' term) of camphor laurel and the base is birch ply veneered with rippled maple on one side and ?mahogany/?sapele on the other. All corners were mitred and trimmed on a shooting board with keys of indian rosewood offcuts. The finish was around 4 coats of Chestnut finishing oil followed by wax.

The outside :

A hinge :

The rear :

The base :

The inside with the tray :

The inside without the tray :

Close-up of a hinge :

The inside again with a 50p for scale :

Thanks for looking,
Adam

 

[marcros]

very nicely done, adam.

 

[beganasatree]

Nice one Adam,job well done.

peter.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Excellent result! You've every right to be satisfied with that.

In some ways, smaller pieces are more testing of workmanship than larger ones; and it's the mark of good craftsmanship to be self-critical.

 

[DTR]

Very nice =D>