Replies

1. 
   flairwoodworks | Jul 25, 2008 08:09am | #1

   It depends on the type of hinge you use.  If you use butt hinges, they are generally mortised in.  Piano hinges are normally mounted directly on the box's edge.  Butterfly hinges are screwed on the back.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com

    - Success is not the key to happines.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

2. 
   ring | Jul 25, 2008 01:36pm | #2

   Personally I prefer small butt hinges for this, mortised into the box. And here's a trick to getting the hinge placement just right - when all is ready, hold the box in closed position and set the hinges in place with a drop of 5-minute epoxy. After it sets, open the lid and add the screws.

   David Ring

   http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e

1. 
   Gretchen | Jul 25, 2008 02:00pm | #3

   Thank you. You may have solved my problem of repairing several hinges on antique boxes!Gretchen

3. 
   BriMcG | Jul 26, 2008 06:44am | #4

   Hi Sidecutter, If you are familiar with Doug Stowe who has written several books on box making and a personal hero of sorts turned me on to a technique that works really great for any size box but I have never tried it with an angled cut at the back but don't see why it wouldn't work.

   It's called the 'flippin story stick" and what you do is cut a piece of scrap the exact width of your box.  You then mark  one edge of the stick with the position and depth of the butt hinge and carefully cut this area out on the table saw just so the hinge will stay in position in the stick but a gentle tap will dislodge it. This is a good fit.

   You then go to your router table and place the story stick in place(open side against fence) and lock the fence. This sets the width of the mortise. Then set a stop on either end after turning your bit , He and I use a upcut spiral bit, so the wings are parallel to the fence. This sets the length of the mortise.

   Then set the depth by using the hinge itself and setting the depth to just a bit over ( a 64th or so) the center line of the barrel of the hinge. This will give you a bit of a gap in the back which is proper to prevent binding of the hinge.

   You then cut the mating mortises in the lid and box after carefully lowering the workpiece downonto the bit. flip the story stick and do same with the second set of mortises. You then use a chisel to square the corners of the mortise.

   This worked really well for me and is a huge time saver for production work.

   I hope this doesn't sound complicated cause it really is simple and took about 10 minutes to cut my first story stick and cut a couple of mortises.

   If you are into making boxes I really recommend his books, especially the Illustrated guide by the Taunton press or the basic box making book.

   Brian

    

   Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid.

    

   Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

4. 
   knuts | Jul 26, 2008 03:45pm | #5

   Similiar to David Ring, but I use hot melt glue.

5. 
   Diz | Jul 26, 2008 07:45pm | #6

   Whitechapel website has a technical guide for installing hardware you might want to check out.