# Jewelry Box Hinge ?



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Has anyone used and installed this hinge? No instructions came with it. It's the slot for the sliding arm I'm having trouble with. A 1/16" slot cutter is not a large enough diameter to completely conceal the arm in the bottom of the box. So I'm thinking I have to slot the top of the box lid as well to retract the arm fully in the closed position. I wish I had made the slots before assembly rather now I'll have to "plug" then at the rear to hide them. Great hinge but not easily installed.
BTW. My entire future love life depends on installing this hinge.:yes: bill
It's a Rockler no. 21962
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16938&filter=21962&pn=21962
It's like I have to make two 1/4 circles in both the top and bottom of the box, lid and base.


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## wfahey (Oct 24, 2009)

Bill

I can't take credit for this, google provided it. I hope it helps.

The tool that you will need is a straight cutter the same diameter as the width of the forward hinge leg. Many quadrant hinges come from Europe and the Far East, as often as not these are built to metric specs and will require a cutter that may not be readily available here in the States. In this case you will have to grind down a larger cutter.
With this cutter at hand you can now proceed. The first step as always when fitting hinges is to determine the depth of cut, this is a simple calculation where you decide the gap you would like between box and lid and subtract this from the barrel diameter of the hinge and divide the result in half. The router cutter should then be set to this depth of cut. The next step will be to measure the box side and set a straight fence on your router to accurately run a cut up the center of this thickness. This setting will be used to make a mortise for the forward arm of the hinge on the upper edges of the box. Because of the shallow depth of cut you will find the router easy to control but remember a cardinal rule of routing. When used with a fence on the right hand side of the work the router must be pushed away from the body, on the left hand side of the work it must be drawn towards the body. The forward end of this cut (point A in picture below) is measured off the hinge and allows half the hinge barrel to project out of the back of the box. This can either be marked or if many hinges are being installed you could add a stop to the fence.
After all four of these cuts are made (one for each hinge, box and lid.) You can reset the fence to make a short cut at point B shown below. The fence will still be set against the side of the box and this cut will only be long enough to define the length of the third cut.
​The third setting will connect the other two and the fence will be set against the back of the box.
The last cut will create a pocket for the quadrant in both the lid and the box. If your lid is thick enough you can provide equal depth in both lid and box, otherwise mortise deeper into the box than the lid. As with the first cut you will set the fence to cut along the center of the box side. smaller router bit will be used for this cut (Approx 3/16" will generally work). As this is a deep cut you may want to make a series of passes. Because this cut will be covered by the hinge (we hope) you should be able to freehand it's length but be aware that if it is longer than need be you will looses crucial wood in front of the forward most screw.
The hinges should screw into place and operate without binding. Any problems that are encountered will almost always relate to the size of the stay pocket. This may need trimming.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Thanks Bill, bill*

This is exactly what I needed. I had already mortised for the arms, but appreciated the oblong slot in the drawing. I might try to do that with a small dia router bit like a rotozip in a trim router. I had tried a slot cutter in some samples and it had to pierce the back edge, which I didn't like. I'll need a centering jig with stops. Man this is a lot of work...and I never want to mortise another lock on the inside of the box. :no: bil


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Bill,

I see I'm not the only one under the gun to crank out a jewelry box for the significant other!

In researching mine I came across a video on the web where they installed this type of hinge. It may have been New Yankee Workshop but I'm not sure.

Anyway, they simply took a standard twist drill and drilled a recess for it. I was surprised as I thought that was kind of simplistic, but that's all they did. I guess some trial and error fitting is required, along with care that you didn't break through.

Good luck with it!

Bill


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Found that video. It's a You-Tube video by Eagle Lake Woodworking. It's the second video on building a keepsake box: 




The hinge installation is near the end.

Bill


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Bill, Bill and bill*

Hey Bills, thanks to you both for the info......Perfect. I had seen that video before myself, but didn't recall the hinge install. Seems too simple just drill a hole and hog it out. I'll have to practice that one, without breaking any drills. :laughing: The walls on the Eagle Lake box a twice as thick as mine so I'll have to be more careful. Actually a criticism of that box is that the walls are too thick for the size of the box. JMO however. 
Mine also has an arched top, but a curved part line which was an interesting process. :thumbsup: bill
Here's some photos:


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## clarionflyer (Apr 27, 2008)

Dang *Woodnthings*,
I just built 3 of those boxes (xmas presents, too). You set the bar pretty damn high now didn't you :furious:?
:laughing:
Very nice. Are you saying that you cut the wave by hand? Beautiful.
Did you arch the top like in the vid? I found it messy and time consuming.

*Bill*!
I used the hinge technique in the video. It came out really nice. But I only used that hinge on one box... too rich for my blood! I plan on making several more with cheaper hinges.
Dave


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## clarionflyer (Apr 27, 2008)

Sorry, Bill.
I need to read better. I didn't realize you started the thread. Both my responses are to you.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*The "Wave"*

The reverse curve in the opening was partially "pre-cut" before assembly using the bandsaw!..... planning ahead! I didn't cut all the way to the corners and have 2 loose pieces to try and glue. Instead I glued in a temporary spacer, a small piece of kerf thickness and then glued all 4 pieces together as well as the bottom and top and as luck would have it I reversed the 2 ends so they didn't line up with the front and back cuts . Panic! unclamp and reglue in a hurry. :furious:


Re the top, the wood I worked from was firewood from my buddy. I saw the end grain and knew it was "special" and begged a piece. No problemo. After resawing and drying about a week in the shop some of it cupped and some didn't. Damn, what I'm goon do with cupped wood....make even more cupped wood by beveling the edges and gluing into a wider cupped piece. That just grew into the lid for the box after some disc sandin' on the inside and planing on the outside and holding it against the 6" x48" belt sander. The curved rabbet on the lid was the real challenge . So I made a vertical jig to hold it and a curved pattern to run a router with a guide bushing against. Worked great. :yes: Jigs R Us! 
Photos:


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