DIY Hinges.

[Adrian Harris]

Has anyone ever tried making their own hinges out of steel ?

One of my ongoing projects is a US half-track, and the various brass door and bonnet hinges are bent out of shape.

I found some similar sized steel hinges from a source in China but the holes are slightly out, so I'd have to modify all the steel panels, and there are 25 hinges in this kit

I was thinking it would be quite cheap to have the parts cut from thin steel sheet, but it's bending the ends which would take the time.

I have some jewellery bail making pliers but I'd need to check if they would be long enough.

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

Never done it but would love to see how it's done. I am assuming you want steel instead of brass hinges because they are stronger. Did you check on the Knupfer site? They might have miniature steel hinges.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

Yes, steel for strength.

Good shout on the Knupfer site - I've been buying bolts from them but not thought about them for hinges.

Plus you always get a packet of Haribo

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

So I'm not the only one with a sweet tooth.

https://knupfer.info/shop/index.php/deu ... niere.html

Vince

[Peter Silcock]

Has anyone ever tried making their own hinges out of steel ?

One of my ongoing projects is a US half-track, and the various brass door and bonnet hinges are bent out of shape.

I found some similar sized steel hinges from a source in China but the holes are slightly out, so I'd have to modify all the steel panels, and there are 25 hinges in this kit

I was thinking it would be quite cheap to have the parts cut from thin steel sheet, but it's bending the ends which would take the time.

I have some jewellery bail making pliers but I'd need to check if they would be long enough.

Adrian.

I would imagine the man to ask is Mr Goff - a wizard at making tiny metal components. How he does it defeats me, some kind of wizadry must be involved.

[Steve Lewington]

Hi guys
I hope this will be of interest and some help to you all.
There is a very good article in the april issue 2018 of engineering in miniature on hinges by a chap named John smith.
I have had a loose go at making these and with a bit of practice it works well.
If any of you have trouble obtaining a copy I'm more than happy to pm a scan or the relevant pages to anyone who would like them.
Hope this is use.
Regards
Steve lew

[Liam Mahoney]

Hi Adrian
Sorry for the late response, I missed this post first time round.
Yes I prefer to make all my parts from steel, and I have made steel hinges using 0.2mm steel shim and 1.6mm tig welding wire, I didn’t have any photos from the making of the originals so I knocked up one last night to take the photos, which kind of tell the story (sorry maybe too many photo ?).
I try and anneal the shim, very dull red cooled in still air, but it will depend on how much heat you have available, then put a radius fold to start the shape, you will need sharp edges on the vice you use and be sure that the shim and wire are as low as possible so that it pinches to give a tight fit. Once you have done 2 put them together to mark the cut-outs, trim and put together.
Once they are fitted together you can trim them to size and put the holes in, if you are concerned about strength you could solder each side?

Thanks
Liam

[Liam Mahoney]

Second batch of photos,

[Adrian Harris]

Many thanks for the explanation and photos Liam - definitely one for the Knowledge Base

I hadn't thought about doubling up the material for extra strength - that way there's no way they can uncurl like the current ones.

I have various butane and MAPP torches here so should be able to do the annealing OK, once I've practiced a bit

Adrian.

[Robert Reid]

This is absolutely brilliant!

Thanks for making the details available to us! It is very straightforward, from what I can tell. But to figure it out in the first place... wow!

There is an old saying in science that reads "What was first the work of masters, later becomes the work of tinsmiths."

For those among us, like me, who fall in the tinsmith category... grateful beyond words for the photos and explanations! Thank you!

Cheers,

RPR

[Mark Carney]

diy hinges
as a model engineer having built several live steam a diesels ,we bow to a gentleman named KOZO he builds in 3/4 inch scale which is 1/16 th scale this man prefabs everthing on model steam locomotives in brass or steel including hinges I've used his idea'
to build larger scale loco's and 1/24 th scale tugs using the same idea's well worth a look

catch ya later
Mark

[simon_manning]

thank you for posting a pictorial step by step on the hinges, interesting and very helpful, i'll keep this post at hand, regards simon manning.

[Jeffrey Goff]

I thought I would share my method for making hinges, there is no wizardry Peter just the simplest repeatable and quickest way I have found, it uses brass or copper tubes sold on most modelling sites, from micro bore upwards, just silver solder the tube to a piece of metal of the size you require along the length x2 and cut out alternative segments the same as Liam to form the hinge, I just grabbed some metal from the scrap box to illustrate the idea


regards Jeff

[Peter Silcock]

Adrian - look at ebay supplier lambadevine . They have hinges 13mm x 15mm which are virtually exactly right. The holes look to be in the correct position as well. £1.69 for 10. Worth a try. I've ordered some as well.

[Adrian Harris]

Thanks Peter, but from the description they are made from a "plated alloy", which I'm guessing is brass, so they won't have the strength I'm after.

Adrian.