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The Incra
Project Book's version of the jewelry box uses wood hinges—also made with the Incra
Jig. I have seen these hinges at shows and always wondered about making them
and "...would they be too difficult to make?" Well, having mastered the Incra
Jig to this point, Bethany and I decided that the hinge was the next challenge.
I will tell you right up front, it is fairly easy to do. A separate set of
instructions and a hinge drilling guide is available from Incra.
All you have to do is follow the instructions exactly. We did. Here are the steps.
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As we have learned on the earlier
projects, you have to read and follow the instructions in order to have success. Once
again, they are nicely illustrated and very specific.
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Before we started, I had already cut
the wood to the dimension specified in the Instructions. Be sure to get the thickness of
the hinge board exactly right. It calls for 3/8" thick stock—it has to be
exactly that. In error, I planed to about 1/16 less and the hinges were not good. Now I
know that 3/8" means 3/8".
I had also made a push block and fence to their specifications.
Bethany has installed the required 3/8" cove bit and is adjusting the
height so that the cove is centered on the hinge stock.
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Bethany clamps the auxiliary fence I
had made for this purpose. The instructions say to bolt the fence to the Incra Jig's fence
but there is room for clamps and we do not need the complete length, so we simply used
clamps.
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Bethany adjusts the fence so that the
fence extends just barely into the radius. The instruction book has a very precise sketch
of this position (see inset). Once there, she locks the jig at that position.
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Now she routes both grain ends using
the special push block that I made, per the instructions.
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Here is a good look at the push block
as it routes the cove end. Throughout the making of the hinge, it seems that the work
piece is small and the distance to the bit is small. The instructions are well written
with that in mind. Use of push block and other jigs make the procedure safe at every
step.
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The next step calls for another pass
through the cove bit, but this time, with the board vertical and flat against the fence.
The push block is used here too.
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Now Bethany installs a 3/8"
straight bit and sets the depth to 3/16". The straight bit will be used to route out
the excess of the hinges.
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Using the hinge wood thickness
(3/8") she sets the fence so that the first cut is at 3/8".
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Routing and then moving the fence 3/16" at a time for
several passes gives Bethany the hinge blank as is shown in the inset picture from the
instruction sheet. The part that is left is to provide stability in the next cutting
operations. It will be sawn off in a final stage.
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Bethany uses a push stick to pass the
hinge plates through the table saw. This gives hinge blanks that are the right hinge
width.
While this cutting operation is safe, the instructions gave a different
method which is probably better—we just didn't read all the detail. We should have.
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This is how the instruction sheet says to cut the
blanks in half. Basically it uses the push block that we have been using at the router
table. The saw blade is set at a height just a bit above the depth of the blank. [This
picture was taken the following day when I read the instructions again.]
While the left picture shows a safe way to cut, I do not like to get my hand
that close to a blade, even with it set low. At the right, I am using a pushstick to guide
the push block.
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This step at the bandsaw cuts the
raised part away from the individual hinge leaves. The piece is guided though the blade
with a scrap of wood. This cut could easily be made with a hand saw or on the table saw
with a hinge cutting jig that is described in the Instructions.
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This close up will give you a better
look at this cutting procedure. The push stick fits the hinge piece and is notched to
firmly hold and push the hinge leaf through the blade area.
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