_Material:_ Copper or Silver.
_Tools:_ Hardwood block, 6 × 3 × 1 in. draw plate, tongs, sharp peen
hammer, saw frame and saw, round file, shears, small piece of soap.
[Illustration: Stamp box, or jewel box with tube hinge]
_Directions:_ To make a good hinge for jewel boxes or jewellery
requires some knowledge of how to make wire and tubes out of sheet
metal. In order to do this you must have a draw plate and that you can
make yourself, in the following way: Take a piece of iron 1/4 × 1-1/2
× 3 ins. or 4 ins. long. Drill a number of graduated holes through the
piece along the centre. The smallest hole should be about 1/32 in.
in diameter and the largest, about 1/8 in. Take your steel punch and
file the end down, tapering so that the point will go into the smallest
hole. Drive the punch into the hole until it just goes through. These
holes take the shape of the tapered punch. Repeat this in each hole
until the draw plate is made up of a number of graduated tapering
holes. Your draw plate is used for reducing wires from a large size to
any size you have holes for and for making hollow tubing for hinges.
_To reduce wire:_ You can always buy the wire any thickness you wish,
but many times a small piece of wire is needed quickly and can be made
with little trouble.
If you should wish to reduce a piece of wire 1/8 in. thick to any size
smaller than 1/8 in., file the end of the piece so it just goes through
the hole far enough to grasp with the tongs. Rub a little soap over the
surface of the wire, draw it through the hole. It is reduced to the
size of the hole it goes through. After the first or second operation
the wire must be annealed, as pulling it through the draw plate hardens
it.
_Tubing for hinges:_ Cut a strip of No. 28, copper (or silver) any
length. Cut the width of it three times the diameter of the tube you
wish to make, and cut the end of this piece to a point. Place your 6
× 1 × 3-in. block in the vise. With a round file, file a groove across
the block.
[Illustration: Shaping tube before drawing in plate]
Place the strip of copper or silver over the groove and, using the
hammer, drive the metal into the groove, forming a gutter.
Repeat this until you have driven the copper into a cylindrical shape.
Put the pointed end through the largest hole in the draw plate. Rub
well with soap. Clasp the end sticking through with the tongs and pull
it through. Repeat as you did when drawing wire through. Anneal when
necessary. Continue to put the tube in one reducing hole after another
until the tube is the size you wish. This tube with a small hole
through the entire length is used for fine hinges.
[Illustration: Draw plate and tongs with tube going through]
[Illustration: Sawing off pieces of tubing for hinges]
_Fine hinges:_ To make a hinge for a box, bracelet, or any small
dainty article that requires hinges, take a piece of the tube made as
described. After you have decided just how long the hinge must be to
fit the article you are making, saw the tube into three pieces, or five
pieces, of equal length by placing the tube in a vise. If it is to be a
three-piece hinge, two will be soldered on the one side and one on the
other, the two just far enough apart so that the one is in position to
fit exactly in between them. When the three pieces are in place, a wire
is pushed through the hole, and the hinge is made.
[Illustration: Filing half round groove in hinge, for tube]
_To make the wings of the hinge:_ Take a piece of silver or copper, No.
10, the length and width to be determined by the size of the hinge.
Place this copper plate in the vise, file a groove through the centre,
just large enough for the copper or silver tube to fit in about half
its depth.
Saw the piece through the middle of the groove.
[Illustration: Bind in place with binding wire, and solder]
Take two of the three short tube pieces, bind them on the groove ends
of one wing. Bind the third piece of tubing in the middle of the groove
end of the other wing. Place the two wings together and see that they
fit closely. Do this with the greatest care, as there is no possible
chance for filing after the tubes are soldered on the wings. Wash with
borax, put some silver solder on the joints, and solder as before
explained. When binding the tubes for soldering do not put the binding
wire through the holes of the tubes. This wire makes a good conductor
for the solder which is apt to fill up the small holes in the tubes.
All binding should be done on the outside.
The wings of the hinges should be filed to a taper, or any shape that
will add to the appearance of the hinge. The hinge lends itself very
well for decorative purposes and can always be made so that it adds to
the attractiveness of the piece of work. Lock plates can be made by the
same method. They, too, can be finished up to add to the ornamental
side of the article. _Cabinet hinges:_ Cabinet hinges are made either
of brass or copper. The hinge must be made in proportion to the design,
thus adding to the decoration.
[Illustration]
_Material:_ Strip of copper, No. 10. Cut out according to the design.
The two ends of one are turned over a wire nail 1/8 in. in diameter.
The one end of the other is treated in the same way. Test if they are
true by placing a wire through the three tubes. Cabinet hinges may be
finished by using the round head hammer and driving down a number of
hammer marks, going all over the surface of the hinge. Or they may be
embossed from the under side. The spacing of screws and rivets plays an
important part in the design of the hinge.