John B Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Made on this weekends hinge course. Objective to learn the techniques for making T hinges and strap hinges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtforge Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 A weekend well spent. They look nice. Did you do them free hand, use a swage block or have a jig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welder19 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Definitly time well spent, nice job! welder19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironrosefarms Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Very nice, would you share the most important things you learned in your course? James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 Thanks guys, The objective of the courses we run are to use traditional blacksmithing techniques developing the skills base for participants as they attend various courses. All the items were done freehand, jigs and fixtures were explained afterwards to enable 'short cuts' to be made when producing them as a commercial item The T hinges were made from 3mm (1/8") material as they are more commonly used on furniture and doors, the strap hinges were made from 6mm (1/4") as this is more relevant for the heavier duty type use for this style of hinge. As well as the techniques used to make the rolled ends for the hinge pivots, the use of shaped or straight butchers/hot sets/chisels to make profiles and incised patterns are also incorporated, along with punching square and round holes. The students are given the basic skills and encouraged then to develop those techniques as they see fit, using their own imagination and knowledge of where these items are to be used, so they fit in with the surrounding architecture. Most important things learned on the course? Decide on the finished sizes/ pattern for the location / purpose it is to be used for, and what suitable size material to use to achieve that Make the eye/barrel part of the hinge first, the T hinge barrel can be cut out with hot cutters before rolling, or can be left as one, then cut out using hacksaw and chisel to allow centre the portion to be removed. The centre portion should have a chamfered edge to allow the strap part to fit snugly but with clearance to allow free movement. The ends of the rolled barrels should be angled/chamfered to allow them to roll into the body of the hinge, this applies to both these types of hinges. When forging large strap hinges, there is a tendency for the eye end to forge non parallel, that is the centre forges in more than the ends, to help prevent this, preform a curve into the width of the material before turning the eye. After you have formed the eye, you can then use a drift of the appropriate size to ensure a good fit onto the pintle being used. Otherwise general rules apply, keep the anvil clean, forge and cut when at right heat, use cutting plates and sharp tools for detailing, wire brush to keep forging surfaces clean before forging, clean fire, correct sized tongs to securely hold material. Then a little sweat and application. I have also attached a picture of asimpler alternative hinge type that dates back to the Viking age, they should have been puched for the fixings, but the guy who made them wanted to drill them back in his workshop, and was not sure of the location for the holes for the box he had made, these were his first efforts at forging metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 When forging large strap hinges, there is a tendency for the eye end to forge non parallel, that is the centre forges in more than the ends, to help prevent this, preform a curve into the width of the material before turning the eye. This would be a slight concave on the out-facing side of the hinge, right? I see exactly what you are saying; just trying to think it through. Great work, by the way. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 It is a bit of a mind twister, but what you say is about right. If the eye is formed from flat, the outside of the eye ends up concave, So the side which is going to be the inside of the eye has to be forged convex, then as it is rolled the outer edges will rise to bring it parallel. Hope this is not too confusing, ( you could always run a drill through the finished hole to size it to fit and make the sides parallel, it will reduce thickness of material slightly but not noticablyfrom the outside appearance) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironrosefarms Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 John , that is a great explanation. It takes a little thought, but this really explains the problems I have had with a few hinges I've made in the past... it always seemed to either hang up or work perfect and I couldn't figure out what made the difference, now I think I know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Glad to help, the ones shown were all made by students on the course, They all did well thanks to the guidance given by the tutors. Its amazing what can be done with basic tools, hammer, punches and chisels/hot sets, and they look like a proper job with character Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Those are nice, Thanks for sharing them with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 That Viking hinge would look nice on a wood chest. Must be kind of rattly and loose though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Functional is the way they were described, they fit a lid to a chest, and were based on the ones found on an early Viking excavation, simple but effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 the hinges look really good john! im gutted to have missed the course - as i just said in another post i had it in my head it was late november - even squared it with the other half!! - i would have loved that particular course. i really really like the viking style hinge at the end of your post - so beautifully simple and striking. thanks for the pics and the explanations - will get to one of these things soon...:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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