Boy Larry,

I'm sure glad you posted this part!
I was just about to ask about barrel hinges.

I recently bought several sets for my box projects and found myself
scratching my head on how to align them.

Thanks to you, now I will feel confident in having a go at it.
On practice wood first, of course.

K.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
news On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:38:55 +0000, Thomas G. Marshall wrote:


Sorry for this, but this has always mystified me.

Given a small box that I can put a lid on with either a piano hinge or two
smaller hinges, how on earth do I align it so that it closes perfectly?


I've started using barrel hinges (Soss, etc.) because they're completely
hidden and, at least for me, easier to install and align.

What I do is drive short brads partly into the box, snip off the heads,
and use them to make an impression on the lid. Pull the brads, drill the
holes on the drill press, and I usually get a perfect fit.

If I'm having troubles driving the brads straight (we all have those days,
don't we?) I use a small bit in the drill press to predrill for the brads.

I suppose I could also drill the hinge holes in the box and use dowel
centers to mark the lid, but metric dowel centers are, AFAIK, not
available.