Chapter XI: Hinges in Copper or Silver

TUBE DRAWING AND WIRE DRAWING

_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.

_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.

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.

_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.

_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.

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.

_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.