Making some Freaking Tiny Hinges!

[NOBLNG]

I want to make some surface mount hinges for a Toyota S800. I started by cutting some 0.040” wide slivers off of a piece of 1/16” thick aluminum. The razor saw did a really great job of it. I previously modified the miter box so it has zero slop in the guides.

I marked them with a sharpie and scribed cut lines with a set of callipers. Then shaped them using a razor saw and a pointy file. I had to grind the tip of the file thinner to get into the slot. I used a set of feeler guages to get the slots uniform and accurately sized. Then filed the tabs to fit smoothly into them.

Then I managed to drill a 0.4mm (0.0157”) hole for a 0.015” phosphor bronze wire pin.🥵 I broke all of my PC board drill bits while attempting to make these out of brass.🤬 I finally used my rotary tool mounted in a drill press stand and it worked great for the aluminum…I only broke one!🙂

I was originally going to use this piece on the right as the male part, but it would have made the entire assembly too long for my needs.

So I cut some more slivers 0.029” wide x 1/16”, chucked them in my drill and filed one end down till it was a pin.

A bit of shaping for clearance and the parts swivel nicely.🙂

The shallow holes on the underside are either for mounting a pin or something for the glue to key into? I haven’t decided yet.🧐

Now comes the fun part…hanging onto these things while shaping them.😬 So I figured I’d do most of the shaping while still attached to the eventual offcut.

A little smoothing with some foam sanding sticks and they’re looking pretty nice.

And they are mounted and seem to operate nicely!😎 I hope this can help someone.

Edited April 10 by NOBLNG

[stavanzer]

Wow! I'm Gobsmacked!

Words Fail me!

You are an outstanding Craftsman!

[Straightliner59]

Excellent idea, Greg! Beautiful work, too!

[peteski]

Excellent job!

[89AKurt]

I feel your pain about breaking tiny bits!  Nice photos and writeup describing the process.

I've been collecting eye glass frames that have hinges, used a pair on my '48 Chevy Canopy Express.  But in your case that wouldn't work.

I wonder if watch makers ever build models?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Nice micro fabrication. And without machine tools, too.   

[Pierre Rivard]

Before I could say I can't do stuff like that because I don't have machine tools. Going forward I will have to admit it's for lack of skills...

Thank you Greg!   🤪

[TarheelRick]

I can just see the blood gushing from the holes in my fingers. That is some excellent craftsmanship, thanks for sharing.

[NOBLNG]

9 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Wow! I'm Gobsmacked!

Words Fail me!

You are an outstanding Craftsman!

Thanks Alan. In the trades I was a Tin Basher.🤪

7 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Excellent idea, Greg! Beautiful work, too!

Thanks Daniel. i think that little kit deserves something better than the kit pieces.

7 hours ago, peteski said:

Excellent job!

Thanks Peter.🙂

6 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

I feel your pain about breaking tiny bits!  Nice photos and writeup describing the process.

I've been collecting eye glass frames that have hinges, used a pair on my '48 Chevy Canopy Express.  But in your case that wouldn't work.

I wonder if watch makers ever build models?

Thanks Kurt. I broke a couple while not even drilling anything.😳 And there are a few builders on here that I’m sure could build a watch.😵‍💫

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Nice micro fabrication. And without machine tools, too.   

Thanks Bill. Well I did use my Rotary tool in a stand for drilling the holes if that counts? I couldn’t get it to run true, but once I got the hole started it drilled nicely.

3 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Before I could say I can't do stuff like that because I don't have machine tools. Going forward I will have to admit it's for lack of skills...

Thank you Greg!   🤪

Thanks Pierre. With enough determination you can accomplish just about anything.🙂

2 hours ago, TarheelRick said:

I can just see the blood gushing from the holes in my fingers. That is some excellent craftsmanship, thanks for sharing.

Thank you Rick. I did notice one broken bit still in the case….I found the tip of it stuck in my wrist.🤬

Edited April 5 by NOBLNG

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

Thanks Daniel. i think that little kit deserves something better than the kit pieces.

It does, and you provided it, in spades, sir!

[BDSchindler]

Outstanding!

[Mark W]

I looked at your work and said “I can do this!”

Then reality set in. Outstanding craftsmanship Greg. The finished car will be grand!