INCRA HingeCrafter - Manual (Page 3)

INCRA HingeCrafter 3
Your INCRA HingeCrafter will allow you to produce four
hinge barrel sizes with hinge widths up to 10
1 / 2 ”. Use
the full-scale hinge profile illustrations shown in Fig. 3
to select the hinge size that you want to make for your
project. The larger
5 / 8 ” and 3 / 4 ” hinge barrel diameters
can be used for vertical hinge applications such as
cabinet doors, while the smaller
3 /
8
” and 1 / 2 ” sizes are
better suited to horizontal applications, such as jewelry
boxes and humidors. The hinge barrel diameter you
select will require the same diameter bull nose bit and
straight bit. For example, if you select the
1 / 2 ” barrel
diameter, you will need a 1 / 2 ” diameter bull nose bit and a
1 / 2
” straight bit for the required cuts.
Choosing Your Hinge Size
PREPARE WOOD BLANKS
When selecting stock for your hinges, use close
grained hardwoods such as maple, cherry, walnut
or mahogany for best results. Avoid
highly figured woods such as bird’s-eye
maple or anything “curly”. You’ll need at
least 6” of width in your selection and at
least 12
1 / 4 ” of length in order to produce
two blanks. In general, the wider the
wood blank, the more hinges you’ll get.
If you want to make extra wide piano
hinges, prepare stock up to 10
5 / 8 ” in
width. (Trimming cuts made later in
the process will remove about
1 / 8 ” of
material width.) Thickness plane the
stock to match the hinge barrel diameter
that you have selected. For consistent
results it is important to thickness plane the stock
as accurately as possible. A machinist caliper
is very helpful in producing precise thickness.
Crosscut the stock to yield two 6” blanks,
Fig. 4.
FIG. 3
Hinge size
3 /
4 ” barrel
diameter
5 /
8” barrel
diameter
1 /
2 ” barrel
diameter
3 /
8” barrel
diameter
FIG. 4
Prepare blanks
Bull Nose Bit And Fence Setup
Install in your router the bull nose bit that
matches the hinge barrel diameter you have
selected. The bull nose bit creates lots of
chips in the process of hinge making so
dust collection is a must. If you do not have
a split fence with dust collection capability
such as the WonderFence or the IntelliFence
mounted to the front of your Incra fence
positioner, it will be necessary to make
and attach the wooden auxiliary fence
shown in
Fig. 5. This design allows for dust
collection using a standard shop vac wand.
Dimensioned plans for this user-made
auxiliary fence are shown on page 8.
FIG. 5
User-made auxiliary fence
BULL NOSE - FIRST ROUND
6” minimum
width
6”
6”
Caution: Always thickness plane the 12 1 / 4
” long blank
before cutting to (2) 6” long pieces.