Before you choose to use Butler Hinges stop

Rob Keeble

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GTA Ontario Canada
Well i just come in for a quick drink of water and i have even more appreciation for the effort Alex is putting into his guitar build.

I been messing with jigging to rout two cut outs for the butler hinges on the vanity build i am getting back at.

I took inspiration from a kick up the rear by Mr Merlau and the observation of Alex's perfect guitar build that i should set up a proper jig setting to cut these butler hinge cavitys out.

Never again will i use these hinges. This is my one an only time in the rest of my life. They are typically sand cast. So the pieces are all over the place. The thickness of the hinge plate on either side and between the units well its not consistent.

Now i know why in all the research i did last night i never found a picture where the woodworker/furniture maker had recessed them even with the surface. A production guy cannot afford to fiddle with each one.

I am getting there lets hope i dont run out of scrap before i get to the right point. :rofl::rofl:

Oh and dont ever think you can expect to have these hinges work on wood that buts together in the flat position.

Could not find instructions on how to cut the recess properly and where to position them in relation to the edge. So its trial and error.

Decided the top butting edges will get a 45 chamfer 1/8 to 3/16 from the corner edge either way. That will leave a V groove between the two boards making up the top. Dirt collector but i just want to get this done now and move on.;):D

Before i go to bed tonight NN or no NN i am done with these recesses.:rofl::eek:

Ok break over.
 
You might consider using this type of hinge. It only requires a 35mm forstner bit (same as for drilling euro hinges). Actually the setup for mortising is just part of the bit, as you can see from this PDF tech sheet. These hinges are easy and fast to install, and have two-way adjustment. They can be separated if the lid needs to come off.
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Sorry to hear about your troubles with those hinges Rob. Take it on the positive side, now you've learnt something. At least this is what I try to do each time I make mistake.;)
 
Do you mean a hinge like this? Norm did a butler table on the new yankee workshop and if I'm not mistaken used a router and jig to install them.
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Do you mean a hinge like this? Norm did a butler table on the new yankee workshop and if I'm not mistaken used a router and jig to install them.

Probably a little late to offer suggestions but for the hinge Alan pictures I would clamp the pieces to be routed together as if I were doing a panel glue-up with a business card between them for spacing. Double stick tape your template to the material and route to the shallowest depth you require.

Once the routed shape is available, a bit of carbon paper cut to fit the hole can be laid in. Press the hinge into position and the carbon paper will leave a good telltale mark of where you need to hand pare a bit of relief.

It sounds quite fussy but, I find I reach for a chisel of some sort to solve fitting problems more and more often ;)
 
Thanks for all the concern. This was entirely my own doing against loads of better advice.:rofl:

Glenn not having seen your post, you mentioned almost to the T what i did except for the carbon paper part.

From the developments i had done I had through trial and error and a sharp chisel worked out what needed to go except again for the variances in thickness of the hinge plates.

Alls well that ends well.:) Thanks guys.
 
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