Hardware

Hinges, good ones are hard to find

Posted by

0

I am making a Paul Sellers Tool Chest and was in need of some hinges for the lid.  Heading down to the local hardware store I found some basic national hinges.  I bring them back home and open them up and they just did not look like they were worthy of the tool chest I have been working on for the past few months.

So onto my favorite tool website https://toolsforworkingwood.com/ where I found Brusso Hinges.  First the warning, Californians are nuts, I have never eaten a brass hinge.WP_20150427_003

Not to knock the national hinge on the left but the Brusso is on the right is a piece of hardware!

WP_20150427_005

I picked up this hinge as it has integrated stops.  Turns out my top is too heavy for those but they are built so much better than the national’s I kept them.  I enlarged the holes just a bit and countersunk them some more.  Metal likes a single flute countersink, doesn’t jump or make noise.

WP_20150427_006

Not a great picture to show the gap as the national hinge is closed, if they were parallel its is almost a 1/8″ gap.  This means much more mortising the hinge into the carcase. The Brusso hinge, hardly a gap at all.  They actually publish PDF’s of the specifications on their website.WP_20150427_009

One last photo of these stunning hinges!  My install was ok, but doesn’t match the perfection of the machining. I’ll post a few blog posts on the tool chest when it is all done.

WP_20150427_002

Hand Cut Nails You Say?

Posted by

0

My hand cut nails arrived today!  Yes, hand cut nails, the old school way from the Tremont Nail Company.

What inspired hand cut nails to be ordered?  Chris Schwarz wrote the book The Anarchist’s Tool Chest, which is less about anarchy and more about making a hand tool storage chest.  Now when I read the book I had the intentions on making the chest but since reading I realized I have no room for it and need something more portable.   The book on the chest is a great read as Chris is a very engaging author and is worth it whether you build it or not.

The requirement of moving tools up and down stairs pushed me to the portable configuration.  I now plan on making a Paul Sellers portable tool box first, then as I find room the chest.

I ordered the nails also to make the packing box in the Joiner and The Cabinet Maker, also by Chris Schwarz and Joel Moskowitz.  This is a basic shipping box for back when we didn’t have cardboard.  Should be a fun project and will be a future post.

WP_20140820_004

You can see in the photo I have Fine Finish, Clinch Rosehead, Decorative Wrought Head and Headless nails.  The main advantage to these over wire cut nails from the big box is they hold better. The other advantage is they look way cool!  You can make period furniture or even new designs an incorporate a bit of old school style and strength.  These nails won’t pop out.  Soon to be some projects where you’ll see these in practice.