Making scale looking strap hinges from styrene
01-14-2016, 09:18 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Making scale looking strap hinges from styrene
Over the years I have posted ideas to help others improve their building skills, this is one to spruce up your cowl or doors and phony hinged hatches, with what, dummy hinges made from styrene tube and rods that look real.
Needing strap hinges, dummy type on a cowling top like cubs and other planes have I set out to make them from styrene. Tubes are .095" diameter, I'm working on 1/4 scale, the pin is a rod just under 1/16". Hinge segments are just under 1/2" long cut on a band saw and the hole is enlarged to 1/16" to slide on the rod, you can make it as long as needed or just some short ones for various things. Pliers will hold the segments while drilling and don't drill in one stroke, pull out clean cuttings off and finish with second stroke. Sound like a PITA, it's not, it's very easy and don't take long to do a lot of them.
In the case of my cowl all panel lines were cut with a micro saw and the ones for the hinge were widened using a hack saw blade at an angle to widen the slot for them to sit in. You need to epoxy a glass strip on the inside under the cut because you will likely cut through the fiberglass cowling material if that's what it's made of, you can do the same thing to a ABS cowl and use a glass strip inside using thin CA to glue it on and rub it down with a protected covering on your finger, clean it first with alcohol.
Hinges are not glued yet.
Leroy
Needing strap hinges, dummy type on a cowling top like cubs and other planes have I set out to make them from styrene. Tubes are .095" diameter, I'm working on 1/4 scale, the pin is a rod just under 1/16". Hinge segments are just under 1/2" long cut on a band saw and the hole is enlarged to 1/16" to slide on the rod, you can make it as long as needed or just some short ones for various things. Pliers will hold the segments while drilling and don't drill in one stroke, pull out clean cuttings off and finish with second stroke. Sound like a PITA, it's not, it's very easy and don't take long to do a lot of them.
In the case of my cowl all panel lines were cut with a micro saw and the ones for the hinge were widened using a hack saw blade at an angle to widen the slot for them to sit in. You need to epoxy a glass strip on the inside under the cut because you will likely cut through the fiberglass cowling material if that's what it's made of, you can do the same thing to a ABS cowl and use a glass strip inside using thin CA to glue it on and rub it down with a protected covering on your finger, clean it first with alcohol.
Hinges are not glued yet.
Leroy
01-16-2016, 02:42 PM
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Hi Leroy , I am not able to enlarge the pictures for some reason , it tells me that the web page has a redirect loop , I am not able to make out much from the pics. Is that the bottom of the cowl ? and it looks like the hinge is curved . If it is how can it work ? Is it going to be a piano hinge sort off ?
