[TheForge] hand made hinges

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Ed,

It kind of depends on how elaborate you make your hinges.  You could make 
simple hinges for $20 or so, but large strap hinges could run $75. If you 
come up with a design that you get proficent at making it could be cost/time 
effective and may give you an edge when it comes to selling your wood work.

I've only made a few sets of hinges and they always seem to take longer than 
I expect.  I'm sure that if I had gotten an order for a couple dozen I would 
have figured out how to make them fast by the end of the order.  It also 
kind of depends on how closly they need to match,  if some variation is 
allowed it makes it a lot easier.  If they have to match exactly you will 
have to make some tooling to produce them. Then if you have too much tooling 
they start to look like factory made hinges.

Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.
eforge at centurytel.net

On Dec 27, 2013, at 6:46 AM, Ed Eccleston wrote:

Thank you so much, you guys!  I'm old enough and have been in the trades 
most of my life, so  I understand most of the mechanics of which you speak. 
I've also spent some time perusing the anvilfire site, so the vocabulary is 
mostly recognizable.  Learning the ins and outs of the heat treating 
processes that Frosty nicely described will ultimately be practice, 
practice, practice.   I've read and seen some videos where smiths could tell 
temperature from the color.  THAT must be an acquired ability, and that was 
why I was curious about the IR thermometer.
  Personally,  I'm a kitchen designer and cabinet maker, and have been 
toying with the idea of making my own hinges and hardware.  Considering the 
absolute volume of that stuff, much coming from overseas,  hand making 
hinges would never be cost effective.  It may however give me a marketing 
advantage with the more discerning clientele with more disposable income.
Being in Southern Ca,  there are a few of those types.  Any thoughts on the 
concept would be appreciated.
   Thanks Mike and Frosty for the responses, and I'll keep you up on my 
progress.

Ed Eccleston