Die:

The die is easy to make, but isn’t necessary if you are only doing a few hinges. You can fairly easily roll the barrels hot around a pin mandrel, even for very small hinges.

We use 01 tool steel for our dies, though you could use mild steel (A36) with a Super Quench heat treating.

A block of metal large enough for the die is found. A hole with a diameter (slightly larger than the pin thickness and 2 X stock thickness) that will allow the material to roll and not be too tight or too sloppy is drilled. Two hacksaw cuts are made down to the hole (we use two blades in the hacksaw cutting at the same time for a nice, narrow slot). The hole and slot are cleaned up with files (chainsaw files have little taper for the round hole) and we further polish the die with Clover Compound.

If you are going to pound the material through the die rather than using a press you need to make a pusher so the hinge edge isn’t marred.

Go back to Making a Hinge.