Taming the Quadrant Hinge

A story stick and the router table simplifies hinge installation.

Installing quadrant hinges is easy to do with the right steps. All you need is a story stick, a template or two, and a router table.

The quadrant hinge is a lovely thing, bringing both class and strength to the operation of a fine box. But after having gone to great lengths to perfect a box, the installation of a complex hinge can be risky. Who wants to run the risk of destroying something when you’ve gotten so close to completion? For that reason, the quadrant hinge is often purchased but left hiding in the parts drawer unused. The other aspect of quadrant hinges is that they’re often sold with an expensive routing template that will apply only to the use of that particular hinge. A third point is that I find it awkward to balance a large router on the edge of my finely crafted, nearly completed box. It’s an anxiety causing endeavor.

For many years I’ve taught woodworkers to use a story stick technique to set up for routing the shallow mortises for butt hinges using the router table. Using the router table offers a steadier platform for accurate work than trying to balance a heavy router on the back edges of a box. My students have asked me if a similar technique can be used for the much more complex quadrant hinge. Here I’ll show how. It is not a particularly easy technique, but it will

work well with quadrant hinges, even the cheap ones for which no template is available.

The first step is to clearly mark the front of the lid and body of the box. You can do this in pencil if you like, as sanding of the front of the box can still take place after the hinges are installed. Masking tape also works and will not interfere with the routing.

Cut a piece of thin material to use as a story stick. I use 1/8" Baltic birch plywood, but a thin piece of MDF or other compressed hardboard will work also. Choose a width for your story stick to feel safe for maintaining a good grip and cut it to the exact length as the distance from the front to the back of the box. I check very carefully with my thumbnails to feel that the length is exact.

For this box I’m using the smaller Brusso quadrant hinge, which requires a 5/16" straight cut router bit. I chose this particular hinge because the sides of this box are only 7/16" thick. I wanted the hinge to center in that stock with 1/16" of wood on each side. Making the story stick requires that the height of the bit be adjusted to cut through the story stick stock.

Adjust the distance between the fence and the bit to leave a space equal to the distance between the edge of the box stock and the hinge. To make certain I get the set up right, I use a piece saved from making the box sides to test the cut. Measure, then test, before running the risk of destroying your masterpiece.

Next set up your first stop block. You’ll notice in the photo above that the fence and stop block are made of relatively thin stock. I used 1/2" Baltic birch for the fence and 1/4" Baltic birch for the stop block. The reason for this is that a taller fence or thicker stop blocks would cause some loss of accuracy in the event that my box was slightly out of square (that can happen, even to the best of us). Carefully measure where the hinge will fit. With the hinge being 1" wide and the inset from the edge of the box being 1/16". I set the stop block at a distance of 11/16" from the outermost cutting edge of the router bit.

Tell a Story

On the story stick, mark approximate start and stop points for routing the slot. Here, you’ll want to closely watch that your routing of the story stick is where you want. The marks are also there to remind you where the router bit will plunge through the surface of the Baltic birch. Keep your fingers a safe distance from that point. Start the router with the stock held up above the surface of the router table, then lower the story stick onto the spinning bit.

After the bit breaks through the stock move it from right to left along the fence to the pencil line on the right. Then, very carefully, rout back the other direction to bring the story stick up to the stop block. You will have to blow out any accumulation of sawdust between the story stick and stop block—this will interfere with getting a perfect fit. As you rout from left to right, it’s a climb cut. Keep a tight grip on the stock and move slowly to keep control. This first router cut in the story stick will cover the first router operation in fitting the hinge to the box: hollowing out the hinge mortises.

With the story stick almost complete (minus some adjustment), I rout a test piece that’s cut to the same length as the box (Photo 2). This is to double-check the mortises along the sides of the box and make any necessary adjustments.

Many of the boxes I make are in what I call an “X plus” or “minus two” system of proportion. The length of the front will be 2" less than the length of the side. To use that proportion when cutting box parts to size, I use a 2" spacer block. I use the same spacer block to extend the length of the story stick in setting up to rout the hinge mortises at the back of the box.

Remember that I cut the story stick to represent the front-to-back length of the box. The 2" spacer makes the story stick match the length of the box, and the routed space in the story stick provides the appropriate amount of travel. To set

this up, rotate the router bit so that its cutting edges are at their widest point parallel to the router table fence. With the spacer block in place slide the story stick first to the left and then to the right as you clamp the stop blocks in place. Next, set the height of the router bit to conform to the thickness of one leaf of the hinge.

Use your test piece to begin evaluating your set up. Rout between the stops, moving the workpiece back and forth as you work it tight against the fence. The result is shown in photo 10. Rotate the workpiece 90° and rout with one end tight to the fence. This makes the mortise that follows the side of the box.

Next, flip the location of the stop blocks by reversing the story stick and spacer block. Now, you’ll use

the travel left and right in the story stick to provide the correct amount of travel between stops. Rout the test piece again between stops.

At this point you can actually test to see how the hinge fits and you can make whatever adjustments are needed. In this case, you can see that the rout in the side of the box is insufficient in length (Photo 13). This is caused by the side arm of the hinge being longer than the back arm. This is easy to fix by making another routed groove in the opposite end of the story stick.

To make the groove longer I raised the bit and after moved the stop block enough to change the length of the groove. Then, I formed a new guide cut. With that cut made to the right length, it’s now a perfect fit that will translate directly to my finished box. I will use this new guide to set up and rout the hinge mortises into the sides of the box. After a test I can see how the hinge fits.

When I’m satisfied that the story stick provides for an accurate set up, I begin routing the actual box.

Taking up right where we left off in the test routing, rout the grooves in the sides of the box lid and body. Then flip the story stick along the fence in the other direction to rout the hinge mortise along the opposite side. Photos show the side mortises routed on both sides.

To finish the hinge mortises along the back edges of the lid and body of the box, the story stick and spacer block are required. Use the story stick and spacer block to position the stop blocks and clamp them in place. With the stop blocks secured to the router table, begin routing the back edges of the lid and body of the box. Photo 15 shows the fit of the hinge and proof that this technique actually works! Flip the story stick along the fence to set up the opposite side.

Next and finally in the routing operation, we need to provide space for the catch to fit equally into the lid and body of the box. This requires a routed mortise

1/8" wide, nearly 3/4" deep and 1/2" long. Again, the story stick comes in handy. Leave the fence in the same position through the hinging operation but change router bits to one that’s 1/8" in diameter. In order to rout a mortise this deep in hardwood with such a skinny bit requires the mortise to be routed in stages, 1/4" at a time.

First make the required cut in the story stick as shown. Use this set up to rout the mortises for the lid stay to fit into the lid and body of the box when it is closed. Rout one side of the lid and base in 1/4" increments, then use the story stick to reposition the stop blocks and follow the same procedure for the opposite sides of the lid and body of the box. All that’s left to do is install your hinges and marvel at your completed box.

Doug Stowe is a longtime woodworker and author. He teaches woodworking at the Clear Springs School in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. You can see more of his work at www.dougstowe.com.

1 First, make a story stick using thin stock and cut it same the length as the depth (front to back) of the box.

2 Use a scrap to test the router setup. Make certain that the fence is set so that an equal amount of wood is left on each side of the cut.

3 Carefully measure the necessary travel to conform to the width of hinge.

4 Carefully mark start and stop points on your story stick. Rout between marks with router bit high enough to cut through story stick.

6 The addition of a 2" spacer block brings the distance between the router table stops to the box’s full length. The use of the low fence and thin, flat stop blocks keeps any inaccuracies from affecting the fit.

5 The routed opening in the story stick will be used to set up the stop blocks on both sides of the router table. These will set the openings on each side of the box’s lid and body.

9 Practice on a scrap piece cut to the same length of the box. The more accurately the test piece conforms to the box length, the more accurately your hinges will fit.

13 The necessity of doing the operation first on a test piece becomes clear when you check the fit on the hinge. The test fit shows that the hinge mortise must be longer in the sides in order to fit the full distance into the back. It's an easy fix.

11 With the test piece turned 90˚, rout into the opposite end.

8 Use the story stick and 2" spacer block to set up stop blocks on the router table to control travel of the box against the fence. The first cuts will be done with the story stick and spacer block on one side then swapped for subsequent cuts.

10 The set up allows you to rout along one end of the back of the box.

12 To rout the other end of the test piece, flip the story stick and place the 2" spacer back in position allowing the correct travel space between the two place. Then remove story stick and block and rout the hinge mortises on the opposite end of the test piece.

7 After the story stick is made, lower the router bit to conform to the thickness of a hinge leaf.

14 Raise the height of the router bit to cut through the story stick. Put the story stick in place then open a space between the router table stop and the story stick equal to the distance you want to lengthen the mortise along the side. Form a guide mortise on another corner of the story stick and raise router after cut.

16 Use the newly developed story stick mortise to set up the stop blocks for routing the hinge mortises in the ends of the box, first from one side, and then with the story stick placed on the opposite side.

18 Use the 2" spacer block and story stick to set up and rout the hinge mortises across the back. Start by routing with the back of the box slightly away from the fence. Complete one side of the top and bottom then reverse position of the stop block as shown in photos 8 and 12 and repeat.

17 Rout one end of the lid and the opposite end of the box’s body and then reposition the stop block for the matching mortises.

15 When you have achieved a perfect fit in the test piece as shown, you will have confidence for hinging the box.

19 The third operation recorded in the story stick is routing the deeper groove that provides clearance for the lid support arm. This operation can be done on another corner of the template so it can be saved for the next time you use a quadrant hinge. Use a 1/8" router bit and raise it in several steps, rather than attempting to rout the full depth in a single pass.

20 The finished hinge mortise is a lovely thing routed step-by-step. Again, save the template to serve as a starting point, simplifying the next time you use a quadrant hinge.