Hinge Pins...

Today I made the hinge pins to hold the door onto the frame. I decided that toothpicks, having used them previously to test the hinges on, would be the best material to use. So, I used a craft knife to cut them to the right length. I made sure they were slightly longer than the hinge itself so that I could affix them to a "shoulder" which would hold the hinge-pin in place.



For the shoulders I used good old balsa wood. I cut two, roughly square shaped, tabs of 1.5mm thick balsa wood.



Next, I had to cut holes in these tabs to allow me to insert the hinge-pins themselves into. For this, I used a small sharp nail. I had to be very careful when pushing through, as too much pressure would snap the shoulder.



I actually broke three trying this. However, I managed to get two good ones eventually. With the holes in place, I then inserted the hinge-pins.





Of course, I had to test them in the actual hinges. They fitted well but they still looked pretty terrible at this stage. The shoulders were very boxy and blocky.



So, I used my craft knife to cut away parts of the shoulders so that they would have a domed top. They were still a bit rough around the edges though.



To smooth them out I used some fine-graded sand-paper. Happy with the results, I then glued the hinge-pins into their domed shoulders. I then tested them in place in the door hinges. I reckon they are going to work a charm.





The final step was to paint them black so that they matched well with the hinges themselves. I used a black acrylic paint for this.



Now, they are in place holding the door to it's frame. I've tried opening and closing it a few times and the hinges work really well. They hold their position well, so will work very well in stop-motion.