Shopsmith Forums

Hi,

It has been a while since I last shopped for piano or continuous hinges so I went off to a couple of hardware stores today to do some shopping.

What I was looking for was one that was a foot long (no big deal cutting one to size if that is needed). I was looking for what I believe is called a two inch, flat open it is two inches wide.

I was looking for heavy duty as this is for a fixture I'm building. When I last got these I seem to recall the straps being .060" thick for heavy duty and .040" for standard duty.

After going to three hardware stores (different brands of stores) I came home with nothing. None of the stores had anything wider then 1-1/2". None of them gave information on strap thickness how ever one store had one which was physically heavier then the others which I would guess meant it was thicker. All of them were a poster-board with the plastic stick on covering so you can't really tell what they are like without opening them... which they don't want you to do.

The one which was heavier was also a lot more expensive. The 12" ones were in the just under $5 range except for this one which was almost $18. I should also mention that these are all a plated steel, which was also what I wanted.

This evening I looked at a few of the big box stores online to find they really don't speck the hinges... I guess they want you to physically come in to the store???

I checked a couple of places I order from online and they are not very good at telling you what you are getting either. And then the postage!!!!

So the question is what are you buying and from where? Any deals to be had online?

Ed

Ed,
I order mine from Lee Valley Tools or if I am in a hurry I get them from Rockler locally.
ldh

Ed,
I've never seen a 2" piano hinge. Have seen the heavy duty ones but just 1 1/2".
I just bought several 48" ones for a shop project. Bought some at Lowes and some at HD as neither had the quantity I needed. The prices at both were the same. HIGH!
HD had the heavier ones racked in among the light duty ones. Odd.

Easy enough to find them. Though they aren't cheap.

http://www.monroeengineering.com/hinges/page002.htm
and
http://www.larsenhinge.com/products/products.aspx?Category=Continuous%20-%20Piano
For example.

WOW! Those are expensive.
I'll not complain about the price I paid again.
Out of insatiable curiosity, for what purpose would one use the hinge with out holes? I understand that you'd need to cut your own holes, but why?
Just curious.

Ed,
I am not sure why I did not think of McMaster/Carr when you were looking for the continuous hinges. They have just about any size/length you could ask for and their prices are not unreasonable. Try them I think you will find what you are looking for.
ldh

Gene Howe wrote:WOW! Those are expensive.
I'll not complain about the price I paid again.
Out of insatiable curiosity, for what purpose would one use the hinge with out holes? I understand that you'd need to cut your own holes, but why?
Just curious.

So that you could put them Where you want them, and how many and plain(total closure is not always needed) or csink or just weld them(they are used for things other than wood)!

Gene Howe wrote:WOW! Those are expensive.
I'll not complain about the price I paid again.
Out of insatiable curiosity, for what purpose would one use the hinge with out holes? I understand that you'd need to cut your own holes, but why?
Just curious.

my take on the hinges without holes would be they are for use with metal where they would be welded or spot welded in place then painted.

Thanks, guys for the replies about hinges with no holes. And, here I thought everything was made out of wood.

I would recommend McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) if you're looking for a good selection of different sizes.