making it easier...

Quadrant hinges are among the most difficult to install in small boxes due to the fact that three routing operations are required for each corner of the box. Normally they can be installed using a router template that can be purchased from the manufacturer, but these may not be interchangeable between brands of hinge.

I had become convinced that using the flipping story stick approach on the router table would be the easiest way to address the complication of this hinge and without having to purchase an expensive jig.

So what you see in the photo is the start. I am using a piece of 1/8 in. thick Baltic birch plywood with the first router mortise formed as my flipping story stick. The stop block on the right has been clamped in place, and I am ready begin routing the hinge mortises.

This is a technique that I hope will inspire yet another article in Fine Woodworking and allow those who have these complex hinges stored in their hardware drawers, dust them off and put them to use.

All tools and technologies are intended to take difficult and challenging operations of various kinds and make them easier for the common folk with little or no skill. If we want our children to learn, and grow into fulfillment, however, we must launch them into doing difficult things, that require their full attention and interest.

Make, fix, create, and make it likely that others will feel inspired to learn likewise.