New Door Hinges

Three pictures showing the manufacture of new door hinges. The original hinges were fixed with four small bolts to the wooden door frames. These had worked loose over time as the holes elongated so I've decided to replace the old hinges with a set that will be welded to the fuselage frame. This idea came originally from Rob Lees when he restored G-BREY.

The template was made from needlework template sheet which is a fairly stiff plastic sheet marked out with a grid pattern. I was able to bend it round the original hinges which gave an acurate measurement including the 90 degree bend which would need duplicating in the new hinges.

The hinges are made from 0.063" 4130 steel.

The hinges after adding the 90 degree bend.

Offering up the hinge to check alignment with the hinge on the door. The hinge was deliberately left 'long' because it will have to be fitted to the curve in the fuselage tubing. The door and frame will be used to get an exact fit when welding although I'll use the old door frames and not the new ones when tack welding the hinges in place.