Hinge Bending Jig

Streeter Type

Here is a photograph of a jig to roll eyes for hinges. The jig has a moveable block of steel that is pressed against the hot iron using the set screw. The iron is placed in the jig. Then the set screw is tightened against the hot iron and the handle is lifted to pull the hot iron around the pin. The pin is then quickly removed before the iron can shrink around the pin. The pin shown is a 3/8 inch 2 dollar hitch pin from the farm store.

I painted the jig with high temperature paint, then used a magic marker to darken the edges, so that the device was easier to see in the photograph. All the metal used, except for a piece of angle iron on the bottom, is 1/2 inch thick. I used about 6 feet of 1 inch wide material. The Base is 2.5 inches wide, 1/2 inch thick, and about 14 inches long. The jig will bend 3/8 inch eyes in flat stock up to 2.5 inches wide.

I had to do a significant amount of repositioning of parts to get everything to work properly. About 10 hours was invested in making the tool. For further information see Streeter's book, "Professional Blacksmithing". I highly recommend his book.

The device is designed to make hinge eyes that are straight and even, which is a difficult task when done freehand. Streeter recommends making a separate jig for each size hinge eye that you tend to make, and designed this device for the smith that makes significant numbers of hinges. Once made, the device is a time saver for future projects, and can be used to make the hinges and hasp for a box or other application.

-- DaveEinhorn - 11 Feb 2008