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MMD > Archives > July 2006 > 2006.07.18 > 01Prev  Next


Replicating Hooks & Fasteners & Brass Fittings
By Frank Metzger

Mr. Gale:  No firm I know of makes exact replacements for the early
fasteners and hinges, and those that are available don't ever look
right.

What I do is to take (e.g., use existing or beg or borrow -- but not
steal) a sample of what I need and have it reproduced at a jewelry
casting house that specializes in 'lost wax' silicon molds.  Such molds
have very little shrinkage in the final product (less than 2 percent)
and can then be cast in any metal you like including brass and other
alloys.  Usually, they will let you order as few as a dozen parts from
each mold.  The molds are relatively inexpensive though you do have to
get past the fact of paying a number of pounds to get parts worth a few
pence.

Hinges can also be made this way but are more complicated to have
cast.  What I do is to find a sample hinge and reproduce it by finding
a suitable strip of half-hard brass and silver-soldering appropriate
diameter brass tubing (readily available) to it.  You can make several
hinges by taking a longer strip of brass, soldering the tube to it and
then cutting to length and cutting out and shaping as required.  It
takes some time and patience to do but gives you a hinge that matches
the original in a way that none of today's ready-made hinges do.  In my
opinion, it is better to do this than to use a larger hinge and cut the
original box to fit or a smaller hinge and try to fill in the gap.

Hope this helps.

Frank Metzger


(Message sent Tue 18 Jul 2006, 15:41:39 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Brass, Fasteners, Fittings, Hooks, Replicating

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